From the way we look to what we eat to what we believe, every
vegan is different. But there is something that connects us all, and that’s the
compassionate choice to leave animals off our plates.
You see, veganism isn’t about conformity or perfection. It’s
about living in a way that avoids exploiting and harming animals. It’s about
taking a stand for a kinder world.
But going vegan doesn’t just spare countless animals a life
of misery; it’s also great for your health and the environment. From lowering
your risk of heart disease and cancer to cutting your carbon footprint in half,
these are the things about veganism that meat eaters should really know.
1. Meat consumption
is one of the leading causes of climate change.
Animal agriculture is one of the largest contributors to
climate change and deforestation. According to the World Bank, animal
agriculture is culpable for nearly 91 percent of Amazon destruction. What’s more,
the meat industry generates more greenhouse gases than all modes of
transportation in the world combined. In fact, even without fossil fuels,
we will exceed our 565-gigaton CO2e limit by 2030—all from raising animals for food.
2. The meat industry
exploits workers.
Workplace hazards for factory farm and slaughterhouse employees
include injuries, respiratory illness, PTSD,
and infection by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Recent reports indicate that on
average one
Tyson employee a month is injured by equipment and loses a finger or
limb.
3. Animal agriculture
consumes a lot of resources.
It reportedly takes 576 gallons of water to produce one
pound of pork, 880 gallons of water to produce one gallon of milk, and a
whopping 1,799 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef. But it’s not
just water that the meat industry wastes. A pound of beef requires 13 percent more fossil fuel to
produce than a pound of soy.
4. Meat is horrible
for your health.
Eating meat
is linked to heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and even cancer. In fact,
the World Health Organization reports that processed meats are just as hazardous to your health as cigarettes. And the
world-renowned Mayo Clinic found that long-term
vegetarians live on average 3.6 years longer than their meat-eating
counterparts. Let that sink in for a minute.
5. Meat is actually
disgusting.
According to the USDA, 90 percent of defects discovered in
chicken carcasses at slaughter plants involved “visible fecal contamination that was missed by company
employees.” Additionally, the USDA estimates that around 25
percent of cut-up chicken meat and about 50 percent of all ground chicken sold
in stores is contaminated with salmonella.
From salmonella to E. coli, meat is covered with dangerous
bacteria. The CDC estimates that at least 2 million infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria
occur every year, and the Center for Science in the Public
Interest reports that 22 percent of these infections are linked to foodborne
pathogens. Nasty!
6. Animal agriculture
is killing wildlife.
Scientists have recently warned that we’re seeing the sixth mass extinction and that more than half of all wildlife could be gone by 2020.
But why? Look no further than the food on your plate. Through pollution,
climate change, and habitat loss, animal agriculture decimates wildlife.
Additionally, a great many animals are killed to feed the
profits of the meat industry. Each year thousands of wild animals, including wolves, bears, river otters, eagles, and
coyotes, are killed because they are seen as a threat to animal agriculture
industries.
7. Meat production
contributes to world hunger.
With close to a
billion people in the world without enough food, it’s impossible to ignore
the link between meat consumption and world hunger. A 2012 study from McGill University and
the University of Minnesota found that humans produce enough grain to feed the world, yet we choose to feed most of it to animals just so we can eat meat. As of 2012,
95 percent of oats produced in the U.S. and 80 percent of our corn has been fed to farmed
animals—yet in 2015, more than 6 million U.S. households reported extremely low food
security. The U.S. could feed 800 million people with
the grain we feed to farmed animals.
8. No federal law
protects animals at factory farms.
Unfortunately, not a single federal law protects animals
during their lives at factory farms. The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act
pertains only to the slaughterhouse. What’s more, this law doesn’t include
birds, who make up over 98 percent of the animals killed for meat. Want to
change this? Click here
to sign our petition urging the USDA to extend basic slaughter protections to
birds.
9. The meat, dairy,
and egg industries torture animals.
In the pork industry, piglets are slammed headfirst onto concrete floors if
they are too sick or aren’t growing fast enough. In the egg industry, male chicks are ground up alive. That’s
right—since they will never lay eggs and don’t grow quickly enough to be raised
profitably for meat, they’re killed within hours of hatching. These practices
are truly sickening, but they are considered standard and acceptable, and they
are just two of the many horrible
things done to animals at factory farms.
10. Vegan food is
delicious.
When you go vegan, a new world of culinary delights opens up!
Heck, some of your favorite foods are probably already vegan and you don’t even know it.
Want to try making a vegan meal? Check out our Pinterest page
for hundreds of great recipes and ideas.
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The single best thing we can do to protect animals, workers,
and the planet from the cruel and destructive meat industry is to reduce or
eliminate our consumption of meat and other animal products.
Click here for
delicious vegan recipes, meal ideas, and tips on making the switch.