I should preface this article by saying that at this point in my life I am an ovo-lacto vegetarian; this means that I do not eat any meat or fish just like other vegetarians, but I do occasionally eat eggs and include milk in the foods that I eat. There are various vegetarian diets, but at its core it means not eating any meat or fish. I was able to make this decision and stand by it for two years now with the help of my lovely girlfriend who helped me in the transition. However, in the near future I hope to take a step forward and become vegan, something most people frown upon when I mention it. Veganism is a diet, and more importantly a lifestyle, that involves not eating, consuming or purchasing products that include meat, fish, or animal-derived products such as eggs, milk, cheese, and other material product like fur and leather. That being said, most people have a deep misunderstanding of veganism and the health, spiritual, social, political, and environmental issues it tackles. Let’s discuss 7 reasons why we should all take the steps to go vegan, and why it is essential.
1. Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness
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Deeply rooted in many major religions is the idea that everything has a spirit. Whether we associate ourselves with these religions or not it 
is undeniable that all animals are living, breathing creatures. They are sentient and capable of pursuing happiness, often in ways much different than our own. It is also important to note that it is not our right to classify which animals deserve life and which do not. Consider this, our country shames cultures that eat animals such as dogs and cats, while we keep them as pets and hold them close to our hearts, yet most people will eat pork without a second thought. While it is hard to accept for some, there is no difference between these animals. As a matter a fact, pigs are classified amongst the smartest animals. According to paper cited by the Huffington Post, written by neuroscientist Lori Marino and Professor Christina M. Colvin, pigs are incredibly social animals and are very clever, rivaling the intelligence of dogs.
One would then ask, can we eat unintelligent animals such as tuna or fish? Well firstly, marine animals although much different from us, are still living creatures that think and experience pain. Secondly, would we discriminate between a human being that is cognitively weaker than another individual just because he/she was born that way? No, we would not; it goes against our values and morals. This then raises another question: why do we hold such odd standards determining what we can and cannot eat? This is simply a matter of tradition. Will we choose to continue to eat what our ancestors had to eat? Or can we use our brains and compassion to understand that we have come far past those times, and we can live a healthy life without hurting a living creature that wants much of the things we ourselves want and pursue.
2. Meat Production- A Flock of Misery, a Herd of Torture
Legendary musician Paul McCartney is a vegetarian, something most people don’t know. He once said, “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.” While I would take it a step further and argue the necessity of veganism, he makes a great startlingly true point. Ignorance is bliss as they say. The truth is that meat production is one of the cruelest, most agonizing processes that only results in death. Pigs, cows, and other animals are born and raised in cages and enclosed spaces that don’t give them enough space to move throughout their lives. Chicken production is most notorious for this, where chickens grow so fat from the mutations and excessive hormones that at some they are no longer able to even stand up. To put this into perspective, let’s use the most common analogy. Imagine being born and raised in an airplane seat and not being able to move your body for your entire life. That is the struggle most mass produced animals live through, if not something remarkably similar, only leading to their eventual deaths.
To make matters worse, several species must undergo particularly painful processes to prep them for slaughter. For example cattle are usually heat branded with a searing hot metal to mark their owners stamp on, which is often done without any form of sedation. Chicken are debeaked, or beak trimmed, against blazing hot blades without any pain killers. Many mass produced birds have profitable feathers as well, and several techniques are used to remove them. One of the more gruesome methods of doing so involves a worker using their knees and one hand to sit on the neck and body of the bird as they use the other hand to pluck out all their feathers, leading to pain and suffocation. Pigs are often slaughtered by being tossed in packs into a machine that presses down on all of them with extreme force, crushing them slowly till death. This is inhumane, cruel beyond understanding yet readily accepted by society. How can we, and why do we continue to?
3. Less Vulnerability to Disease
Turning towards the health benefits of being vegan, there are countless. One of the biggest being a complete isolation from
infectious bacteria often found in animal products. The best example of this is Salmonella, which the CDC approximates to cause around a million illnesses per year in the U.S., the source more often than not being meat. This leads to about 19,000 hospitalizations per year as well as 380 deaths. While there are steps to keep meat clean and kill these bacteria, it is never a guarantee and the risk is ever-present.
Furthermore, a vegan diet helps prevent various chronic diseases that are prevalent today. While this diet can help prevent kidney diseases, respiratory diseases, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and more, it has shown to have a significant effect on two of the most dangerous diseases in the United States today, heart disease and cancer. Because a vegan diet is naturally lower in fat and salt content, it significantly reduces the chances of heart disease and other illnesses such as hypertension that lead to it as well. Adding onto that, studies have shown that a vegan diet can reduce the chances of getting various cancers. It has shown to reduce the chances of getting colon cancer as much as 50% as well as breast, ovarian and cervical cancers by over 30%. According to the Huffington Post, this is partly due to a decreased intake of a cancer-promoting protein found in our bodies and meat known as IGF-1. By cutting off meat and reducing the intake of this protein, we greatly decrease the chances of getting cancer.
4. The Protein Myth
The most common argument against veganism is the fallacy that the diet does not contain enough protein; it’s often the first question I ever get, “where do you get your protein from?” Let’s clear the air. You can actually overload on protein with a good vegan diet. This is because common foods and vegetables that are often missing or lacking in non-vegan diet are actually full of protein. Soy milk, whole wheat breads, tofu, peanut butter, nuts, beans and so much more are filled with enough protein to match a serving of meat, and when served together can surpass meat. Adding onto that, vegetables loaded in protein also contain many other vitamins and antioxidants you would never find in meat; it creates a much more balanced and fulfilling meal. If further proof is necessary, many famous athletes including UFC fighters such a Nate Diaz and Mac Danzig are vegan, claiming they feel stronger and healthier than ever before. So let’s stay away from assumptions and back our arguments with facts.
5. Meat Is One of the Biggest Environmental Dangers
This is one most people don’t see coming. Meat production is one of the biggest contributors to global warming and one of the greatest dangers to our environment. One decade ago, in 2006, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FOA) released a report stating that farming livestock was responsible for 18% of global greenhouse emissions. To put this into perspective, that is 5% more than all forms of transportation combined. To make matters worse, this number has only and will only continue to increase because as the population of people grows so does the industry and it emissions. It is also important to realize how much space farming livestock requires. According to TIME magazine, farming animals takes up “nearly one-third of the earth’s entire landmass.” Occupying that landmass also demands an incredible amount of deforestation, which further increases CO2 emissions. While taxing meat to reduce the amount purchased and produced has been a strategy some political leaders have proposed, simply taking the step to reduce and, with commitment, eliminate meat from our diet would be an enormous step in delaying and preventing global warming as well as the destruction of our environment.
6. Unsustainability
Meat and fish will not be here forever, at least not on the scale it is now. While farm livestock is mass produced and mutated to a point where animals are no longer what they were born to be, many marine animals are going extinct from our consumption. Among these species are tunas, red snappers, sea bass and several others. They are overfished and will certainly be extinct within a few years. While common farm animals will likely never go extinct to due to the aforementioned production methods, they will continue to grow and take up more space than we have at our disposal. Their environmental harm will expand along with their territory, decreasing the number of forests and wildlife. The immense amount of resources such as water will eventually be too costly to sustain and will not be able to keep up without population growth.
Can’t the same be said for plants and vegetables though? The answer is a simple no. Vegetables, fruits, nuts and other vegan foods are easily renewable and do not require nearly the same amount of resources as meat and fish do. Take for example the case of water. It takes over 800 gallons of water to produce a pound of chicken and as much 2500 gallons to produce a pound of beef; this means eating two pounds of beef is the same as the average amount of water a person will use to shower for a year. On the other hand, a pound of wheat bread only needs about 150 gallons of water. Oranges need around 50 gallons, tofu needs around 250 gallons, and broccoli requires roughly 35 gallons. The math is clear and if we used these resources for more sustainable foods we would be able to provide more food to others, cut the expenses and damage, as well as create new jobs. Thus it becomes a question of whether we want to make the transition now, or wait for the damage to be done first.
7. it's Not as Bad as It Sounds
“I wouldn’t be able to do it.” I said that years ago to everyone who asked me if I would consider being vegetarian. My friends and
family answer in the same manner. While I still have steps to take to become vegan, I can assure you it is not as bad as you think it is. Another misconception of veganism is the idea that the food is very bland and tasteless. That could not be more wrong. Truthfully, it was a slow transition that involved systematically cutting meat and fish from my breakfast at first, then from my lunch and eventually dinner as well. However, weeks after I cut everything and began to try new dishes and foods that suited my new diet I began to love it. A well-made veggie burger was infinitely more flavorful and satisfying than a beef burger. Replacing cream cheese with peanut butter and sandwich meat with rich vegetables and vegan-friendly sauces was easy and delicious. I began to take my girlfriend to vegan restaurants in New York City as well, most notably Candle 79 a phenomenal vegan hotspot, and taste dishes I would have never thought existed or imagined to taste so great. I have no regrets of the decisions I’ve made and will continue to take the final steps to achieve a 100% vegan lifestyle. I assure you, all it takes is a leap of faith and a stand of commitment, and you’ll never go back.
If you are curious and want to learn more there are several documentaries that discuss the meat industry and other topics discussed in this article. The most easily accessible, informative and less gruesome documentary would be Food, Inc. However, the documentary Earthlings is highly recommended, although it is very graphic.
Candle 79 is a renowned vegan restaurant located in New York City. To find out more about them, their ethics and their values you can visit their website at: http://www.candle79.com/story.html.
Other popular vegan restaurants to check out in NYC include Blossom and Peacefood Café, both of which have several locations. Check them out at: http://www.blossomnyc.com/ and http://www.peacefoodcafe.com/
To find some of many delicious vegan recipes, you can look at PETA’s website at: http://www.peta.org.uk/blog/category/vegan/recipes/
