Living Vegan For Dummies - Alexandra Jamieson [16]
Bacteria in and on our foods are a health concern, but so are the man-made chemicals that are used to produce those foods. According to the EPA, more than 160 chemicals are found in and around manure from confined animal feeding operations. Growth hormones used to increase milk production in dairy cows, antibiotics, cleaning solvents to sanitize the barns, blood, oils and chemicals used to clean and maintain equipment, and copper sulfate are just a few of the possible contaminants found in animal manure.
When you’re vegan, you can rest assured that your veggie burgers and fries aren’t adding to this distasteful situation.
Having Reverence for All Life
Living a vegan lifestyle makes real the respect you hold for the well-being of all animals, including humans. Eating a vegan diet goes a long way toward providing every living creature with enough food to eat, clean water to drink, and clean air to breathe.
The deepest eco-consciousness is reached when no creature is killed or harmed for your lifestyle. By choosing not to eat animals or their products, or pay to watch them perform, vegans choose to live in ways that respect all life. It’s soul-satisfying to look at the natural world around you and feel at peace with your place in it.
Taking action against food injustice and malnutrition around the world
Malnutrition is a major killer of infants and children around the world. The saddest part of this tragedy is that many of these deaths are totally preventable. We have plenty of food to go around, but that food is unequally distributed. While many humans go hungry because of corrupt governments, war, and famine, we also feed too much grain and other vegetable food to animals being raised for meat. If we all stopped eating meat, we would have enough food for all the humans on this planet, and then some.
Not only would more calories be available for human consumption, but more land would be available to raise more food. Arable land, or land that’s suitable to grow crops, is often used to raise animals instead.
Pigs, cows, chickens, and fish need to eat in order to become dense enough for slaughter and to become our food. These animals naturally eat grains, grasses, fruits, and vegetables — the same foods that humans can live on. But in order for a cow to get big enough for us to eat or milk it, the cow must eat many more calories than it will produce for us to consume.
Estimates vary, but it could take anywhere from 3 to 16 pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s educational pamphlet for children, cows eat up to 100 pounds of mixed feed a day and drink up to 30 to 50 gallons of fresh water a day. This equation doesn’t add up in a world where so many humans are starving for food and thirsting for clean drinking water.
The beauty of veganism is that you get to enjoy healthy, delicious food while knowing that your choices aren’t harming anyone else. Eating lower on the food chain means that your vegan diet increases the amount of food available for other people.
Standing up for animals
Meat eaters are often animal lovers — they love their dogs, cats, hamsters, and other pets. These companion animals are allowed to eat at the table (or at least in the house), and are even dressed up and paraded around as a source of pride. Most people would never consider eating their pets. Why then is this love and affection not extended to animals that humans raise to serve as food?
The harsh reality of how agricultural animals are treated is simply too heavy for many people to endure, so they just choose not to think about it. Others believe that animals don’t feel pain or psychological