Vegan for Life - Jack Norris [2]
All of these changes conspire to make vegan eating easier and more appealing than you may have ever imagined. Vegans still eat beans and rice, but they also eat pasta with artichoke pesto, tempeh roasted in apricot barbecue sauce, hot fudge sundaes, and veggie cheeseburgers. With better food, more information, and a growing appreciation of the health benefits of plant foods, the world is becoming more vegan friendly.
WHY VEGAN?
Since 1950, profound changes have taken place on farms, driven by efforts to cut costs and produce cheap meat, milk, and eggs. The changes have given birth to factory farms, where animals are crammed into sheds and cages with virtually no room to move. Modern farming ignores the basic instinctual needs and welfare of individual animals. Many die before they ever make it to the slaughterhouse from disease or injury or because they couldn’t access food or water. Conditions at slaughterhouses are deplorable and cruel as well. Today’s farm is less likely to be a friendly family enterprise and more likely to be a factory where efficiency takes precedence over respectful treatment of animals. The plain and simple—and uncomfortable—fact is that production of animal foods (even dairy and eggs) contributes to animal suffering.
Thanks to the work of animal-rights organizations, more people are becoming aware of these abuses. One answer for many has been to seek out foods from animals who were raised more humanely. Many products that boast “humanely produced” type labels come from animals who lived under somewhat better circumstances, but often the differences are negligible. And all of these animals usually go to the same slaughterhouses. Likewise, the term “organic” doesn’t translate to “humanely produced.” A large percentage of organic animal foods come from animals who were raised on factory farms.
Any truly meaningful welfare improvements can take place only on very small farms where every phase of the animal’s life (and death) is monitored. But that’s a costly and inefficient way to produce animal foods. Even if people could afford them, there isn’t enough land for farms of this type to feed the American population.
In Chapter 16, we’ll look at these issues in more depth. It’s not easy to read about the lives of these animals, but if you are wondering whether a vegan diet is the right choice for you, we think that the information will provide some perspectives on food choices. Whether you are concerned about the suffering of factory-farmed animals or embrace the belief that animals should never be used by humans, a vegan diet is an effective and meaningful way to put these beliefs into practice.
Meat, dairy, and egg production is also wasteful and harmful to the environment. Land that is used to raise food for billions of farm animals could grow food for direct human consumption, saving forests, water, and fossil fuels. A reduced dependence on animal foods is a significant step toward making your carbon footprint smaller.
Finally, those who opt for a plant-based diet are likely to enjoy personal benefits as well. Vegans have lower cholesterol and less hypertension and are less likely to develop diabetes. And vegan diets have been used as part of successful programs for treating chronic disease. We’ll look at those issues in Chapter 13.
ARE VEGAN DIETS SAFE?
According to the American Dietetic Association, vegan diets are safe for all stages of the life cycle as long as they are well planned.1 The “well-planned” caveat has been a source of annoyance among vegan dietitians for nearly two decades. Any diet, vegan or not, has to be well-planned. Those who consume animal products don’t automatically meet all nutrient needs and can fall short on fiber and other compounds