Vegan Practically

As the new year approaches, it’s a great time to think about what sorts of positive changes might make 2024 better than 2023. On Friday I’ll be more specific about ways to insert more vegan options into your life. But today I am going to offer a few reasons worthy of consideration for anyone who lives with concern and cares about others and the planet. Optimistically, I think that’s a lot of people.

Reason #1: Veganuary! Who doesn’t love a January challenge to switch things up? I am not necessarily talking about New Year’s resolutions. But there is something wonderful about the blank pages of a new year. January 1st always feels like a fresh start to me. It’s a day where lots of us have more hope for lifestyle changes. Sometimes it’s hard to stay focused, but if trying out a vegan lifestyle for a month sounds appealing, you can sign up for Veganuary and give it a go with lots of support, information, and even menus and recipes. I’m a huge fan of the initiative and their website. Pro-tip: you can start it any day of the year. But with January 1st approaching, what better day to choose?

Reason #2: The animal-product intensive food system is unsustainable because of its contribution to climate change. According to The David Suzuki Foundation’s climate change page, switching to a plant-based diet is the first suggested change for reducing our carbon footprint. The numbers vary from 14%-28% depending on your source, but regardless, animal agriculture is a massive contributor of greenhouse gases, including methane (mostly from cows). If you’re looking to reduce your carbon footprint, cutting out meat and dairy makes a significant difference.

Reason #3: Animal agriculture is unsustainable because of inefficient land use. Did you know that livestock takes up 80% of the agricultural land yet produces only 20% of the calories (2017 figures from Our World in Data). It takes seven kilograms of feed to produce one kilogram of meat (David Suzuki Foundation). One third of agricultural land is used to grow crops for feed (Global Agriculture).

Reason #4: Animal agriculture is unsustainable because of pollution, waste, water use, and deforestation (IAPWA). Besides greenhouse gas emissions and land use, meat production is the single greatest cause of deforestation globally (IAPWA). Deforestation has a negative impact on biodiversity (in addition to contributing to climate change). The same IAPWA article notes that animal production has an enormous water footprint. Not only do they require drinking water, but water is required for feed production as well. Water pollution is also an issue, with toxins, fertilzers, pesticides, and leakage from literal lagoons of animal waste infecting water supplies.

Reason #5: Animal suffering in factory farming for meat, dairy, and eggs. Suffering is not the exception but the rule for animals in factory farming, which accounts for 99% of the animal products consumed globally. Being a vegetarian might reduce your contribution to animal suffering, but given the horrific routine conditions for animals in the dairy and egg industries, it only gets you so far. I have blogged about dairy here. Lots and lots of people (you might be among them) say they don’t think animals should suffer or be treated badly. But there is basically no way of factory farming animals without causing suffering and engaging in mass atrocity on an almost incomprehensible scale. This may be the year to find out more about what you are actually supporting. If you’re ready for it, then the 12-minute film From Farm to Fridge might be all you need to increase your willingness to seek vegan options. CONTENT WARNING: The film is footage of routine brutality and cruelty towards animals on factory farms. I cannot get past the first 30 seconds.

Reason #6: Animal suffering in our waterways and in aquaculture. For many years when I was a vegetarian I would on occasion “treat myself” to seafood. I was especially fond of salmon. But the fishing industry is a horror show. Not only is it harmful to the fish (obviously–they don’t just die so we can eat them, they suffer horrible deaths equivalent to suffocation), and to the by-catch, which includes about 300,000 dolphins and whales a year, and is a significantly larger threat to sea turtles than plastic straws are. The numbers are almost unfathomable, with three trillion fish caught per year (five million per minute) for food. It’s killing the oceans too. I have blogged about seafood here. Aquaculture, or fish farming, from which a great deal of the salmon I used to adore so much originates, is destructive to the environment. The organization Living Oceans reports that: Farmed fish are fed wild fish. Farmed fish live in conditions of disease and filth. Escaped farmed fish are a major threat to wild species. Fish farms are adjacent to natural habitats and ecosystems and destroy them.

Reason #7 There is no animal product industry without animal exploitation. The human sense of entitlement to use animals as things is surely something worth questioning from an ethical perspective.

Reason #8: Eating vegan is good for your health. I don’t talk about this one a lot because I think the ethical and environmental reasons are decisive and sufficient to support adopting a vegan lifestyle. But it’s worth pointing out that it’s possible to do this in a way that is not just adequate, but positively good for you. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a non-profit agency that supports the transition to “plant-based diets for good health and disease prevention” and also for the sake of animals.

Reason #9: There are reasonable, tasty, nutritionally adequate, and accessible alternatives. The PCRM referenced in Reason #8 sponsors the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart Program, another excellent resource for anyone curious about what 21 days of vegan living might look like from a dietary point of view. Given that there are reasonable alternatives, and given the environmental and ethical reasons noted above, and given that most people actually do care about animals and the planet, it makes sense to explore the options.

Reason #10: It’s easier than you think! I love this reason. I mention it because for almost a decade I resisted the transition from being vegetarian to being vegan because it seemed as if it would be too hard. But when I gave it a go in 2011, it turned out to be so much easier than I thought. Yes, I adopted a sometimes imperfect approach. But as I have become more informed, exposed myself to the ever-growing collection of resources available, connected with vegan communities who tell me about new products coming on the market, it has become easier. And 12 years into it, though I’m still often an outlier, there’s a greater awareness and appreciation for the many benefits of increasing plant-based options and reducing our reliance on animal products.

On Friday I’ll offer ten suggestions for incorporating more plant-based options into your life. Who knows where those ten tweaks might take you?