Before continuing, I want to urge you to read on with an open mind, and be accepting of new and different information. You don’t have to agree with everything that you read, but you should be willing to acknowledge it. I was in your position once. I am where I am now because I was open-minded. But if you’ve made it as far as opening up this article, I have my faith in you.
Furthermore, I am not here to preach veganism to you and say that this is something that you must do and that this is the end-all solution to the issues I will address. My goal is to raise awareness on certain problems and allow people to make more educated decisions. People joke that vegans are always shoving our ideology down peoples’ throats and are quick to proclaim our animal-free diet to others, but we simply want to share our experience and knowledge of something that most people won’t even bat an eyelash to. Educate yourself before passing judgement.
Depending on your educational background and/or self-drive to learn more about where your food comes from, you may have been exposed to some of the hidden aspects of the animal agriculture industry. For me, I watched Food Inc. in 9th grade biology class (five or so years ago) – a documentary that focuses largely on the secrecy of big food businesses and the frequent humanitarian violations that they make. I saw clips of animals being beaten and tortured, decapitated and slaughtered, and it was a gruesome thing to be exposed to. I, for one, was opposed to that kind of treatment of animals. However, I was far enough removed from the process and was under the idea that ‘not all places are that bad,’ and continued my consumption of any and all animal products (which I am obviously not proud of now).
For some people, the evident violation of those ethics is enough to cease their support of the animal-based food industry. If this pertains to you, there are many books, articles, videos, and documentaries at your disposal to learn more about it. This flaw in the industry is probably the most exposed by now, and that’s why it took me until this summer to make a significant change in my eating habits. It wasn’t that humanitarian issue that motivated me. I discovered that it goes beyond the lives of the animals and into our own lives, and the lives of every creature on the globe. It far reaches this kind of global impact, in that animal agriculture is quite possibly the largest environmental polluter on the planet. Much more than the entirety of the world’s transportation industry.
I had no idea. I had always tried to be conscious of the environment in regard to my use of electricity, water, recycling, and other things. I failed to realize that the most damage being done was out of the food that I was consuming on a day-to-day basis. I was an avid eater of steak, chicken, eggs, deli meats, so much cheese, milk, and so many other animal products, without seeing the cost of my dietary habits. But could I really blame myself for that? Not many people know about this impact of the industry because it is kept so hidden and is even unrecognized among many environmental groups. Therefore, my goal is to gain more awareness for this issue and allow people to educate themselves and decide how they want to proceed with the information.
That being said, I won’t sit here and feed you those facts and information, rather I will give you some resources to make it easier for you to learn more about it yourself. I believe it is imperative for one to have the drive to educate oneself. If after learning about these things, you choose to continue your current diet, that is your right to do so, but I encourage you to learn and be open-minded before dismissing the idea.
I am personally motivated more by facts rather than by rhetoric. Cowspiracy is a great documentary that delves into the environmental impacts of animal agriculture. You can find it on Netflix or on YouTube. YouTube. Additionally, here is a link to a staggering list of (sourced and checked) facts and statistics about the emissions of greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, methane, and other pollutants, as well as an abridged version of the documentary:
http://www.cowspiracy.com/facts/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSjE8xw_-Dg
Like I said, veganism or diet change will not be the one solution to all these environmental problems (you should absolutely continue any other eco-friendly habits), but you cannot deny that our food industry is in an unsustainable state. The American diet is so incredibly dependent on animal products, and our consumption of these goods is unmatched throughout the world. I realize that the likelihood of living in a more-or-less vegan era is next to impossible, but there has to be a change made somewhere. Not only is the environmental impact of the industry incredibly dangerous, the demand for animal products is far too high, and with a rapidly growing population, we cannot feed the world population on our current dietary habits. I strongly advocate for veganism both because of its health benefits and because it is the most sustainable diet option. We need a change whether it comes in the way we raise our food or the diet that we consume. You cannot wait for that change to come and not make a change yourself.
Please don’t dismiss the impact of the industry and think that we are ages ahead of any serious threat to the atmosphere and global ecosystems or deny that these issues exist because you haven’t witnessed them personally. To do so would be blatantly selfish. Science is not based on opinion; it tells us how it is whether we like it or not. You cannot argue something that has been proven time and time again. Climate change is here. We might not want it, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore it or wait for a miracle. With something as serious as the habitability of our only planet, you cannot sit back and wait until doomsday to make a change. Some scientists already fear that we are too late - that the Earth is dead-set on a track to being the hottest in its entire history - that carbon dioxide levels have exceeded safe limits and are almost irreversible. And even if we make these changes immediately, they don’t take effect right away. They take years, even decades. Are we going to sit on our asses and constantly feed our meat addiction as we continue to sicken the planet, or are we going to do something about it? You have more power than you think.
Start somewhere. Be aware of the products you consume. Think beyond yourself. Coming from a person who ate meat and dairy daily and for almost every meal, it is possible to make a seemingly daunting dietary change. You can break the habit. You can do your part to enact change.
I became a vegan because I refuse to support an industry that is the leading driver of devastating global climate change, no matter what excuse I could think of. You have the information now. You have the power. What will you do?
