Most people don't understand vegans or consider us self-righteous and irritating. But before you write us off, here are 7 of the most compelling reasons to consider going vegan, or at least reducing some meat and dairy consumption whenever it is possible.
1. You won't be killing or torturing animals anymore.
Animals feel pain like humans do and do not deserve to be brutally murdered for your next chicken sandwich. Even if you aren't doing the killing yourself, you are paying someone else to do it when you buy meat.
2. We can solve our water crisis.
It takes 1,799 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef. Imagine what would happen if we stopped wasting all that water.
3. We can solve global warming.
The meat industry contributes more to climate change than our cars do. Feeding, killing, processing, and transporting animals takes massive amounts of energy. To ad to that, forests, which reduce greenhouse gasses, are cut down for the sake of animal agriculture.
4. We can solve world hunger.
Most of the grain we produce goes toward fattening up animals for slaughter or for milk and egg production. A single cow feeds many less people than the grains it was fed would have. If the world decided to stop eating animals, we could reduce the stress on our planet's farms and ensure everyone had enough to eat.
5. You can reduce your risk of heart disease.
Only animal products contain cholesterol. Vegan food is by default cholesterol-free. Animal products also tend to have higher amounts of saturated fat. Both of these have been linked to a higher risk of heart disease.
If you aren't already vegan, hopefully this makes you reconsider.
