Living in the south, I am asked this quite often. I find it important to preface this by telling you that I am vegan, first and foremost, for the other animals that we inhabit this world with. I feel better not putting other creatures in my body or supporting the horrible corporations that slaughter them. Now that’s out the way, let us move on to the other reasons that I am living this lifestyle.
My Health
Now, I would never be bold enough to say that a vegan diet is the healthiest diet to ever exist, but I would argue that it is obviously one of the best. With proper planning, a vegan diet can provide you with all of the nutrients that you need to lead a very healthy, active life. A plant-based diet has been proven to greatly reduce the likelihood of developing many cancers, diabetes, and heart conditions. It is 100% cholesterol free. In some cases, it has even been used to fight off existing diseases with great efficiency.
The Environment
It is no secret that the meat industry is a huge detriment to our planet’s environment. The animals themselves, the large trucks needed to transport them, and the facilities that produce the meat all contribute to the huge excess of carbon and methane in our atmosphere. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) reports that livestock produce 14.5% of the world’s Co2 emissions. Many huge corporate plants are also terrible for our water supplies.
Water
Speaking of water, animal agriculture accounts for around 2 billion gallons of water a day in the US alone (USGS). When compared to other high protein foods, like legumes, beef uses much more water, needing almost 30 gallons of water per gram of protein (legumes average around 5 gallons per gram of protein). On top of that, there is also the real concern of fecal and chemical pollution to groundwater and freshwater supplies due to factory farming.
Land
According to UNFAO, 26% of all land on Earth is used for livestock grazing. A whopping third of the planet’s arable land is used to grow feed crops for this livestock. If repurposed for human consumption, it is argued that those feed crops could be reduced by almost half. Looking only at the United States, 80% of all corn grown is for animal feed; this takes up approximately 11 million acres of land in this country. Livestock production is the culprit of 55% of erosion in the US alone.
I am sure that I missed some things, but I wanted to keep this fairly brief while also giving you a good bit of information. I recommend that you research this yourself and come to your own conclusions. I thank you for taking the time to read all this.