Join me in imagining a planet where the following happens: Billions of cats and dogs are raised in disgusting conditions, killed, and then eaten by humans. Now, imagine that these dogs and cats feel as much pain, if not more, than humans, that scientists on the planet have shown how eating them is harmful to humans, and that the process of growing and killing them is destroying the ecosystem of the planet. Please take a moment to reflect on this.
Now, I’m sure the picture I’ve painted will not sit well with most of you. You may have been struck by the cruelty, waste, or impressive arrogance displayed. You may have felt a sense of outrage, pity, or disgust. You may have wondered how such a state of affairs was allowed to exist, let alone continue.
The problem is that this planet exists. Every year approximately fifty billion innocent creatures are enslaved, tortured and killed. They are consumed by humans, resulting in health problems. Our planet, Earth, is destroyed in the process. The power of language and social narratives, like cultural and religious tradition, have led people to view some of our fellow humans, such as pigs and cows, as complete servants of a premature and painful death, while others others, like cats and dogs, as a family. People are used to this point of view and that is why it endures. It seems, then, that Orwell’s famous dystopian maxim “all animals are equal but some are more equal than others” contains a more literal truth than is commonly understood.
Now, as bizarre and unnatural as our meat-eating situation is, I think it’s fairly easily explained: For thousands of years, people killed and ate other animals to survive. Two of the building blocks of human life, protein and fat, were often difficult to obtain from plant sources, and killing a large animal could sustain a family, or even a community, for some time. This made sense. Then, about ten thousand years ago, many people traded this ‘hunter-gatherer’ lifestyle for a simpler version: farming. This logic is also simple: why spend all day running around trying to kill animals with a spear when certain species can be easily tamed and killed? The problem is that the logic held while much of the world changed.
We now know the sensitivity and cognition of animals and, therefore, their capacity for suffering. The farming and slaughter industry inflicts unimaginable emotional and physical pain on literally billions of creatures. They are locked up, castrated, branded, raped and killed. I challenge anyone to explain how, in many cases, this is not what happens.
We now know the damage done to the human body by eating bodies and their secretions: the chances of suffering a heart attack, stroke, cancer, dementia, arthritis, diabetes and obesity are far from increased.
We now know the damage this industry does to the planet: ecosystem disruption in the form of abnormally high birth and death rates of species, excess methane and huge swaths of forests and fields rendered barren, and huge grain supplies. used for livestock. Now we know a lot. So why do we continue to live like our Stone Age ancestors, who had no greengrocer along the way?
If every human being on earth adopted the vegan lifestyle tomorrow, we would be in a much better situation: there would be a lot less pain, a lot less disease, and a lot less planetary damage, not to mention more fertile land and cheaper eating methods. growth and food distribution. The problem is, and I know this because I held that opinion myself until I was twenty-five years old, the vegan lifestyle is generally considered strange: unhealthy and restricted. But the fact is, as I hope some of you know/know, the exact opposite is true. A simple purchase of the book ‘1000 Vegan Recipes’ or a simple watch of the Russia Today interview with Dr. Neal Barnard will prove it.
I’ve been a vegan for almost two years, after a transition period of three months of ‘gaps’, and I consider it the best thing I’ve ever done. I’ve lost weight, I have more energy, and I no longer have that very distant but very annoying voice in the back of my mind telling me that my body isn’t feeling well. I find it easy to find vegan replacements, such as sausages and burgers, I find it easy to get vegan options at restaurants, particularly Indian, Thai and Italian places, and I’m always learning new and delicious foods to cook. Some of my new homemade favorites include Chickpea and Coconut Milk Curry, Spicy Peanut Butter Noodles, and Mango Banana Brazilian Stew. As long as you watch your protein (60 g per day; walnuts, tofu, and flaxseeds are good sources), your fat (70 g: pancakes, dark chocolate, and coconut milk), and your vitamin B12 (0.0015 mg: soy milk, kettle and supplements) each day can effortlessly go vegan.
So come on, brothers and sisters, look within yourselves and search your conscience. Are you ready to obey ethics, obey nature, and help pull the plug on the disgusting industry that convinced you to disobey it in the first place?
