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A vegan (pronounced VEE-gun) is someone who, for various reasons, chooses to avoid using or consuming animal products. While vegetarians choose not to use flesh foods, vegans also avoid dairy and eggs, as well as fur, leather, wool, down, and cosmetics or chemical products tested on animals.
Veganism, the natural extension of vegetarianism, is an integral component of a cruelty-free lifestyle. Living vegan provides numerous benefits to animals' lives, to the environment, and to our own health -- through a healthy diet and lifestyle.
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Reasons To Go Vegan
- Until we stop exploiting animals,
billions will continue to be abused, neglected and killed.
- When switching to a vegan diet, you will find yourself easily
meeting the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables per
day.
- Hundreds of millions of people are going hungry all over the
world because much of the arable land is being used to grow feed
grain for animals rather than for people.2 Human hunger
and poverty is increased by diverting grain and cropland to support
livestock instead of people. "Slowly the realization is dawning
that to feed plants to animals and then feed on the animals or
their products is grossly inefficient.3
- Tragically, some 80% of the world's hungry children live in
countries with actual food surpluses, much of which is in the form
of feed fed to animals which will be consumed by only the
well-to-do consumers.4
- Certain antibiotics are used to promote growth in chickens,
cows and other food-producing animals, which can lead to strains of
bacteria resistant to the antibiotics. Many of these bacteria can
then infect people and cause fatal illnesses if antibiotics are no
longer effective against them. The increase in bacteria resistant
to antibiotics has been a growing problem over the past several
years. The main bacteria of concern are salmonella, campylobacter
and E. coli. The World Health Organization calculates each year
approximately 14,000 Americans die due to drug-resistant
infections. Other growth-promoting antibiotics that can lead to
bacterial resisistance include penicillin, tetracycline,
streptomycin and erythromycin, all of which are commonly used to
treat infections in humans.5
- Common foodborne pathogens are: Salmonella species,
Campylobacter jejuni/coli, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and other
related strains, Parasites Toxoplasma gondii and Cryptosporidium
parvum, Norwalk virus. Immediate consequences -- an acute illness
with abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting, Long-lasting conditions
such as reactive arthritis, Guillain-Barr syndrome (the most common
cause of acute paralysis in adults and children), and hemolytic
uremic syndrome (HUS), which can lead to kidney failure and death,
particularly in young children.6
- The FAO of the United Nations reports problems created or
significantly increased by animal excrement and growing animal
feed: Decreased biodiversity through habitat loss and ecosystem
damage, Soil erosion, Reduction in the availability of irrigation
water, Greenhouse gas production (nitrous oxide and carbon
dioxide), Aquifer depletion, Nitrogen, phosphorus, and pesticide
contamination of water through run-off from fields. The report
lists the following problems created by manure: Contamination of
surface waters, Aquatic ecosystem damage, Greenhouse gas production
(nitrous oxide and methane), Soil contamination with heavy metals,
Acid rain and forest damage from ammonia emissions. The report also
states that fossil fuel energy is a major input of industrial egg,
milk, and animal flesh production, and that factory farms are
inefficient at converting this energy into food for
humans.7
- It is the position of The American Dietetic Association and
Dietitians of Canada that appropriately planned vegetarian diets
are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits
in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Vegetarians
have been reported to have lower body mass indices than
nonvegetarians, as well as lower rates of death from ischemic heart
disease; vegetarians also show lower blood cholesterol levels;
lower blood pressure; and lower rates of hypertension, type 2
diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer. Vegetarian diets offer a
number of advantages, including lower levels of saturated fat,
cholesterol, and animal protein and higher levels of carbohydrates,
fiber, magnesium, boron, folate, antioxidants such as vitamins C
and E, carotenoids, and phytochemicals.8
- Research by Canadian experts has shown a vegan diet is as
effective at reducing levels of the most damaging form of
cholesterol as the new generation of expensive, fat-lowering drugs.
Now people showing early warnings of heart disease can improve
their health without medication, the study's authors
say.9
- A substantial body of scientific evidence raises concerns about
health risks from cow’s milk products. These problems relate
to the proteins, sugar, fat, and contaminants in dairy products,
and the inadequacy of whole cow’s milk for infant nutrition.
Health risks from milk consumption are greatest for infants less
than one year of age, in whom whole cow’s milk can contribute
to deficiencies in several nutrients, including iron, essential
fatty acids, and vitamin E.10 The American Academy of
Pediatrics recommends that infants under one year of age not
receive whole cow’s milk.11
- In countries where dairy products are not generally consumed,
there is actually less osteoporosis than in the United States.
Studies have shown little effect of dairy products on
osteoporosis.12 The Harvard Nurses’ Health Study
followed 78,000 women for a 12-year period and found that milk did
not protect against bone fractures. Indeed, those who drank three
glasses of milk per day had more fractures than those who rarely
drank milk.13
- The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a series
of papers14 describing the benefits of basing one's diet
on plant foods: 1) High fruit and vegetable consumption is
associated with a reduced risk for cardiovascular disease, several
common cancers, and other chronic diseases (such as macular
degeneration and cataracts); 2) Legumes (e.g., beans, peas,
lentils, and peanuts) are excellent sources of protein, fiber, and
a variety of micronutrients and phytochemicals that may protect
against disease; 3) Regular consumption of nuts is lined with a
lower risk for heart disease and lower mortality rates; 4)
Whole-grain consumption is associated with a reduced risk for heart
disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and stomach and colon
cancers.
- Industrial fishing is seriously damaging ocean
ecosystems.15 Moreover, an Institute of Medical Ethics
(U.K) panel concluded that fish feel pain. Panel member Patrick
Bateson wrote, "Few people have much fellow feeling for a fish even
though many fish are long-lived, have complicated nervous systems,
and are capable of learning complicated tasks."16
- USDA APHIS' Wildlife Services and livestock producers kill
wildlife to protect "farm animals." Having eliminated native
populations of wolves and grizzly bears,17 federal
government hunters now kill about 100,000 coyotes, bobcats, feral
hogs, bison, and mountain lions each year. They are shot, caught in
steel-jaw leghold traps or neck nooses, or poisoned with
cyanide.18
- Environmentally, turning animal hides into leather is an energy
intensive and polluting practice. The Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of
Chemical Technology states, "On the basis of quantity of energy
consumed per unit of product produced, the leather-manufacturing
industry would be categorized with the aluminum, paper, steel,
cement, and petroleum-manufacturing industries as a gross consumer
of energy."19 Since leather is intimately related to the
exploitation of animals, it seems most desirable to buy man-made
materials and encourage companies to develop more ecologically
sound alternatives.
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Notes:
[1] Vegan Action.
[2] "The World's Problems on a Plate: Meat Production is Making the
Rich Ill and the Poor Hungry," by Jeremy Rifkin, May 17, 2002.
Available at
http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/rifkin052002.cfm. Accessed
October 3, 2003.
[3]VegFam. Available at
http://www.veganvillage.co.uk/vegfam/famine.htm. Accessed October
3, 2003.
[4] See footnote 2.
[5] "Antibiotics in Animal Feed: Debate Heats Up in the USA," by
Steve Mitchell, Medical Correspondent, Science & Technology
Desk, May 9, 2002. Available at
http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/animalfeed051302.cfm.
Accessed October 3, 2003.
[6] "Foodborne Infections," Environmed Research Inc. Available at
http://www.nutramed.com/foodquality/foodinfection.htm. Accessed
October 3, 2003.
[7] "Livestock & the Environment," report coordinated by The
Food and Agriculture Organization, 1996.
[8] Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Position of the
American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada: Vegetarian
diets, 6/03, Volume 103, #6
[9] "Go vegan and cut deadly cholesterol, say scientists," By Cahal
Milmo, Independent News, July 23, 2003.
[10] "Milk: No Longer Recommended or Required," Physicians
Committee for Responsible Medicine, Available at
http://www.pcrm.org/health/Info_on_Veg_Diets/milk.html. Accessed
October 3, 2003.
[11] American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Nutrition. The
use of whole cow’s milk in infancy. Pediatrics
1992;89:1105-9.
[12] Riggs BL, Wahner HW, Melton J, Richelson LS, Judd HL,
O’Fallon M. Dietary calcium intake and rates on bone loss in
women. J Clin Invest 1987;80:979-82.
[13] Feskanich D, Willett WC, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA. Milk,
dietary calcium, and bone fractures in women: a 12-year prospective
study. Am J Publ Health 1997;87:992-7.
[14] Am J Clin Nutr, 1999, Sep;70:429-634
[15] "Overfishing Disrupts Entire Ecosystems," Science,
2/6/98
[16] New Scientist, 4/25/92
[17] Peter Cheeke, PhD, textbook Contemporary Issues in Animal
Agriculture, 1999.
[18] Washington Post, 11/4/98
[19] Vegetarian Journal, Nov/Dec 1991
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