What’s with all the almond milk?
Veganism is the practice of abstaining from food derived from animals (even dairy and honey). This practice originates from vegetarianism. Stricter interpretations of veganism follow the avoidance of all animal products including leather purses, wool sweaters, and animal-tested cosmetics.
While the term “vegan” was coined in 1944 by a British man named Donald Watson, its roots are in ancient South Asian and Middle Eastern cultures with the first vegan being the Arab poet and philosopher Al Ma’arri. Veganism is rooted in non-violence towards animals, a philosophy that originated in Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism.
Recently veganism has been declining in countries with historically larger vegan populations and has been gaining popularity in wealthy Western countries. This is reflected in the prominence of the Western vegan food and fashion industries. Plant based meats are used by various fast food chains and according to Forbes “95% of U.S. grocery stores now sell plant-based meat products.” Meanwhile, the fashion industry was dominated last winter by faux leather.
Social media has also helped bring veganism to the mainstream in the Western world and with it, haters of its unconventionality. But there are reasonable criticisms of vegan culture, which raises the question; why do people go vegan, and does it do any good?
Pros:
People choose to be vegan for reasons ranging from personal principles to personal health. According to Vomad, 68.1% of people go vegan because of their concerns about the ethicality of eating animals. Such vegans may believe it is wrong to kill other animals for food when there are alternate options.
Others are repulsed specifically by the cramped and unhygienic conditions livestock are kept in. Most “factory farms,” which house a maximum number of animals with a minimum number of resources avoid action by regulators “because of loopholes and spotty enforcement of laws,” according to PBS.
The next biggest reason (17.4%) is their own health. An analysis of various studies in the National Library of Medicine supports this fear. It found that vegan diets can help to reduce body mass index, cholesterol levels, the likelihood of and mortality from heart disease, and the likelihood of having cancer.
Similar health risks can be attributed to the meat industry. According to the New York Times, America’s cattle are fed corn and antibiotic diets instead of grass, which causes health complications in cattle and the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria, which in turn harms humans.
Besides moral and health reasons, many vegans avoid the meat industry because of its environmental impact. According to the Guardian the meat industry has a huge carbon footprint and uses an excessive amount of natural resources, contributing greatly to climate change.
According to the Economist, half of the Earth’s habitable land is used for agricultural purposes and “80% [of agricultural land] is dedicated to pasture or crops for animal feed,” meaning “if everyone were vegan, agriculture would need just a quarter of the land it uses today.” The additional land could be used for reforestation, accommodation for the globe’s ever growing population, or a combination of the two.
The benefits of veganism and drawbacks of the meat industry range from the health of humans, animals, and the environment, making the diet important to securing our future.
Cons:
However, the proposed benefits of veganism are not guaranteed. Many argue that vegan diets have negative effects on health because they lead to malnutrition. Although nutritious vegan meals are available, they are not as accessible as non-vegan food options. In most American grocery stores, produce is far more expensive than meat.
Additionally, the commercialization of the vegan diet has popularized products that are harmful to the environment. Many vegan products, like plant-based milks, cheeses, meats, and snacks, that make going vegan much more appealing are a part of unethical industries.
For example, according to the Guardian, almond milk, the most popular plant based milk, is produced by using bees to pollinate almonds but “over one-third of them– died by season’s end” in 2019. Almond milk also uses the most water in its production than any other plant-based milk, resulting in the wastage of an already precious natural resource.
These products hurt not only the environment but exploit the labor of other humans. Vegan products depend on palm tree products, which are part of an industry notorious for the dangerous conditions and low pay workers face. According to the Guardian, coconut pickers in “the Philippines, Indonesia and India [...] are often paid less than a dollar a day.” This abuse has led many to question the hypocrisy in mainstream vegan culture, as animals’ lives are valued more than those of humans.
Mainstream veganism, often called “White veganism” is also notorious for cultural appropriation, where “new” vegan recipes are showcased without credit given to the cultures the recipes are actually from. Mainstream vegan culture appropriates from Asian cultures and religions to make vegans feel “spiritually superior” to other people. According to Mira Polishook, the marketing schemes and decor of vegan restaurants like Cafe Gratitude “conflate their vegan food with practices of spirituality, without genuine acknowledgement or consideration of the origins of these practices.” Additionally, mainstream vegans are often wealthier, so their feelings of spiritual and moral superiority often feed into classism.
Despite the toxicity of vegan culture, potential financial and health tolls of a vegan diet, and environmental and social expense of vegan consumerism, the World’s vegan population, estimated to be at 88 million by the VOU, is constantly growing. Do you think the moral, health, and environmental benefits of veganism outweigh the harms? Will you be going vegan?
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