Since becoming a vegan, a lot of people have asked me why I made the shift, so I thought I’d share some of the reasons with you all. Although I’ve always had a deep connection with animals and nature, I had never quite understood the beliefs of vegans and vegetarians, at least until I began to really do my own research on the health, ethical and environmental issues related to an animal-based lifestyle. My reasons are numerous, but the most important reasons (to me) are as follows: - The treatment of animals, whether for food, fashion, sport, entertainment, or personal ownership, is more often inhumane than it is humane. It doesnt matter which country you’re in, the inhumane treatment of animals exists everywhere. As a consumer in this modern age, it’s virtually impossible to know for sure how well the animal on your plate was treated — even if an animal is raised on a “free-range” farm you don’t know for sure that the farmers treated the animal with the utmost of care. For instance, birds raised for meat may be sold as “free-range” if they have government certified access to the outdoors. The door may be open for only five minutes and the farm still qualifies as “free-range.” Apart from the “open door”, no other criteria such as environmental quality, number of birds, or space per bird, are included in the term “free-range”. - The environment is greatly impacted by animal agriculture. Raising animals for food requires massive amounts of land, food, energy, water, and chemicals. The byproducts of animal agriculture pollute our air and waterways, so much so, the United Nations listed a ‘global shift towards a vegan diet’ as being one of the necessary steps in combating climate change. - Science has proven that a plant-based diet is far healthier than an animal-based diet. Vegans are, on average, up to 20 pounds lighter than meat-eaters are. And unlike unhealthy fad diets, which generally leave you feeling tired (and usually don’t keep the pounds off for long), going vegan is a healthy way to keep excess fat off almost permanently while still leaving you with plenty of energy. A link has also been shown between animal-based diets and a whole plethora of chronic illnesses, not to mention a shortened lifespan. So there’s a brief outline of my reasons. It took me a long time to make the decision to become a vegan — it’s a very weighty decision, and I would never judge anyone for having differing beliefs, but I know it’s been a good choice for ME. If you’re interested in learning more about the things I’ve mentioned, there are a couple of documentaries I’d recommend — ‘Earthlings’ (2005)(This is a very graphic film. Not an easy watch, but definitely the most impacting for me) & ‘Forks Over Knives’ (2011). Peace / love, Tom x.o
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 22:22:39 +0000
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