Reasons to be Vegan!

There are four major, good reasons to turn veggie/vegan if you care about the environment, animals , yourself or other human beings.

Meat causes Poverty / Famine

The grains which farm animals are fed is brought from developing countries where it is grown. This takes resources and food straight from the people dying of hunger and famine in third world countries. If we were not taking the food from their mouths to feed to farm animals raised for meat, they would not be starving.  

The use of land for farm animals is a wasteful and inefficient, it is estimated that for every kilogram of meat produced, farmed animals are fed 6kg of plants.Farm animals eat more plant and grain material than meat they provide. 

"Livestock such as cattle and sheep use more than two thirds of agricultural land, and one third of the earth's total land area." (Vegan Society) 

Every year 6 million children under 5 years old, die as a result of hunger and malnutrition, meat-intensive diets are a tragic misuse of limited planetary resources.

The Environment

The meat-intensive diet contributes to global warming, deforestation, desertification and water pollution.

Meat production is the most damaging factor to the environment, it is the major cause of global warming according to the UN. It is much more damaging to the earth than the pollution caused by cars.

So if you try to help the environment by recycling and walking to work, but still eat meat you are actually causing much more damage to the environment than you would driving to work but being a vegetarian. In fact eating of meat is estimated to be equivilant of flying in an aeroplane twenty times a year.

Forests are also destroyed to provide grazing land for cattle.

Prevent Animal Suffering

Animals suffer enormously in factory farms, battery cages, milk production, and slaughter houses. Cramped conditions, lack of stimulation often causes stereotypical behaviours and madness.

Their life span is dramatically cut short, chickens are killed for meat at 6 weeks old and ducklings at 7 weeks of age. Chickens should live for up to 20 years.

Your Own Health

A vegan diet is one of the healthiest ways to live, full of natural benefits including fibre, vitamin C, folate and carotenoids. All the diet requirements a person needs can be found in plant based foods.

Here are some examples (not all listed)

Protein - Tofu, Textured Veg Protein (fake meat), Beans and Lentils 

Carbohydrates - Bread, Rice, Cereals, Potatoes, Pasta (corn/wholemeal)

Fibre - Fruit, Vegetables, Beans, Lentils, Nuts and Seeds.

Calcium - Almonds, Green leafy vegetables, Tofu, Soya milk, Swede.

Iron - Cabbage, Kale, Tofu, Figs, Pumpkin seeds, Beans and Lentils.

Magnesium - Wholegrains, Soya Beans, Bananas, Apples, Cashew Nuts.

You can still treat yourself to vegan chocolate cake, cheese, sweets, flapjack, ice cream!

Vegan suitable chocolate bars, flapjack, bakewell tarts, snacks, breakfast cereals, ready-meals, pasta, biscuits - are available in Sainsburys, Tesco, Asda so can still shop at usual place.

Vegan ice cream - available in Waitrose

There are some real health dangers which come from eating meat, eggs and milk. Including.... 

"Scientific research links the consumption of cow’s milk and dairy products with a wide range of health problems including acne, runny noses, wheezing, coughing, ear infections, rashes, stomach upsets, asthma, eczema, arthritis, heart disease, diabetes and prostate cancer." - VIVA

Meat and eggs are full of saturated fat and cholesterol.

Eating meat means you have an increased risk of having a heart attack or stroke, more suseptable to a variety of cancers, higher blood pressure and loss of vision as you get older.

There are lots of diseases that can be caught from eating meat including E. coli, CJD, Salmonella, Campylobacter jejuni (which leads to Guillain-Barré syndrome a degenerative disease).