Are Vegans Right?
To answer the question “are vegans right?” we must clarify, about what? There are a lot of facets to being classified as vegan. Besides the animal welfare aspect, people choose veganism for various other reasons including health and environmental reasons. So to answer the question we shall look at each point in turn.
Environmental Impact
Animal agriculture is responsible for up to 87% of greenhouse gases according to The Climate Healers paper, by Dr. Sailesh Rao, which has been published by the Journal of Ecological Society.
A recent study conducted by Oxford University states that going vegan is ‘the single biggest way’ to reduce an individual’s carbon footprint, which found that the reduction can be as large as 73% by just removing meat and dairy from your diet.
So if asking if vegans are right to claim that their diet cuts greenhouse gases and your carbon footprint, the above studies would certainly support that.
Are vegans making a difference?
Since going vegan is a somewhat passive act it can be questioned whether it is making any difference. Those looking to discredit the vegan way might question what one person’s decisions can have in the grand scheme of things. The same could be said about voting but as we all know in it is only when the majority swing in one direction or another that real change can happen. This can only start with the individual.
In the past 5 or more years we have seen a meteoric rise in the popularity of veganism so the changes are now becoming visible in day to day life. When I tried veganism in my teens many years ago it was still a very niche thing and you were seen as ‘odd’ for following that lifestyle. Only hardcore hippies were known to follow that kind of diet and you were quietly judged as “eccentric” for choosing that path.
Changing attitudes towards veganism
Not only did I get judged and sometimes find myself on the receiving end of ignorant comments about my life choices, from a practical standpoint, there were also so much less options for food choices. As I was still young and not yet firm in my beliefs or reasons for choosing to be vegan I admit they I quit after not many months during my teenage years. Fast forward to present day and I have now been vegan for going on 2+ years and can say the transition this time was breeze simply due to the increased popularity and choices on offer to cater for vegans.
Nowadays so many companies have seen the groundswell and raising popularity of veganism that they are all wanting to get a piece of that plant-based pie. Not only are there tons more vegan specialist companies now in existence but huge mainstream, previously exclusively meat producing food companies, are now trying to get in on the action. I could never have predicted all that time ago that I would see ads on billboards for Burger King’s latest vegan chicken burger yet it is a common sight now.
People are much more accepting now too when you say you are vegan. Because it is decidedly trendy to be vegan today it is seen as just another thing people do, like saying you are into climbing or cycling. It no longer has the stigma it did. This is really great in terms of normalising it to the masses which can only be a good thing for accelerating its adoption.
Young people I believe are much more conscientious about the planet they live in and what effect they have on it. We see movements such as Extinction Rebellion in the UK which has a very large young contingent and veganism, when seen from the environmental impact it has, goes hand in hand with the wider lens of having concern for the impact we have on the world.
Land saved vs animal land
While meat is more calorically dense than most plant foods, the resources required to rear animals is far greater than that which is required to grow plant crops. When exploiting animals for their meat or dairy you have to have land set aside to keep the animals but you also have to have land to grow the crops that the animals feed on.
Most plant based crops used in farming are crops to feed animals not humans. If the world stopped eating meat they could turn the land previously used to keep animals into human plant based crops as well as use the land that was for animal feed for human plant crops.
Ethical considerations
Peter Singer is the father of modern veganism who helped popularize the vegan movement in the 70s with the book Animal Liberation and who also coined the term speciesism. This is the idea that we should not ‘choose favorites’ with respect to which animals we love and keep as pets and which we happily kill for food.
Ethical reasons are the most well-known reason people become vegan. Their choice is based on a deep empathy with all sentient beings and they refuse to contribute to another animals’ suffering in order to sustain themselves.
Many people become vegetarian however if you do some reading into the dairy industry then you see this is married to the suffering of animals as much as the meat industry. Just because the animals are not killed for food does not mean they don’t suffer at the hands of humans while they are exploited for their milk.
Conclusion
To answer the original question “are vegans right?” we can say that given that the scientific consensus that global warming affected by humans is accelerating the rate of decay then choosing the vegan diet is certainly right from this perspective. Consumption of animal products is causing a huge impact on global warming and everyone’s carbon footprint such that cutting out this one thing would dramatically reduce the damage which is being done to the planet.
As for choosing whether veganism is right in terms of minimizing the harm to other sentient beings this must be a more personal choice as people’s moral compass is a more subjective thing. We can only hope to educate people towards making what is the right decision based on empathy and compassion.
If more people came to understand and appreciate the idea of ending speciesism this could increase the rate that people would adopt the vegan lifestyle since they already have a common link of loving their pets. They just have to make the broader perspective jump from just one set of species to all species.