Veganism: Food choice for a sustainable planet

Zakia Rahman

(For any feedback:zakiazulfia@gmail.com)

The word Vegan was first used by a British woodman, named Donald Watson in 1944, the founder of the Vegan society. The term 'Vegan' is at times misinterpreted as vegetarian. Vegan narrows the food choice by omitting dairy. Veganism is all about refraining from any kind of animal abuse for food or entertainment.

The term vegetarian which is a common food habit in India dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization, 5th century, it inculcates tolerance towards all non-human living beings. Jainism promotes a strict and religiously motivated meat free diet. Buddhism and some sect of Hinduism incorporate a vegetarian diet too. In some of the Indian cultures, the practice of non-violence or ahimsa promotes meat-free living.

Dairy has been a part of the vegetarian diet since ages. In pre-industrial days dairy would not be as barbaric as it is now. Most of the households in the past would own cattle and the extra milk was used for human consumption. With the industrial revolution and modernization of society, rearing of cattle has been limited and the growing population had put pressure on the dairy industry for enormous milk supply which led to the abuse of these voiceless and powerless beings and is treated as mere milk machines than a life. The abuse that goes on in any dairy industry is the same worldwide. In order to maintain the uninterrupted milk production, cows are forced every year to go through endless cycles of pregnancy and birth through artificial Inseminaton which is known as forced impregnation. Newborn male calves which are considered futile are snatched from their mothers right after birth, send to slaughter houses so that humans can enjoy them as food and wear as leather. Year after year male calves are taken away so that their milk can be stolen. Does it make any sense to humans, separating a mother from the baby? Once the so-called milk machine is old and unable to bear milk, cows are sent for slaughtering. This is how humans payback for the milk we relish. Hence, I would call dairy industry as a ruthless industry.

Veganism is a social change that's fights for the liberation of animals from the dairy industry and slaughtering.

Vegan for the animals: Animals raised for food are exposed to the worst form of abuses. There have been whistleblower videos by undercover agents in many countries exposing the horrific treatment of farm animals. For instance, hammering down cows, pigs, sheep until death, live shackle slaughter of chickens where chickens are boiled alive while still conscious, male chickens are culled alive into machines as they are deemed useless to the chicken industry, male calves snatched, slaughtered and the cruelty list goes on. Isn't it a food for thought about the animal abuses that goes on in the background before the food is served on a platter. When we use the term 'farm' we visualize about the Old Macdonald Farm with greeneries around, blue sky, cattle grazing and the chickens free under the sky, unfortunately the reality is just irreconcilable. These animals (cows, chickens, pigs, goat etc) bred for food don't get the chance to see the sun in their lifetime, chickens bred for eggs are confined in battery cages their entire lives, in most of the farms. While in fish farming, fishes are usually confined to overcrowded tanks. Why are we punishing these innocent creatures for a crime they have never committed? Children are taken to the Zoos to learn about animals. I wonder why are they not given a tour of the slaughter houses to learn where our food comes from?

Vegan for the environment: According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, animal agriculture is one of the leading contributors to greenhouse gases leading to global warming- a threat to the survival of our planet.

Animal agriculture has a vast environmental footprint contributing to deforestation, land and water pollution, acid rain and coral reef degeneration. Farm animals excrete a lot of waste, these waste are filled with antibiotics and growth hormones that were given to the animals, bacteria and other pollutants as well. All these harmful byproducts are finally released to the soil and water. Can you imagine how harmful this can be for the environment? Some uses the waste as crop fertilizer with all the harmful by products in it. In some farms the waste is burnt for days causing a hell of air pollution. Some store their waste in Lagoons, which often spill or discharge directly into the waterways. The waste contains methane and nitrous oxide, the two potent greenhouse gases. Animal agriculture takes an immense amount of grain, water and land. To produce one kilogram of beef requires 25 kilograms of grains to feed the animal and around 15,000 litres of water. The amount is less for porks and lesser in Chickens. Around 30% of the land in the world is used for animal agriculture. Feeding grains to livestock increases the demand of grain globally. This is one of the major causes of global hunger. If all grains could have been used to feed humans over animals, the world could have fed an extra 3.5 billion people. This is why animal agriculture is inefficient and loss to the health of the globe.

Vegan for the health: To meet the demand and increase the mass production, animals are fed with hormones and steroids. This is a growing health concern rising to the problem of antibiotic resistance. There have been endless deaths across the world due to resistant bacteria. It is a crisis that warrants attention to those who consumes animal products daily.

Meat consumption is linked with diseases as heart diseases, stroke, high blood pressure and various cancers, reducing meat consumption or cutting out from our food habit could offer substantial health benefits.

Zoonotic diseases and animal agriculture: Diseases that are passed from animal or insects to humans are called Zoonotic diseases. In many cases the animals are not affected but for humans it can be fatal. These diseases are serious as they have the power to grind global economies and human activities to a halt like we are dealing with one presently, Covid-19.

How is an animal agriculture responsible for all the pandemics? In animal agriculture thousands of animals are crammed under one roof creating the conditions where a virus could easily mutate, spread and eventually jump to humans and rising to the problem of pandemic. Farmed animals are given antibiotics, drug resistant viruses or bacteria mutate and can get to humans through farm workers, infections from drug resistant viruses and bacteria can be severe and difficult to treat.

The most concerning Zoonotic diseases are Zoonotic influenza (Swine flu, Avian/Bird flu), Salmonellosis, West Nile Virus, Plague, Emerging Coronaviruses, Rabies, Brucellosis, Lyme diseases.

Veganism a moral obligation: I considered myself as a lifelong animal lover until I joined the Human League as a volunteer in November 2019 and realized how wrong I have been all these years to consider myself as an animal lover. I have been compassionate towards dogs, cats and birds and blind to the plight of the farm animals raised for food. The Human League is an international non-profit organization founded in 2005, headquartered in Maryland, the USA. It works to end the abuse of animals raised for food through individual and institutional changes.

The webinars of the Human League exposed me to the reality and horrific conditions of the farm animals. I was devastated and ashamed to proclaim as an animal lover and decided to go vegan as a moral obligation to those who cannot fight for their rights to live.

Civilizations in the past relied on meat, over the time this has changed and now over half a billion people live exclusively on plant-based food as grains, beans, nuts, fruits and vegetables. Many have replaced dairy with plant based milk, cheese and butter (oat, almond, coconut, soya, cashew etc). Plant-based products are tastier, healthier/nutritious and the best - cruelty free. As awareness rises about animal agriculture and its deleterious effects on our health, environment and animal cruelty there have been an increase demand in plant based food, thus raising an urge for more plant-based farming.

For the planet, health and the innocent animals, veganism could be the better food choice.

Lord Gautama Buddha: "He who is kind to animals heaven will protect".