The Vegan Planet Initiative
Beginning this year the Eco-Philosophy Center is emphasizing the critical role that food choices play in the environment. In particular, it is time to acknowledge that diets that include meat and dairy products are extremely damaging to the planet.
For those who may be unclear, 'vegan' is one step beyond 'vegetarian.' Vegetarians eat no meat, but vegans avoid all animal-based foods, including milk, cream, eggs, butter, and cheese.
The case for veganism is very clear: food animals use massive amounts of land, water, energy, and other resources. They are terribly inefficient sources of human nutrition.
Additionally, industrial animal production is an extremely cruel process; animals are raised in horrific conditions simply to be slaughtered, or held captive for life to serve as milk- or egg-producing machines. Finally, meat and dairy diets are harmful to the human body, which has little or no natural ability to digest animal protein without detrimental side-effects.
The environmental damage caused by food animals was underscored recently by a 2006 UN Food and Agriculture Organization report titled Livestock's Long Shadow. A press release on November 29, 2006, "Livestock a major threat to environment," highlighted some shocking facts:
• Between grazing land and feed production, livestock production affects 30% of the entire land surface area of the Earth.
• Animal feed (grain) production alone accounts for 33% of the planet's total arable land.
• Livestock produce more CO2-equivalent gases than the entire transportion sector, and thus have a larger effect on global climate change. Put simply, cows are worse than cars when it comes to climate change.
• Livestock account for fully 20% of the entire terrestrial animal biomass of the Earth. In other words, if we could weigh every land animal on this planet, one fifth of the total would be: cows, pigs, and chickens. This is completely unnatural, and an incredible burden on the planetary ecosystem.
Meat and dairy consumption is thus harmful on three vital levels: environment, human health, and (obviously) animal welfare. The alleged protein benefits are virtually nonexistent, given a balanced vegan diet — most people in industrialized nations today in fact have an excess of protein in their diets, leading to cancers and other serious ailments. And for those who have too little to eat, animal food production is consuming the agricultural land they need to eat and live sustainably. In truth, there is virtually nothing to be said for meat or dairy products other than 'they taste good' — perhaps true, but a luxury that our bodies and the Earth can no longer afford.
The Eco-Philosophy Center hereby promotes a true vegan diet, and indeed a vegan lifestyle, as an ideal for us all to strive for. It need not be 'all or nothing,', but clearly, the more vegan the better. To this end we will be sponsoring lectures on the benefits of veganism, and distributing informational literature.
To achieve a truly Vegan Planet will take years, but we must start now. Every small step toward this end will make a difference — for the animals, for your health, and for the Earth.
If you wish to support this effort with additional information, resources, or financial support, please contact us. We welcome all contributions and all ideas.