Choosing to Make the World a Better Place!
- Isabelle La Roche
- Jan 6, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: May 14, 2024
There are several benefits to making a partial or complete transition to a plant-based diet. These benefits include the opportunity to support animal welfare, improve our overall health, increase longevity, and manage weight effectively. Additionally, adopting a plant-based diet contributes to environmental conservation, promotes global food sustainability, and fosters a more compassionate world.
It is the Best Way to Help Animals
As children, most of us visited zoos, wore leather clothing, and ate meat. A lot of us also enjoyed McDonald's burgers and bought our beloved pets from pet stores. We rarely considered the well-being of the animals involved in these activities.
As factory farming techniques become more prevalent, the growing demand for inexpensive meat, dairy, and eggs has resulted in a decline in welfare standards. In Canada alone, 841 million land animals were killed for food in 2022.
Anyone who opposes injustice in the world should consider that animals also deserve to live without suffering and exploitation. They can experience the same level of suffering as humans, feeling pain, pleasure, fear, frustration, loneliness, and motherly love. It is only prejudice, whether based on race, gender, or species, that leads us to deny others the rights we expect for ourselves. If we wouldn't eat a dog, why eat a pig? Dogs and pigs have the same ability to feel pain, but it is species-based prejudice that allows us to view one as a companion and the other as food.
By reducing their consumption of animal-based foods, we can help decrease the number of animals killed each year. If someone completely eliminates animal-based foods from their diet, they could potentially save the lives of 200 animals annually. Making the choice to eat more plant-based alternatives when shopping or dining out is a powerful way to advocate for animal rights. This shift in consumer demand will lead to supermarkets reducing their orders for animal products, ultimately resulting in fewer animals being raised and killed in the future.
Achieve better health, increase lifespan, and effortlessly maintain a healthy weight.
According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, plant-based eaters are less likely to develop heart disease, cancer, type II diabetes, and high blood pressure than meat-eaters are. Furthermore, the leading cause of food poisoning in North America is animal flesh. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, 30% of slaughtered pigs are infected with toxoplasmosis annually due to parasites caused by their cramped and small living spaces. Additionally, salmonella is found in 25% of all chicken sold.
It is estimated that meat, fish, and dairy products account for nearly 95% of the pesticide residue found in our diet. Fish frequently contain heavy metals and carcinogens, and meat and dairy products contain steroids and hormones that can cause hormone imbalances and serious diseases.
Eating primarily plant-based food enables you to limit excess fat and supports the maintenance of high energy levels, in contrast to other unhealthy fad diets. Plant-eaters weigh, on average, 5-20% less than meat-eaters.
A More Sustainable World
Plant-based living is a more sustainable way of feeding people on a global scale.
Scientists have issued stern warnings about global food supplies, stating that Western countries must transition to a plant-based diet in order to prevent catastrophic shortages. It is projected that the world's population will rise from 8 billion to 10 billion by 2050.
Utilizing land for animal agriculture is not efficient in terms of maximizing food production. According to the journal Soil and Water, one acre of land can yield 50,000 lbs of tomatoes, 40,000 lbs of potatoes, 30,000 lbs of carrots, or only 250 lbs of beef. Raising farmed animals and growing grains to feed them requires a significant amount of crops and water. If the grain was directly given to people, plant-based food could be utilized much more efficiently, resulting in enough food to feed the entire planet.
Adopting a more sustainable way of living is the simplest way to take a stand against inefficient food systems which disproportionately affects the poorer people in the world.
Better for the Environment
The production of meat and other animal products places a heavy burden on the environment. Livestock farming requires vast amounts of land, and water and harms biodiversity. It devastates ecosystems, pollutes, uses up water, and contributes to climate change.
Deforestation: The vast amount of grain feed required for meat production is a significant contributor to deforestation, habitat loss and species extinction. In Brazil alone, 5.6 million acres of land are used to grow soya beans for animals. This land contributes to malnutrition by driving disadvantaged populations to grow crops for animal food, rather than food for themselves.
Global warming: The farming industry is also one of the biggest causes of climate change. The United Nations report says livestock farming is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than all the world’s transport combined put together!
Soil Erosion: 70% of agricultural land available on the planet is used for farm animals, plus another 10% to grow animal food.
Land pollution: Livestock farms create phenomenal amounts of waste, tons of manure, a substance that’s a top pollutant. The problem is the concentration of animals in confinement facilities.
Fresh Water Resources: Globally, animal farming uses about 70% of the planet’s accessible freshwater. It takes 15,500 litres of water to produce 1 kg of beef, contrasted with 180 litres for 1 kg of tomatoes and 250 litres for 1 kg of potatoes.
Water Pollution: The livestock sector is also the largest source of groundwater, stream and river pollution. The nitrogen and phosphor contained in the manure pits often leach into groundwater and run off to pollute lakes, killing the fish and endangering the health of other animals. According to a recent report from the U.N, we will only have 60% of the water we need by 2030 without significant global policy change.
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