The Reasons for Veganism
Introduction
Food is at the heart of life. Physical life, of course, but also emotional life, because this relationship with Mother Nature resonates, in our unconscious, with the primitive link to our nurturing mother. From breastfeeding to festive meals, eating customs link us to our childhood, to the family, and to society. What are the reasons that drive millions of people to free themselves from this conditioning?
Numerous and varied arguments justify the choice that took many contemporary stage stars and sports champions such as Ariana Grande, Natalie Portman, Katy Perry, Madonna, Lewis Hamilton, Colin Kaepernick, Novak Djokovic, and even ex-president Bill Clinton. These vegan people followed the inspiration of so many vegetarian celebrities of the universal intelligentsia as Pythagoras, Plato, Socrates, Leonardo de Vinci, Pascal, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Lamartine, Montaigne, Tolstoy, Wagner, Cuvier, Isaac Newton, Darwin, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, and, of course, some Christian saints such as Saint Francis of Assisi, and most Indian Saints.
More than a temporary fad, vegetarianism has existed for ages. The ancient Egyptians lived mostly on fruits and raw vegetables; the early Romans and the Spartans were close to vegetarianism. In mystic traditions like Orphism, Essenism, and Catharism, vegetarianism was a prerequisite for initiation. Adventist Christians, Benedictine and Trappist monks, Theosophists, and Rosicrucians recommend vegetarianism, which is also an integral part of Hindu and Chinese Buddhist observances. Unfortunately, in today’s agro-industrial complex, eggs and milk production involve as much inhumanity as the meat industry.
The annual cow herd culling rate in dairy farms varies from 30% to 35%, essential to maintaining high milk production, maximizing profitability, and allowing accelerated genetic improvement: 80% of ground meat comes from dairy cows. Laying hens finish their short life in the same way as the others. It is true that, in principle, drinking milk and eating unfertilized eggs do not imply death. That is why Hindus are lacto-vegetarians, but the era when Krishna kept sacred cows is over. Today, the production of milk is inseparable from that of meat and contributes to the industry of death. In this perspective, ovo-lacto-vegetarianism, which nowadays is very accessible, has to be only a transition towards veganism. Only a plant-based diet is a cruelty-free diet.13
Since ancient times, vegetarianism has helped people all over the world to stay healthy while looking after the welfare of animals. Today, veganism is not only coming out of marginality, it is also gaining official recognition.
First, a definition from the Vegan Society:
"Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms, it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals."
www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/definition-veganism
The nutritional aspect of veganism consists of a natural, whole-foods, plant-based diet. Properly balanced, it can provide all the nutrients essential for good health. However, a few nutrients are more difficult to obtain from plants than others, so some vegans may need to take vitamin B12, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids supplements or fortified foods that contain them.
Here are the scientific and spiritual reasons why Ātyantica Yoga Bliss recommends veganism.
Physiological arguments
Carnivores have sharp claws and teeth, long canines, a rough tongue, and their jaws are only vertically mobile; herbivores have nails or hooves, flat teeth, short canines, a smooth tongue, and their jaws are also laterally mobile. The saliva of carnivores is acidic to digest proteins, and their urine is acidic; in contrast, the saliva of herbivores is alkaline, with ptyalin to digest starch, and their urine is alkaline. Also, the intestine of a carnivore is three times the length of the trunk to expel its contents quickly before putrefaction produces toxins; the intestine of a herbivore is twelve times the length of the trunk to prolong transit and facilitate absorption. In addition, the liver of meat-eating animals can metabolize fifteen times more uric acid.
From this comparison, it is clear that human beings are closer to the herbivore category. Physiologically, humans are classified as omnivores, like chimpanzees who are mostly vegetarian but occasionally eat a small quantity of meat—not 150 kg/year like the average American or Portuguese, and even 200kg for Hong Kong1. A plant-based diet therefore, represents a return to our roots, a reharmonisation with nature, which we cannot trample without suffering the consequences. Technology, from the discovery of the cooking fire to the manufacture of synthetic vitamins, has enabled humankind to ignore the laws of the body, but a diet that respects our physiology is undoubtedly a better guarantee of health.
Scientific studies have shown that vegetarians are stronger, more agile, have greater endurance, recover more quickly from fatigue, and have stronger immunity. So, vegetarianism not only enhances a person's intellectual and spiritual qualities but also their physical abilities, as shown by the musculature of Patrik Babounian, Germany's strongest man2, a vegan bodybuilder, and the stamina of Charlotte McShane, a long-standing vegan, who won the Oceania Triathlon Super Sprint in 2024.
Moreover, a meat-free diet is no barrier to a long life. Some studies published in the JAMA Internal Medicine Journal found that vegans have a 9% lower risk of death from all causes compared with omnivores8. The oldest person in the world, Marie-Louise Fébronie Chassé, born on 29 August 1880 in Kamouraska, Canada, said she had never eaten meat.
Young vegetarians are also in good health. A study was carried out in 1989 on 400 children living in the vegan community "The Farm." The conclusion was that the absence of all animal products did not delay the normal development of babies and children3.
Epidemiological and Toxicological Arguments
Today's plants, even when contaminated by pollution, artificial fertilizers, pesticides, and various additives, or when degenerated by genetic manipulations, are still the safest food. According to the law of bioconcentration, the level of contamination by environmental pollutants is multiplied by ten at each stage of the food chain. So, sheep are ten times more contaminated than grass, and wolves—or human consumers—are a hundred times more contaminated. As the chain is longer in aquatic environment, the final concentration is very high in carnivorous fishes such as salmon. The result: 85% of our exposure to chemical substances that cause cancer, birth defects, and genetic mutations is due to the consumption of animal products.
In slaughterhouses, very few animals are inspected for the presence of toxic chemicals. DDT has been banned since the late 1970s because of its toxicity. However, its long half-life makes it persistent in the environment, and, as a result, almost everyone has DDT residues in their bodies, including in breast milk. However, the breast milk of vegetarians is less polluted than that of meat- eaters4. Let us be reminded that DDT is the main cause of infertility and reduced spermatogenesis..
Furthermore, animals reared in factory farms, deprived of sunlight, fresh air, and exercise, degenerate, as shown by their increasing susceptibility to infections. To compensate for the unhealthy conditions and keep them alive, huge quantities of antibiotics are introduced into their normal diet. The excessive use of antibiotics in poultry production leads to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the animals, which can then spread to humans. Through the transfer of resistance genes, bacteria responsible for poultry diseases can transform bacteria responsible for human diseases, making them resistant to antibiotics.
This increases the risk of antibiotic treatment failure and raises public health concerns. The main chemical weapon of medicine for over 50 years, antibiotics are now proving ineffective in treating an alarming number of human infections, including pneumonia, gonorrhea and tuberculosis.
Finally, it should be remembered that unhealthy farming processes cause epidemics such as mad cow disease and chicken flu, and that a meat-based diet always carries a risk of viral, bacterial or parasitic infections such as the bovine leukemia virus, salmonella poisoning, and trichinosis. Meat is a highly corruptible material, a carrion with a lot of coloring, which, without preservatives, would quickly become unfit for consumption.
Pathological Arguments
The diseases responsible for the greatest number of deaths, ironically called “diseases of civilization,” are directly attributable to the unhealthy meat-based diet. The comparisons of the number of affected persons among the meat-eaters and the vegans are statistical truths. We should not assume that any plant-based diet will be healthy. A huge portion of fries with ketchup and cola is 100% vegan, but it is surely not healthier than a well-balanced omnivorous meal. If the following statistics inspire you to switch to veganism, you should make sure that your diet respects nutrition rules and take supplements if you develop some deficiencies, like vitamin B12, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids.
Cardiovascular disorders
Animal products—meat, eggs, and dairy products—are notorious for their high levels of saturated fat and cholesterol. There is a proven correlation between the intake of these constituents and blood cholesterol levels, as well as a link between cholesterol levels and the development of atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, and heart diseases. Animal sources of protein are also too rich in methionine. This amino acid promotes the formation of atherosclerotic plaque, coronary spasm, and thrombosis, the three symptoms of angina pectoris, heart attack, and sudden death. Back in 1961, the Journal of the American Medical Association announced that 90 to 97% of all heart diseases could be prevented by adopting a vegetarian diet. Despite this well-known fact, the popularity of meat, well supported by the livestock lobbies in Washington, has increased the frequency of heart attacks in the United States to a rate of one death every 33 seconds5.
On the other hand, vegetables such as soya contain isoflavones (plant hormones similar to estrogen) and arginine (an essential amino acid), which protect against heart disease and breast and prostate cancer. Their unsaturated fats lower blood pressure, preventing the build-up of cholesterol and the formation of blood clots, and they promote weight loss by stimulating the metabolism.
As proven by the best-selling Dr Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease, a vegetarian diet is the key to curing heart diseases6.
Cancers
Animal products, which lack dietary fibre, cause constipation, diverticulitis and hemorrhoids. Meat, which should be evacuated quickly due to its rapid decomposition, moves through the intestine four times more slowly than other foods. As a result, toxins accumulate, creating a degenerative and carcinogenic environment. For example, the average meat-eater has more colon cancers than those who eat a small amount of meat. The Scots, who eat more meat than the English, have the highest rate of colon cancer in the world.
Statistics also show a correlation between the consumption of meat, eggs or dairy products and cancer of the lungs, breast, uterus, ovaries and prostate. A vegetarian diet contains fewer toxins and confers better immunity. The University of Texas’ MD Anderson Cancer Network promotes a plant-based diet7:
“That’s in part because plant-based foods contain phytochemicals, the nutrients that your immune system needs to fight off diseases like cancer. Plant-based foods also contain more fiber, which can help lower your cancer risk. Fiber not only keeps you feeling full longer, but it helps you lower your cholesterol, stabilize your blood sugar levels, and manage your bowels. Meat just doesn’t do that.”
Bone disorders
Atherosclerosis is often associated with arthritis because cholesterol deposits on the arterial wall block oxygen diffusion to the joint tissues, causing inflammation. Nodules, consisting mainly of cholesterol, are also present near the joints of arthritis patients. When these people adopt a diet low in fat and dairy products, their pain disappears, but reappears if they return to their old eating habits.
Gout is another painful condition linked to meat. Offal, in particular, is rich in purines, a type of amino acid transformed by digestion into uric acid, which crystallizes and is deposited in the joints. Inflammation and destruction of joint tissue cause excruciating pain.
Unfortunately, cholesterol and uric acid are not the only drawbacks of a meat diet. Its high protein content is itself harmful. There is a direct correlation between excess protein and bone calcium loss. An intake of 75 grams of protein a day results in a negative balance between calcium assimilated and calcium eliminated through the urine. The effects of this deficit are insidious but inexorable: by the age of 65, meat-eaters have lost 35% of their bone density. They become so prone to fractures that a sneeze can break a rib, and they end up developing spinal deformities. Even high doses of calcium supplements cannot remedy this calamity.
Vegetarian women of the same age, who often consume excess protein, show a reduced bone density of only 18%. Why do meat eaters show a double reduction? Because digestion of animal products produces acid residues, and calcium, an alkaline element, is needed to neutralize them. What's more, the calcium in plants is more easily assimilated than that in animal products, because the calcium/phosphorus ratio in the latter is too low (it is 70 times lower in liver than in lettuce). The calcium-phosphorus ratio should be close to 2:1 for better calcium absorption. The higher the ratio of phosphorus to calcium, the less calcium is absorbed by the body. Kale: 2.5/1, tofu: 4/1 and lean minced beef: 15/175=0.09/1
Kidney disorders
When excess protein removes calcium from the bones, it is eliminated by the kidneys, where it deposits and forms stones. Over 99% of cases of kidney stones—and the extreme pain they cause—can be avoided by adopting a diet low in protein and saturated fat, and high in fiber. Of course, these statistics show that strict vegetarians are almost totally protected against this condition.
The meat-based diet requires three times more work from the kidneys than the plant-based diet. This is because the elimination of urea and other compounds generated by protein metabolism is added to the excretion of calcium. This extra workload translates into inflammation, hypertrophy, and, ultimately, deterioration of kidney tissue and function. A low-protein diet is prescribed for patients who have had a kidney removed. This diet protects the second kidney, but dialysis awaits any patient who does not follow it, proving the benefits of a vegan diet.
Obesity
Proteins, whose over-consumption is harmful, have undeniable nutritional value. Unsaturated fats, found in nuts, seeds, and their first cold-pressed oils, are a source of essential fatty acids and should also be part of our basic diet. On the other hand, saturated fats from animal products are nothing more than a source of empty calories.
Visible fats, such as oil, margarine, butter, etc., only account for 20% of our lipid (fat) consumption, so 80% is swallowed without our knowledge. Using the standard square of butter served in restaurants (about 7 g) as a unit of measurement, we can visualize the fat content of different animal products and become aware of the reality of hidden fats. For example, a cup of unskimmed milk or 28 g of Parmesan cheese contains 1 square, and 120 g of lamb chop is equivalent to 4 squares. In addition to these natural fats, there are cooking fats. Steak sautéed in butter, roast beef with bacon, fish breaded and fried.... Obviously, animal products are often the cause of obesity.
Obese people on a weight-loss diet carefully avoid ‘starchy’ foods such as cereals, pasta, bread, beans and potatoes. Paradoxically, when they adopt a vegan diet, they eat mostly these forbidden foods and often lose weight!
Diabetes and hypoglycemia
Simple carbohydrates such as sweets, rice, noodles, and bread made from refined flour, whose rapid digestion causes a sudden influx of glucose, stimulate the pancreas, which reacts by secreting insulin to lower the level of glucose in the blood. These repeated stimuli affect the way the pancreas functions, causing hypoglycemia if it secretes too much insulin or diabetes if it secretes too little or if this hormone becomes ineffective.
However, it seems that carbohydrates are not the only culprit. For example, one group of healthy people was given a lot of fatty foods, and another group was given a lot of simple carbohydrates. The glucose tolerance test, which assesses blood sugar levels, revealed that fat disrupts pancreatic function more than sugar. According to another study, 60% of diabetics no longer needed insulin injections after following a low-fat diet, indicating that fat inhibits the action of insulin.
Once again, a vegan diet is preferable to a fatty meat diet, as carbohydrates are better than fats, particularly the complex carbohydrates found in wholemeal cereals and legumes.
Anemia
The rare beefsteak and its hemoglobin do not necessarily eliminate the possibility of anemia. Contrary to prejudice, studies have shown that consumers of animal products are more prone to anemia than vegetarians. Vegetables are a better source of iron than meat. For example, Popeye’s spinach contains fourteen times more iron than lean beef. What's more, the absorption of iron is aided by vitamin C, which animal products lack. As for dairy products, not only do they not provide iron, but they often lead to its loss through intestinal bleeding in people who are allergic to lactose unknowingly. We should now mention the other causes of hemorrhage linked to meat-based diets: hemorrhoids due to constipation and prolonged menstruation, as the flesh of hormone-laden animals increases estrogen levels in women.
Ulcers, etc.
Ulcers result from the stomach mucosa corrosion by gastric secretion acidity. Meat, which is low in fiber and high in fat and protein, stimulates the release of gastrin, a hormone that promotes the production of gastric acid, so much so that bones dissolve in a wolf's stomach. However, our digestive system is not designed to digest a lot of meat and cannot cope with such a high level of acidity. Similarly, our circulatory system does not tolerate much cholesterol, whereas those of carnivores can tolerate any amount. These examples show how eating habits incompatible with our biological nature can jeopardize our health.
Finally, 90% of asthmatics who need cortisone see a significant improvement in their condition after following a vegan diet for a year. And even patients suffering from multiple sclerosis can halt the progression of the disease by adopting a low-fat, low-protein diet.
In conclusion, it would appear that the “diseases of civilization” mentioned above are indeed linked to a meat-based diet. What's more, meat causes premature general wear and tear on the body. Meat is a stimulant that, like caffeine and nicotine, produces a feeling of euphoria. This stimulation speeds up blood circulation and metabolism, which consumes a lot of energy. Excitement is quickly followed by a phase of depression, which encourages people to eat more meat to regain this sense of well-being, creating a dependency. This process leads to a depletion of physiological resources and a deterioration of the elimination organs, which also have to fight against poisoning by the toxins, hormones, pollutants, coloring and preservative agents in animal products. In this way, the flesh of harmless creatures that humans mercilessly slaughter destroys him more than it nourishes him. This is a non-mystical, rationalist manifestation of the law of karma...
Ecological arguments
The meat-based diet jeopardizes not only the health of the human being, but it is also a threat to the viability of the global ecosystem.
Deforestation
Cattle ranching is the leading cause of deforestation worldwide, accounting for around 41% of tropical deforestation. Between 2001 and 2015, the conversion of forests for livestock grazing and feed production led to an estimated 45.1 million hectares of deforestation and the disappearance of thousands of threatened species. Tropical forests, a source of oxygen and carbon dioxide fixation, are being replaced by cattle, a source of this greenhouse gas, responsible for global warming. 65 square feet of forest is burned to produce a quarter pound of hamburger, emitting 500 pounds of carbon dioxide. To this is added all the methane produced by the farm animals' intestinal gases.
This cultivation exhausts the original rich soil of ploughland, of which 75 % is lost, so far, in the United States. It contributes to the global desertification that spreads by 1.5 million acres every year and adds to the erosion that takes away another 52 million acres.
Waste of Natural Resources
Worldwide, 1.5 billion cattle occupy almost 60% of the world's agricultural land. Livestock farming requires 90% of American agricultural resources and 33% of its raw materials, including oil.
In the West, meat production requires huge quantities of water to irrigate meadows, clean up excrement, etc. Half of the water available in the United States is used for meat production, at a rate of 600 US gallons per pound of beef—the average consumption of a family for a month. In comparison, 60 gallons are enough to produce one pound of brown rice.
The depletion of freshwater reserves is a flagrant injustice when you consider that 2 billion people on Earth do not have access to clean water. The depletion of water reserves will seriously affect more than a third of the planet's population and is becoming the greatest threat to the environment and human health. The meat industry is also extremely energy-intensive. To produce one calorie of beef, 78 calories of fossil fuels are needed, whereas two calories are enough for one calorie of soya.
Pollution of Air and Water
A factory farm rearing 2,000 pigs produces 30 tonnes of fertilizer (manure) and even more urine every week, totaling 25,000 tonnes per second in the United States. Animal waste exceeds the earth's capacity to recycle so much natural fertilizer.
When manure is spread, nitrogen is released into the atmosphere, producing acid rain and more toxic air pollution than fossil gas.
In addition, the massive discharge of nitrates, phosphates, and ammonia has deleterious effects on flora and fauna. It promotes the proliferation of algae in rivers, deoxygenates water, and kills fish. Manure can contain dangerous pathogens, such as antibiotics, growth hormones, and animal blood. People exposed to these pathogens can become sick with intestinal illnesses or bacterial infections. Every year, a billion tonnes of non-recycled waste, produced in breeding centers with no sewage system, end up in rivers and groundwater. Contaminated groundwater could be responsible for stomach cancer and “blue baby” syndrome.
All these figures show that eating meat is a luxury at an exorbitant price. The medical and ecological costs are so high that veganism is no longer a choice but a necessity. It has been said that humanity in the 21st century will either be vegetarian or it will not be.
Economic arguments
Ecological problems and poverty are linked. Indeed, the greatest threat to the environment is the distress of the poorest people, who sometimes have to destroy their last remaining forests to obtain firewood for cooking. In a context of scarcity, it is understandable that individuals, like governments, give in to pressure and work to satisfy the eating habits of the rich countries. The spreading culture of meat consumption, a source of prestige in developing countries, is not only an ecological disaster, but it is also a factor in the exploitation of the poorest countries. China has seen a significant increase in meat consumption over the past few decades, primarily driven by rising incomes and growing social status, making it the world's largest consumer of meat today. China primarily imports its meat, particularly beef, from Brazil…
In Africa, 163 million people are suffering from malnutrition as a result of drought and famine, yet Sudan, for example, is exporting beef while its people are starving to death. In 2022, Sudan exported beef worth 37.5 million dollars. By eating meat imported from countries that have wasted all the cereals that could have saved part of their population, meat-lovers are contributing to the death of children. Worldwide, a child dies of hunger every 3 seconds. According to the research, a 10% reduction in global meat consumption could free up enough land currently used for animal food to feed a significant number of hungry people, given that a large proportion of crops are grown specifically to feed livestock rather than humans directly. This shift towards a more plant-based diet could significantly reduce world hunger. This will not be for the benefit of developing countries only: In 2023, 47 million people in the United States lived in food-insecure households, where there is not enough food and it is not known where the next meal will come from…
Biologically, the synthesis of animal protein is not efficient, and the waste implied by a meat-based diet is astounding. It takes approximately 6 kilograms of plant protein to produce 1 kilogram of meat protein. So, on a meadow reserved for the production of meat, we could produce five times more grain protein, 10 times more soy protein and 20 times more spinach protein. We choose to feed 100 heads of cattle rather than 2000 persons. Only one "carnivore" can survive on a given surface of land where 20 vegans can draw their food and water.
The inefficiency of the system requires the overexploitation of the resources, particularly in aquatic environments. Fishing reached more than 200 million tons a year. Fishermen raid whole populations of small fish, such as sardines, including the juveniles, depopulating the ocean bed. These species represent an essential link in the marine food chain, and their extinction decreases the potential of the seas to feed mankind. Now, half of the catch is processed into fish flour intended for cattle. Five pounds of fish are needed to make one pound of flour, and five pounds of flour are needed to make one pound of red meat.
To offset the lack of fish, they turn to fish farming, which is conceived on the model of cattle breeding, and face the same difficulties, for example, weakened immunity, massive recourse to antibiotics, pollution, and wastage of protein to feed fish. A more disturbing problem for the future: the genetically modified varieties escape from ponds and, by crossbreeding with the wild varieties, cause genetic degeneration.
With 8.2 billion people on earth in 2024, it's high time to stop the wastage caused by the meat-based diet. For the survival of our species and the preservation of the planet. It is also a question of international equity and of solidarity with the famished.12
Humanitarian arguments
This is the most relevant argument for meditators, yogis or any conscientious person since animal product consumption is totally inconsistent with the principle of ahimsa (non-harming).
The meat industry, which is bad for people and the planet, does not spare animals either. Today's breeding centers are far from the idyllic farms of children's stories. Regarded as objects devoid of sensibility and feelings, animals have a hellish life from the first to the last day of their existence. They seem to exist only to suffer the cruelty of human beings.
Factory farms are concentration camps where animals are imprisoned for life in a space where they cannot even turn around or are crammed into overcrowded cages. Reduced to mere meat-producing machines, they have no right to exercise, sunlight, open air, or fresh grass; they are not allowed to feed their young or to come into contact with other members of their species. This extreme confinement and the denial of all their natural needs lead to stress and aggression, which is remedied by various mutilations: horns, tails, wings, beaks, and testicles are ruthlessly amputated without anesthetic.
Lying in their excrement, breathing a stench so toxic that their torturers have to wear masks, the animals gorge themselves with artificial feed stuffed with hormones, antibiotics, and various drugs. After accelerated growth, they are kicked out and clubbed to the slaughterhouses. Their martyrdom then continues over long distances, in stifling cattle trucks, without water, food, or protection from the elements. Many do not survive or are injured. Animals that arrive at their destination in too poor a state are sometimes thrown in with the corpses of their fellow animals, where they are collected by a salvager who turns them into dog food.
The terrorized survivors are finally exterminated in an atmosphere of bloody horror. They struggle and howl in pain as they are beaten to death, sometimes repeatedly, to overcome the life that still wants to persist. Others are hung from a hook by the leg in preparation for serial slaughter (also with occasional clumsiness). Sometimes, the bleeding has to be carried out without prior stunning, as is the case for the Kosher ‘rite’ (fundamentalist Jews and Muslims). Then the animal must die with a clear conscience, to the very last drop of blood!
Slaughterhouse workers have to work quickly and mechanically in the interest of profitability. So there is no time or place for respect or compassion, and brutality is the norm in this atrocious carnage. If there were windows in these facilities, witnesses to the slaughter would have less appetite for the quivering muscles and spurting blood of the beings they see collapsing.
The meat-based diet condones this barbarism, which is unworthy of humanity. As the sale of animal products is the only reason for the existence of slaughterhouses, every consumer shares responsibility for these abominations. No one can claim ignorance, because the facts presented here have been known for a long time. Those who are still unaware have chosen to close their eyes. Others are shocked that we show them photos of these horrors and refuse to look at them. They probably prefer not to know to preserve their ancestral customs and defend the attachment to meat in good faith.
“A typical slaughterhouse kills up to 1,100 pigs an hour. The sheer number of animals killed makes a humane and painless death impossible.” —Extract from the PETA website9
How can you enjoy a piece of cadaver when you know that it is the product of so much suffering? If you don't want to be an accomplice of the meat industry, you can easily switch to a vegan diet. These days, health food stores and most supermarkets provide all the ingredients you need to prepare healthy and tasty new vegan meals. However, adopting veganism requires a determined attitude to resist a taste temptation or an undue concern not to displease friends and family. Taking a stand and consistently asserting one's convictions and choices is the only power that principled citizens have in the face of a reactionary society. By changing themselves, individuals end up changing the world.
The aim is not to make consumers or slaughterhouse employees feel guilty with a sanctimonious discourse. Even without humans, the world is a huge slaughterhouse where the big animals eat the smaller ones. The law of nature is implacable: every living animal will die in appalling conditions. For decades, we have seen documentaries showing herbivores being hunted by carnivores that are sometimes too small for a quick kill. Wild dogs in Africa start their meal while the prey is still moving! In these conditions, it's better to be shot by a skilled hunter than eaten alive.
On the other hand, some people cannot be vegans for health reasons, including the Dalai Lama, who cannot be accused of lacking conscience and compassion. We can morally accept that humanity consumes a small amount of meat provided that the conditions under which animals are reared are kind to them: a peaceful life in a natural environment, unhurried and stress-free slaughter using a captive bolt pistol that penetrates the skull, destroys part of the brain and ensures instant death. Some would say that this is a gentle way of murdering. That's true, but we can also say that the farm animal would never have seen the light of day if it had not been destined for consumption.
So, the pros and cons of veganism lead to an ethical debate.
Ethical Arguments
Beyond sentimentality and emotionality, it is clearly wrong to kill a being that wants to live. It is worse to cut out testicles of piglets without anesthesia, to force-fed geese to hypertrophy their liver, to cut shark fins and let them die slowly at the bottom of the sea, to take away cows’ babies and give them an unbalanced diet to turn them into white “veal,” to dispose of useless male chicks by sending them alive into a grinding machine. The examples are countless.
These brutalities are accepted by most meat-eaters who prefer not to know the facts of the food industry. They easily ignore and dismiss the humanitarian argument for veganism on the pretext that a vegan diet is extreme, impractical, and inconvenient, or because it may lead to nutritional deficiencies. There is also a social pushback against the perceived "holier than thou" stance of vegan people, and much annoyance when it is time to invite them for dinner. More importantly, it is believed that animals are less conscious than humans and, therefore, cannot suffer as much. Some say that animals are given by God to be used by mankind as food…
At the root of the problem is the philosopher René Descartes:
“Animals cannot reason and do not feel pain; animals are living organic creatures, but they are automata, like mechanical robots”. Descartes held that "only humans are conscious, have minds and souls, can learn and have language, and therefore only humans are deserving of compassion”.
This saintly man was under the influence of Christianity, which has never been soft on animals. Even today, Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) says it's not OK to love animals with the same love or resources as people, and it states:
"It is likewise unworthy to spend money on them that should as a priority go to the relief of human misery. One can love animals; one should not direct to them the affection due only to persons" (CCC 2418).
And the comment concludes:
“So, take care of your pets and love them as animals and companions. Treat animals with respect. Don't kill them for no reason. They are a gift from God. But never confuse the fact that human beings are more important and, practically speaking, need to trump animal life10.”
“Never confuse the fact that human beings are more important and, practically speaking, need to trump animal life.” This is the very principle of speciesism.
The term speciesism was coined to draw analogies with all types of human rights violations, like racism, sexism, classism, ableism, ageism, etc. The discrimination against animals, based arbitrarily on their species membership, is a form of prejudice based on the fallacy of human supremacy (the Bible portrays humans as the "top of creation”). The belief that there is something intrinsic in humans that grants us more moral value than other sentient beings entails that animals do not deserve ethical consideration in the way humans do. This ideology authorizes animal exploitation and mistreatment as mere objects or resources.
The fallacy of human supremacy is now debunked by today’s science. Descartes and all the Popes were wrong: Animals are sentient beings and have consciousness as humans do, according to the Cambridge Declaration On Consciousness11. A prominent international group of cognitive neuroscientists, neuropharmacologists, neurophysiologists, neuroanatomists, and computational neuroscientists gathered at The University of Cambridge, and said what all animal lovers already know:
“We declare the following: “The absence of a neocortex does not appear to preclude an organism from experiencing affective states. Convergent evidence indicates that non-human animals have the neuroanatomical, neurochemical, and neurophysiological substrates of conscious states, along with the capacity to exhibit intentional behaviors. Consequently, the weight of evidence indicates that humans are not unique in possessing the neurological substrates that generate consciousness. Non-human animals, including all mammals and birds, and many other creatures, including octopuses, also possess these neurological substrates.”
Now that anti-speciesism and veganism have a scientific basis that confers them ethical validity, it is legitimate to promote them. There are some laws to protect animals against the cruelty of man, but, in reality, animals have no rights. Judges are not very sensitive to the issue, culprits mutually protect themselves, witnesses are afraid to get into trouble, and the suits in court are more expensive than the fines, which are maintained ridiculously low... Moreover, the law that stipulates that we cannot make an animal suffer pointlessly is difficult to apply. We can debate for a long time on the usefulness of cruel treatments. So, the expansion of veganism will meet resistance.
The issue of veganism goes far beyond the nutritional debate. We need to overcome doubts related to nutritional deficiencies. We need to calm our minds and open our hearts. Ecological, economic, and ethical issues are more important than the occasional vitamin preoccupation. Without a sense of indignation, animosity or disdain, we must proactively promote our principles because indifference and laissez-faire mean tacit acceptance of evil. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,"
On the other hand, we must avoid fanaticism and intolerance because it makes no sense to hurt other people's feelings in the name of non-violence! “What comes out of the mouth is more important than what goes in,” said Sri Aurobindo. Moreover, zealous and militant neo-vegans, quickly faced with the general disapproval they provoke, rarely persevere.
Activism in favor of animal rights, if done with a peaceful mind, could be good karma yoga, the yoga of action, of actions taken without expecting to reap its fruits, because its results are left in the hands of the Divine. The defenders of the animal cause have self-abnegation as their hallmark. Their actions arouse general incomprehension, and they cannot even find consolation in receiving the gratitude of those they defend. Working to improve the lot of animals is a volunteer act par excellence—a karma yoga. The nobility of the vegan undertaking will surely earn the help of Providence. As soon as we commit ourselves resolutely, all kinds of circumstances are set up to help us. A series of events will arise from this decision: favorable incidents, encounters, and material help that would otherwise not have occurred.
Conclusion
More than just a diet, veganism is a state of mind based on knowledge of scientific facts, awareness of the spiritual meaning of these facts, and a concern for justice, respect, and love of life. It is not a religion, but an option. Would we prefer the Earth to be a beautiful garden or a bloody slaughterhouse? Linda McCartney: “We who love animals are the silent majority, but the season of silence is over. The time has come for everyone to say ‘No to animal flesh, No to fur; Yes to life, and to the animals with whom we share the planet.’”
To adopt vegetarianism is to put noble and lofty ideals into practice, to develop an art of living that brings physical, mental, and spiritual health, the conditions for lasting happiness and true success. Freeing ourselves from the pernicious conformism of the meat-based diet is an opportunity and a privilege, but also a responsibility: it's up to us to demonstrate the value of veganism through our health, our vitality, our immunity, our humor, and our cheerfulness. We need to dispel prejudice against this eminent diet by eliminating the stereotype of the cold, lethargic, and vegetative vegetarian.
Resist family, social, and sometimes medical pressure. Resist the specious counter-arguments that are bound to sow doubt and fear. In some circles, it's fashionable to say: "You can't become a vegetarian overnight." Is rejecting a source of bad fats and chemical and bacteriological contamination, the main cause of the diseases of civilization, more dangerous than the standard American Diet (aptly called SAD)? It is among meat eaters that cardiovascular and degenerative diseases wreak havoc, but we always hear that “vegetarians need to be careful and balance their diet.” As if nutrition were such a complicated mystery, that a plant-based diet was a great risk! Yet millions of people in the East have lived without meat for thousands of years without the expertise of nutritionists or the approval of physicians.
Warning
A plant-based diet precludes animal products but must still provide all the essential nutrients including proteins, essential fatty acids, calcium, iron, vitamin B12, vitamin D, etc. A vegan meal cannot be a regular plate from which the meat part is discarded.
1 https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/mapped-meat-consumption-by-country-and-type/
2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbfXtcaJ7AU (The Game Changer documentary)
3 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2771551/
3 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2688366/
4 https://www.sciepub.com/reference/412668
5 https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/data-research/facts-stats/index.html
6 Dr. Dean Ornish’sProgram for Reversing Heart Disease: The only system scientifically proven to reverse heart disease without drugs or surgery, 1990
8 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4191896/
9 https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/factory-farming/pigs/pig-transport-slaughter/
10 http://www.maryhaseltine.com/2016/06/what-catholics-believe-about-animals.html
11 https://fcmconference.org/img/CambridgeDeclarationOnConsciousness.pdf
12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsigH2Skfdg (Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret)
13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYmZISwJI7k (India: The Land of Ahimsa)
Get in Touch
Thank you for helping me to improve this website!