Eschewing meat and choosing plants as the foundation for
the most perfect diet is a decision supported in multiple dimensions, such as health, ecology, and sustainability.
Nutritionally speaking, humans do not require animal products to survive. We, in fact,
benefit
from emphasizing plants as fuel, enjoying a reduced risk for obesity
and most of the chronic diseases that plague society at all-time highs.
All nutrients can be found – packaged better – in plants, save for the
microbial-produced
vitamin B12 and sun-inspired
vitamin D.
But, in addition to these health-oriented advantages, there are at
least these five crucial non-nutritional reasons for going plant-based…
1.
Overuse of antibiotics has
led to the proliferation of superbugs – bacteria that are resistant to
antibiotics – resulting in the heightened risk of untreatable infections
in humans (
article,
article). Seventy to eighty percent of all antibiotics sold in the United States are sold for agricultural use (
article,
article,
article). I previously wrote a more detailed analysis on the threat of antibiotic resistance
here.
2. Livestock production is the most significant contributor to
environmental destruction,
more so than all transportation combined. Factory farming is incredibly
energy-intensive, depleting our land, oceans, and fresh water and food
supplies (
report,
video).
We are using our planet’s resources at approximately 1.6 times the rate
beyond what it can provide and we will require two full Earths to
sustain our current eating behaviors, according to sustainability
consultant,
Dr. Richard Oppenlander.
3.
Animal cruelty.
The only way to bring animals to the table at the rate at which humans
are consuming them is to impose extraordinary conditions, invoking a
lifetime of incessant torture, and then untimely, brutal slaughter to
approximately 70 billion animals a year. (
Mercy For Animals,
10 Billion Lives,
Earthlings trailer)
4. Animal products are
chemical cocktails.
Hormones,
toxins,
pathogens, (
more on foodborne illness),
chemicals, and
medications
are all regularly found in meats, dairy, and eggs. Worse, inspections
by the government to regulate and protect us from these risks are
flawed,
failing,
imperfect, and
deceptive…
5. The consumption of animals
costs us exorbitant amounts of money in healthcare by
billions of dollars,
since eating animals is associated with drastically increased risks of
the most common chronic diseases and symptoms requiring long-term
pharmaceutical and medical management. Further, livestock production is
heavily
subsidized
by the government primarily by supporting feed crop operations, saving
farmers billions of dollars and helping consumers eat more harmful
animal products at lower prices, but suffering the adverse
health effects, nonetheless.
Further Reading:
1. Overuse of antibiotics has
led to the proliferation of superbugs – bacteria that are resistant to
antibiotics – resulting in the heightened risk of untreatable infections
in humans (article, article). Seventy to eighty percent of all antibiotics sold in the United States are sold for agricultural use (article, article, article). I previously wrote a more detailed analysis on the threat of antibiotic resistance here.
2. Livestock production is the most significant contributor to environmental destruction,
more so than all transportation combined. Factory farming is incredibly
energy-intensive, depleting our land, oceans, and fresh water and food
supplies (report, video).
We are using our planet’s resources at approximately 1.6 times the rate
beyond what it can provide and we will require two full Earths to
sustain our current eating behaviors, according to sustainability
consultant, Dr. Richard Oppenlander.
3. Animal cruelty.
The only way to bring animals to the table at the rate at which humans
are consuming them is to impose extraordinary conditions, invoking a
lifetime of incessant torture, and then untimely, brutal slaughter to
approximately 70 billion animals a year. (Mercy For Animals, 10 Billion Lives, Earthlings trailer)
4. Animal products are chemical cocktails. Hormones, toxins, pathogens, (more on foodborne illness), chemicals, and medications
are all regularly found in meats, dairy, and eggs. Worse, inspections
by the government to regulate and protect us from these risks are flawed, failing, imperfect, and deceptive…
5. The consumption of animals costs us exorbitant amounts of money in healthcare by billions of dollars,
since eating animals is associated with drastically increased risks of
the most common chronic diseases and symptoms requiring long-term
pharmaceutical and medical management. Further, livestock production is
heavily subsidized
by the government primarily by supporting feed crop operations, saving
farmers billions of dollars and helping consumers eat more harmful
animal products at lower prices, but suffering the adverse health effects, nonetheless.
Further Reading: