Why I Became Vegan

Today I share my reason for becoming a vegan as someone who loved and lived on meat for every day.

My decision to become a vegan wasn’t an overnight decision. It was very much something that developed over time.

A journey that started by making friends who were also vegan over the past 6 months. I also met a lot of vegans who were vegans at the Future of Business bootcamp and my curiosity began to build.

On 2nd February 2016 I decided to do a 10 day CABALA juice fast. After my juice fast ended I tried to eat meat – cooked chicken flesh – and it didn’t go down well.

I think it was the idea of going from consuming clean and living fruits and vegetables to eating dead meat. It didn’t sit well in my stomach or on my conscience .

Then a couple of my friends, Michael Carniato and Lee Haber told me about a documentary called Cowspiracy.

http://www.cowspiracy.com/

And another friend, Cheyne Goulden, told me about a documentary called Earthlings.

http://www.nationearth.com/

I jumped in bed at around midnight on Sunday and watched Earthlings believing that I would fall asleep while watching it but not only did I finish the Earthlings documentary, I also watched Cowspiracy too.

By the end of Cowspiracy it was just before 3 AM and it was then that I had decided to stop eating meat.

It doesn’t make sense to support the meat industry by eating meat. Animal agriculture is a huge burden on our planet.

Earthlings documentary taught me that we human beings share this planet earth with other living beings.

Facts about animal agriculture and it’s impact on our planet

http://www.cowspiracy.com/facts/

– GREENHOUSE GASES –

‣ Livestock and their byproducts account for at least 32,000 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, or 51% of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.

• Goodland, R Anhang, J. “Livestock and Climate Change: What if the key actors in climate change were pigs, chickens and cows?”
• WorldWatch, November/December 2009. Worldwatch Institute, Washington, DC, USA. Pp. 10–19.
• Animal Feed Science and Technology “comment to editor” Goodland, Anhang.
• The Independent, article Nov. 2009.

– WATER –

‣ Animal agriculture water consumption ranges from 34-76 trillion gallons annually.

• Pimentel, David, et al. “Water Resources: Agricultural And Environmental Issues.” BioScience 54, no. 10 (2004): 909-18.
• Barber, N.L., “Summary of estimated water use in the United States in 2005: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2009–3098.”

‣ Agriculture is responsible for 80-90% of US water consumption.

• “USDA ERS – Irrigation & Water Use.” United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service. 2013.

‣ Growing feed crops for livestock consumes 56% of water in the US.

• Jacobson, Michael F. “More and Cleaner Water.” In Six Arguments for a Greener Diet: How a More Plant-based Diet Could save Your Health and the Environment. Washington, DC: Center for Science in the Public Interest, 2006.

– LAND –

‣ Livestock covers 45% of the earth’s total land.

• Thornton, Phillip, Mario Herrero, and Polly Ericksen. “Livestock and Climate Change.” Livestock Exchange, no. 3 (2011).
• IPCC AR5 WG# Chapter 11, Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Us (AFOLU) 

‣ Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction.

• Animal agriculture contributes to species extinction in many ways. In addition to the monumental habitat destruction caused by clearing forests and converting land to grow feed crops and for animal grazing, predators and “competition” species are frequently targeted andhunted because of a perceived threat to livestock profits. The widespread use of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers used in the production of feed crops often interferes with the reproductive systems of animals and poison waterways. The overexploitation of wild species through commercial fishing, bushmeat trade as well as animal agriculture’s impact on climate change, all contribute to global depletion of species and resources.

– OCEANS –

‣ We could see fishless oceans by 2048.

• Science, “Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services”.
• National Geographic, article Nov. 2006

‣ For every 1 pound of fish caught, up to 5 pounds of unintended marine species are caught and discarded as by-kill.

• “Discards and Bycatch in Shrimp Trawl Fisheries.” UNITED NATIONS FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO).

– HUMANITY –

‣ We are currently growing enough food to feed 10 billion people. There is currently approx 8 billion people worldwide

• Common Dreams, “We Already Grow Enough Food for 10 Billion People… and Still Can’t End Hunger”.
• Cornell Chronicle, “U.S. could feed 800 million people with grain that livestock eat, Cornell ecologist advises animal scientists”.
• IOP Science, Redefining agricultural yields: from tonnes to people nourished per hectare

‣ Worldwide, at least 50% of grain is fed to livestock.

• FAO, “Livestock – a driving force for food security and sustainable development”.
• Global Issues, “BEEF”.
• Wisconsin Soybean Association, “U.S. and Wisconsin Soybean Facts”. 

‣ 82% of starving children live in countries where food is fed to animals, and the animals are eaten by western countries.

• http://comfortablyunaware.com/blog/the-world-hunger-food-choice-connection-a-summary/
• 80% of the worlds starving children live in 14 countries. (figure 5)
• Livestock production country list
• Livestock global mapping

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