 |
|||
| Why Vegan? | |||
This is the question we’ve been asked countless times since my husband and I decided to take the plunge and go Vegan! Since we have been vegetarian for about 3 years, it was not a difficult choice to make; it was a natural process to take the next step following vegetarianism.
So What Does Being a Vegan Mean ? Well start with Vegetarian, and then, remove all the other products from your life that either are (or contain) animal products, or that cause cruelty to animals in production or testing. That means not just the things you eat, but also wear, and use. For example a Vegan will not wear or use any leather or wool, will not use cosmetics or toiletries that have been tested on animals or contain animal ingredients. They will not eat any dairy products, or any product with an animal derived ingredient. More and more people are choosing to follow the vegan lifestyle, which embraces compassion for all living beings. Because animals feel pain and desire to live, vegans strive to live without contributing to their suffering. We call it a lifestyle because this is not just about what we eat, but also about wider issues like Animal Rights, the Welfare of Planet Earth and for the Benefit of its People's Health. This goal affects vegans' choices of food, clothes, household products, and entertainment.
The Transformation of Animals into Food Obviously, animals are killed to produce meat, eggs and dairy products. The male animals are killed shortly after birth, and the female animals are slaughtered after their production rate drops. Although they can live 25 years under normal conditions, modern dairy cows are slaughtered when their output goes down after about five years of constant production. Cows are repeatedly impregnated, usually by artificial insemination, to continue their milk production, and their calves are taken from them within hours after birth to prevent the calf from drinking milk. The cow looks for her baby for an entire week; she’s one sad, unhappy, upset cow; she wants her baby, bellowing for it, hunting for it; she’s grieving, she’s actually mourning. People don't like to allow animals thoughts or feelings but in fact animals experience many of the same emotions as do humans. Unfortunately because people don’t like to think about these things not much is written about them. Where Did All the Food Go? There are millions of people all over the world who are dying of starvation, yet approximately 90% of oats, 85% of corn, and 80% of soybeans grown in America, for example, are fed to livestock. According to the American President's Science Advisory Committee, a vegan can be fed using 90% less water than a meat-eater and 15 vegetarians can be fed on the amount of land needed to produce a meat-centered diet for one person. The food that could be saved if humans consumed plant foods directly would be enough to feed the starving people of the world many times over. Yet, many developing countries have expanded their animal production for export while their people go hungry. For example, in Guatemala, over half the children under five are starving, yet their country exports tens of millions of pounds of meat each year to the United States.
Health and the Vegan Diet Many people follow a vegan diet (no animal products) for health reasons only. In the words of nutritional expert Michael Klaper, M.D., "Your body has absolutely no nutritional requirement for the flesh or milk of other animals." All requirements can be obtained through non-animal sources.
The idea that animal products are wholesome and necessary has been promoted by the meat and dairy industries, instigators of the Food Pyramid. Most of the nutritional information in schools comes from large groups like Dairy Farmers Associations who promote animal products. As a result, most people grow up believing it is healthier for humans to eat animal products.
The sight of a live or recently-slaughtered animal does not get our digestive juices flowing. Rather, seeing an animal slaughtered is repulsive, even nauseating to most people. But who is repulsed by seeing an apple picked from a tree or a carrot taken from the ground? As for milk being "natural" (as we have been taught since childhood), humans have become the only species which has members who drink milk past infancy or of another species.
Prevalent diseases in western societies are diseases of excess rather than of deficiency. According to the American Dietetic Association, vegetarians have a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, colon cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, obesity, kidney stones, gallstones, and hypertension. Research suggests that vegetarians are also at a decreased risk for breast cancer.
Vegans eat a variety of grains, pastas, breads, potatoes, beans, rice, nut butters, seeds, fresh and dried fruit, vegetables, seitan, tofu, and tempeh. Check at health food stores for a wide range of vegetarian cookbooks, as well as vegan products that replace meat, milk, cheese and ice cream.
Abroad, Vegan entrees can be obtained at most Mexican, Asian, Middle Eastern and Indian restaurants. Many fast-food restaurants now serve vegan dishes (e.g., Taco Bell, Subway) whilst pizza without cheese is also popular. Unfortunately, in Malta we are still lacking Vegetarian/Vegan restaurants but with a little experience, a vegan cook can create meals indistinguishable in look and taste from the traditional animal-based meals, as well as discover a wealth of new meals. Quick vegan foods include bread, peanut butter & jam, pasta, baked potatoes, chips & beans. The concept of vegetable protein being 'incomplete' is a myth. All grains, legumes, vegetables, nuts, and seeds have all the essential amino acids. Other nutrients can also be easily obtained from a vegan diet, including:
Characteristics such as intelligence and awareness are not exclusively human, with some animals having more of these characteristics than us. There is no morally relevant characteristic that separates all human beings from all non-humans. Indeed, the continual search for a unique trait led psychologists to conclude that the only thing different about humans is that we are "the only creature on Earth that tries to prove that it is different from, and preferably superior to, other species." Like prejudices based on skin color or gender, animals are exploited because of speciesism - a prejudice against others because they belong to another species. Like humans enslaved, exploited, and exterminated throughout history, animals are victims of the philosophy "might makes right" in which the less powerful are used and killed.
Vegans are sometimes accused of being naïve to the fact that "life is cruel" and that "animals kill each other." Regardless of whether life can be cruel for some, or whether others kill, each of us has the capacity for compassion and can choose not to contribute to the suffering of others. The Vegan’s philosophy is that each sentient animal has a right to his or her body and life. To that end, Vegans promote living so as to contribute to as little exploitation and death as possible.
“We are the lucky ones - we are not standing day after day
in a tiny space, breathing the stench of our own waste, waiting
only to be slaughtered. We must do everything possible for those
suffering lives of pain and terror.” - Matt Ball, Vegan Outreach
Co-founder.
Final Thoughts If you have made the first (and most difficult) step and become a vegetarian, how long can you tolerate using and consuming the following ;
Gelatin, made from animal bones, in most hard sweets (eg. Polo Mints), and even photographic film. Leather, a by-product of the meat you refuse to eat, the animal dies in the same way.
Dairy Products, these only exist because of the slaughter of the calves for who the milk is produced, without their death, you would have no Cheese, Butter or Cream.
Keep these thoughts in your mind, when will YOU take the next step ?
“Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal
of all evolution.
“We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace.”
References: The Vegan Outreach,The Vegan Society
|
|||
