"If a practice is painful and cruel for one animal, so much so that it carries
significant criminal penalties, how can it possibly be legal for another animal
who will also be subjected to pain and suffering.
For example the excruciating gas chambers used in all major slaughter houses,
'world leading','very humane','the pigs just gently fall asleep', we've been told,
that was before extensive footage was obtained by activist, footage of pigs entering
gas chambers thrashing around in ever increasing panic and agony as their lungs
are seared from the inside out. Deperate to excape many of whom inadvertently pull their own
legs off fighting for their lives." - Andy Meddock Australian MP
So many think you have to love animals or be overly compassionate or value an animals life
as much as a human etc. This is not the case! :) All you have to realise is that an animals
is more important than habit, tradition, convenience and taste. Since we can live off of a
well planned vegan diet (and it's been proven btw, just go to the health section. ;) )
we just need to value an animals life more than the few minutes of sensory pleasure that
we get from eating animal flesh and secretions. Many are misconseptualised with the facts
of veganism, you can be a bad person or a nice person and be vegan. Ultimately it's
about the abuse, exploitation and cruelty that happens to animals in the industries around
the world. There are not nice people in the world but they still refrain from abusing
children of women. You don't need to nescessarily be a compassionate person to do the
right thing and agree with unjustified immoral acts like exploitation and abuse of the
innocent. Say, you don't need to be a lover of all black people to be anti-racist, you
just need to respect them for who they are and not subjugate them to any oppression.
Also you don't need know every human to wish for them to have a good life, just like
you don't need to know every farm animals and wish for them to have a good life,
free from exploitation, some may only know our pets but that love can be extended to
other animals they don't know.
So what if I was a alien species but I was human-like, I could talk to you guys,
understand human stuff but my skin was another colour or smth. Would it be ok to kill me?
Imagine you were vulnerable and someone took care of you, have you a nice life,
then one day said they were going to kill you with no pain. Would you be happy with that?
U.S. could feed 800 million people with grain that livestock eat, Cornell ecologist advises animal
scientists:
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/1997/08/us-could-feed-800-million-people-grain-livestock-eat
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/034015/pdf
http://www.fao.org/3/y5019e/y5019e03.htm
https://www.globalagriculture.org/report-topics/meat-and-animal-feed.html
https://www.globalissues.org/article/240/beef
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/
https://www.unicef.org/gambia/Improving_Child_Nutrition_-_the_achievable_imperative_for_global_progress.pdf
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.PRD.LVSK.XD
http://www.fao.org/3/i2414e/i2414e.pdf
Land required to feed 1 person for 1 year:
Vegan: 1/6th acre
Vegetarian: 3x as much as a vegan
Meat Eater: 18x as much as a vegan
http://www.earthsave.org/pdf/ofof2006.pdf
http://www.pnas.org/content/111/33/11996.full
A person who follows a vegan diet produces the equivalent of 50% less carbon dioxide, uses 1/11th oil,
1/13th water, and 1/18th land compared to a meat-lover for their food:
http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/food-carbon-footprint-diet
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-014-1169-1/fulltext.html
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/78/3/660S.full
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/facts-on-animal-farming-and-the-environment/
http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/environment.html
http://www.earthsave.org/pdf/ofof2006.pdf
http://www.wri.org/blog/2016/04/sustainable-diets-what-you-need-know-12-charts
Each day, a person who eats a vegan diet saves 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 sq ft of
forested land, 20 lbs CO2 equivalent, and one animal’s life:
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-014-1169-1/fulltext.html
http://static.ewg.org/reports/2011/meateaters/pdf/methodology_ewg_meat_eaters_guide_to_health_and_climate_2011.pdf
http://www.wri.org/blog/2016/04/sustainable-diets-what-you-need-know-12-charts
Dairy Cows, 120 lbs. of waste per day x 9.32 million dairy cows
-Cows, 63 lbs. of waste per day x 83.68 million cows
-Calves, 30 lbs. of waste per day x 34.3 million calves
-Pigs, 14 lbs. of waste per day x 74 million pigs
-Sheep and Goats, 5 lbs. of waste per day x 7.84 million sheep and goats
-Turkeys, .87 lbs. of waster per day x 77 million turkeys
-Broiler Chickens, .50 lbs. of waste per day x 1.74 billion broiler chickens
-Laying Hens, .25 lbs. of waster per day x 350.7 million laying hens
*pigs are raised twice per year, (a total of 148.3 million per year) so on any given day in the United
States there are about 74 million pigs.
*turkeys are raised three times per year (a total of 233 million per year) so on any given day in the United
States there are 77 million turkeys.
*broiler chickens are raised 5 times per year, (a total of 8.69 billion per year) so any given day there
are1.74 billion broiler chickens.
Dairy Cows produce (120 lbs. x 9.32 m.) = 1.1184 billion lbs.
Cows produce (63 lbs. x 83.68 m.) = 5.27184 billion lbs.
Calves produce (30 lbs. x 34.3 m.) = 1.029 billion lbs.
Pigs produce (14 lbs. x 74.0 m.) = 1.036 billion lbs.
Sheep and Goats produce (5 lbs. x 7.84 m.) = 39.2 million lbs.
Turkeys produce (.87 lbs. x 77.0 m.) = 66.99 million lbs.
Broiler Chickens produce (.5 x 1.74 b.) = 870 million lbs.
Laying Hens produce (.25 x 350.7 m.) = 87.675 million lbs.
*Total manure produced in one day is 9.519105 billion lbs.
*Total manure produced in one year is 3.475 trillion lbs.
*This is the equivalent of over 6.611 million lbs. per minute. (This does not include any animal raised
outside of USDA Jurisdiction, backyards or fish raised for aquaculture)
Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and
habitat destruction:
https://comfortablyunaware.wordpress.com/2012/06/09/biodiversity-and-food-choice-a-clarification/
https://comfortablyunaware.wordpress.com/
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/deadzone.html
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ocean-dead-zones/
https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/problem
http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.htm
http://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/Causes_of_extinction
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/species/problems/habitat_loss_degradation/
http://www.takeextinctionoffyourplate.com/meat_and_wildlife.html
https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/19196/Machovina_2015.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/901V0100.txt?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=2000%20Thru%202005&Docs=&Query=&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod
=1&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&UseQField=&IntQFieldOp
=0&ExtQFieldOp=0&XmlQuery=&File=D:%5CZYFILES%5CINDEX%20DATA%5C00THRU05
%5CTXT%5C00000011%5C901V0100.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&
SortMethod=h%7C-&MaximumDocuments=1&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r75g8/r75g8/x150y150g16/i425&Display=hpfr&DefSeekPage
=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results%20page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=2
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2015/oct/20/the-four-horsemen-of-the-sixth-mass-extinction
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ocean-dead-zones-are-getting-worse-globally-due-climate-change-180953282/"
https://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/documents/R2ES/LitCited/LPC_2012/Wilcove_et_al_1998.pdf
Animal agriculture is responsible for up to 91% of Amazon destruction:
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/758171468768828889/pdf/277150PAPER0wbwp0no1022.pdf
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/24/business/energy-environment/deforestation-brazil-bolivia-south-america.html?_r=0
http://www.mightyearth.org/mysterymeat/
1-2 acres of rainforest are cleared every second to make way for livestock:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-talks-daily-destruction/
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/facts/rainforest-facts.html#8
http://www.rainforestrelief.org/What_to_Avoid_and_Alternatives/Rainforest_Wood.html
http://pdf.wri.org/keepingoptionsalive_bw.pdf
https://msu.edu/~urquhart/professional/NASA-Deforestation.pdf
The leading causes of rainforest destruction are livestock and feedcrops:
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0812.htm
http://www.fao.org/docrep/ARTICLE/WFC/XII/0568-B1.HTM
http://globalforestatlas.yale.edu/amazon/land-use/soy
Up to 137 plant, animal and insect species are lost every day due to rainforest destruction:
http://www.savetheamazon.org/rainforeststats.htm
http://kids.mongabay.com/lesson_plans/lisa_algee/deforestation.html
https://www.cbd.int/doc/speech/2007/sp-2007-05-22-es-en.pdf
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/aug/16/nature-economic-security
136 million rainforest acres cleared for animal agriculture:
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_destruction.html
https://news.mongabay.com/2009/08/brazilian-beef-giant-announces-moratorium-on-rainforest-beef/
Livestock and climate change: impact of livestock on climate and mitigation strategies: https://academic.oup.com/af/article/9/1/69/5173494
"Trikkeeroy ah yes the appeal to tradition fallacy. Why are you basing our morality on the actions of our
ancestors, primitive beings that had no perception of modern day morality and did entirely unethical things
such murder and rape without consequence? Surely if eating is animals is acceptable because cavemen did it,
then raping and murdering one another today must also be morally justifiable?
Do you think it is wise to base our morality on the actions of our primitive ancestors?
If it’s morally justifiable to eat animals because our ancestors used to do it, does that not mean that it
must also be morally justifiable to murder each other, as our ancestors use to do that as well?
If non-vegans really want to live like their ancestors then you would eat a predominantly vegan diet with
the exception of some occasional insects. You would also sleep outside, not use technology, speak in
primitive and underdeveloped languages, get overly excited by the creation of fire and have incestuous
experiences. Another thing people will say similar to the ancestors argument is that “we’ve always eaten
meat”. It is such a regressive idea to look into the past for how we should live and basing our actions
purely on whether or not we’ve done something for a long period of time is certainly not a good idea, if we
did that we would still have slavery and apartheid.
There was a time when treating a woman as less than a man was all we’d ever done, would that make treating a
woman as less than a man morally acceptable today? Tied in closely with the ancestors argument is the idea
that eating meat helped us evolve into the beings that we are today and because of that it is morally
justifiable to continue eating animals. It is common knowledge and widely accepted that we evolved from
primates who survived on a diet comprised predominantly of fruits, nuts, leaves and the occasional insects,
but our diets have changed and evolved as the environments we’ve lived in have changed and evolved. It is
often cited that the reason we are so intelligent now is because we ate meat and many non-vegans claim that
it helped us develop and evolve. Even if this is true, it has no relevance to our society today as our
brains are not developing every time we eat a big mac, nor are we evolving as a species every time we enter
Nando’s. Quite the opposite in fact.
Eating animal products is a hinderance to our health, as opposed to being beneficial. Consuming foods that
have a negative impact on our health can therefore not be considered helpful to the evolution of our
species. Because of eating animal products, we are dying younger than we would be without them. Couple that
with the fact that animal agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire
transportation system combined and is the leading cause of rainforest destruction, oceanic dead zones,
species extinction, top soil erosion, land desertification and a whole host of other environmental concerns,
it quickly becomes apparent that the future of our evolution depends on us not eating animals. The United
Nations has in fact stated that the world needs to shift to a plantbased diet in order to avoid the worst
effects of climate change.
Furthermore, there are also other theories as to why our brains developed. The first is that we began to eat
cooked starchy foods and more carbohydrate dense foods. These starches would have been readily available and
with the brain using 60% of the human body’s blood glucose, such high glucose demands would not have been
met on a low carbohydrate diet. Another idea is that we expanded our consciousness by consuming
hallucinogenic mushrooms which allowed us to access parts of our brain previously unexplored, which
therefore ultimately made us more self-aware and intelligent. Now undoubtedly eating animals helped us
survive through times of food scarcity but just as the very foundations of much our society was built upon
slavery doesn’t justify slavery in today’s world, the fact that eating animals helped us get to this point
or helped us survive in the past, doesn’t justify eating animals in today’s world. In contemporary society
we don’t need to eat animals or their secretions and in doing so we are shortening our lifespan, destroying
our planet and causing an unimaginable amount of unnecessary harm to innocent, living beings.
As for your “it’s only been around for less than a century fallacy,” let’s take a look at the facts shall
we?
Just looking and studying human anatomy, again, it seems we are built to eat plants, and “substantial
evidence shows that the ancestral lineage that led to humans had a plant-based diet.” The bottom line is
that most ancient humans, and human-like creatures, were predominately vegan. Some ate meat, but many
didn’t. For example, Neanderthals in Spain ate no meat at all, according to a study published by Nature.
Neanderthal behaviour, diet, and disease inferred from ancient DNA in dental calculus: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21674
Rob Dunn goes into greater detail about this issue, from an evolutionary perspective, bringing up multiple
points about how our guts evolved to stick to a vegetarian (vegan) diet. Human Ancestors Were Nearly All
Vegetarians: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/human-ancestors-were-nearly-all-vegetarians/
A great article I like to point people towards comes from University of Utah geochemist Thure Cerling, who
spearheaded a set of fairly recent new studies that show how early humans and their ancestors and relatives
made a surprising dietary switch some 3.5 million years ago, changing from an ape-like diet of mostly leaves
and fruits and shrubs to a grass-based diet of grasses and sedges. I’m just trying to hammer home the fact
that it’s been strongly established in scientific literature that ancient human-like ‘ancestors’
predominately ate plant-based diets.
A Grassy Trend in Human Ancestors’ Diets: https://archive.unews.utah.edu/news_releases/a-grassy-trend-in-human-ancestors-diets/
By your own admission stating that humans are omnivores, is stating that we can survive and thrive without
consuming any animal products. Are you making the absurd and nonsensical assertion that since humans are
“behavioural omnivores” so therefore I have no control over my actions and it’s a necessity to eat animals,
means our actions are predetermined for us by biological determinism. This would then mean that humans do
not have reason. Do humans have reason?"
