Veganism passing trend or long-term necessity?

All over the world, more people are becoming vegan or vegetarian. Where is this movement coming from? This change has something to do with the new diseases, harmful environmental impact, and animal rights concerns linked to the industrial farming industry.

Throughout the past decade, scientists, journalists and public health organizations have investigated factory farms, trying to understand how they operate and whether they represent a threat to our health and our planet.

Here is a summary of what sad secrets this industry revealed:

Factory farming came about in response to a growing demand for animal products. The only way to achieve maximum meat production for a minimum cost was to turn slaughter into farming. Nowadays, this demand is still growing exponentially; about 70 billion land animals are slaughtered each year for their flesh.

They manufacture food for the animals that ensures their fast growth, but at a low price; it includes gross amounts of hormones and antibiotics.

Factory farms reduce the area given to each animal to a minimum. They manufacture food for the animals that ensures their fast growth, but at a low price; it includes gross amounts of hormones and antibiotics. These farms have also automated and mechanized their processes, so they treat animals like objects in a chain factory.

Diseases and infections are the norm in these facilities.

While in such confined and stressful environments, animals are more likely to harm themselves and other animals. In order to prevent injury, farmers mutilate animals by clipping beaks, cutting tails, and shaving teeth, all without veterinary care or anesthetics.

Diseases and infections are the norm in these facilities. In such densely populated areas, it is difficult to maintain a hygienic environment. As a result, the dust and bacteria in the air easily cause respiratory and eye infections. Though the animals are widely treated with antibiotics, the poor nutrition and heavy stress still cause ulcers and diarrhea. Finally, the inability to move and grow naturally results in bone and muscle injury.

Every minute, the equivalent of seven football fields of forest is cut down to enable free-range animal grazing. Approximately 90% of Amazonian deforestation since 1970 has resulted from this factory farm practice.

The industry also has a negative impact on the environment. Because of the huge amount of manure they dump into our water systems, factory farms are the number one source of water pollution in the United States. In addition, every minute, the equivalent of seven football fields of forest is cut down to enable free-range animal grazing. Approximately 90% of Amazonian deforestation since 1970 has resulted from this factory farm practice. This kind of destruction is also responsible for a great loss of biodiversity and increase in soil erosion. Finally, about 50% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock in factory farms.

The Center for Disease Control reports that 2 million people are diagnosed every year with antibiotic resistant infections.

The World Health Organization states that factory farming poses a threat to public health, as it uses 80% of all available antibiotics produced in the US for non-therapeutic purposes. This treatment increases the ability of bacteria to evolve and grow resistant to antibiotics; over time, bacteria develop into super bugs that put modern medicine in grave danger. The Center for Disease Control reports that 2 million people are diagnosed every year with antibiotic resistant infections. Of those, 23,000 die. Factory farms introduce another public health hazard by way of fostering E. Coli and Salmonella in dirty, polluted environments, bugs that easily end up in contaminated water and animal products that humans ultimately ingest.

The vegan movement we are witnessing is not just a trend created by people in search of a new identity – it results from a state of emergency.

Once scientists, journalists, and the general public were made aware of these alarming facts, they realized the impact that food has on our health, planet, and society. For this reason, all the major health organizations as well as the UN are now urging people to switch to a plant-based diet. The vegan movement we are witnessing is not just a trend created by people in search of a new identity – it results from a state of emergency!

Reorienting your diet is a powerful, accessible way to promote peace and contribute to saving the world.

So many issues already plague our planet, such as war, abuse, torture; it goes on. Though we may have no control over these problems, we can control what we put in our bodies. Reorienting your diet is a powerful, accessible way to promote peace and contribute to saving the world, for yourself and for generations to come.