Apsara Gurung

Turns out, an all plant-based diet actually causes you and the planet more harm than good. Veganism is currently becoming a widespread trend with half a million vegans in the U.K alone. That’s a staggering 350% increase during the past decade. But, is being a vegan really beneficial to the body and the planet?

 

Author and food activist Lierre Kieth states that masses of individuals have been misinformed about the benefits of a vegan lifestyle. Not only does a vegetarian or vegan diet fail to provide an individual with a stable, healthy body, it actually hinders them from being able to maintain and repair itself. While vegans claim numerous health-related beneficial factors of a plant-based diet, according to the findings of Kris Gunnars, a nutrition researcher, it is evident that 92% of the vegans and vegetarians were lacking in vitamin B12, a substance that is not found in plants. It is vital for survival as it aids the process of blood formation and the functioning of the brain. In addition, the misunderstanding of the (false) fact that animal products such as meat and dairy being directly linked to numerous illnesses such as heart disease and cancer intensify the reluctance of vegans wanting to go back to consuming animal products.

In contrast to this, the data in the book, ‘Diet, Lifestyle and Morality in China’ shows that there is no significant correlation between cancer and the consumption of animal protein, but rather between sugar and carbohydrates. It also showed that men who consumed red meats had a lower risk of being exposed to cardiovascular diseases while women who consumed red meats had a lower risk of being exposed to cancer.

 

Peta claims that by just one person choosing to go vegan, 100 animals are being saved each year. While this statistic may hold some truth, we cannot neglect the fact that ironically, agriculture is one of the main causes for many of the animals’ untimely death. Kieth claims that the “vegans have been led astray” due to the myth of being able to achieve a cruelty-free lifestyle while surviving on a plant based diet. She firmly believes that the main cause of extinction of animals and their habitats are due to intense agriculture, “The truth is that agriculture requires the wholesale destruction of entire ecosystems. The truth is also that life isn’t possible without death…” she mentions in her book, ‘The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice and Sustainability’.

 

She also elaborates that the problem lies within the agricultural process. As mentioned in the Matador Network, a social networking site for travellers, agriculture is hardly animal friendly as the activity destroys 98% of the animals’ habitat in order to create suitable grounds to grow the vegetation. This is due to the biotic cleansing. This is a process in which a certain living community is taken over in order to rid the land of obstructions that hinder the grown of the crops such as weeds and pests. Therefore, whilst cultivating a farm that yields various vegetation, the habitats of numerous wildlife are essentially being eradicated.

Moreover, an article in newscientist, an online science magazine, informs us that agriculture not only singlehandedly produces more greenhouse gases than all of the transport put together but also triggers various other problems such as soil erosion and nitrogen pollution. Lastly, it also permanently damages the wilderness due to the utilisation of pesticides and fertilisers along with deforestation which leads to soil erosion and flooding.

 

The aim of this article is not to condemn any vegans but to enlighten the mass population on truths about veganism as most of them only talk about the positives of being a vegan. Although,

according to Dr. James Lovecocks’ Gaia Theory, the Earth will heal itself. It will naturally form a complex, self regulating, systematic order that aids to maintain the conditions for any organisms to live on the planet.

 

However, if the whole world converted into being vegans, we would essentially be damaging the Earth’s natural ecosystem. What we need to focus on, now more than ever is the sustainability of our food. Instead of factory farming, we could be raising them in a more organic manner. This is vital for cattle farming as they produce an immense amount of methane that is one of the green house gases which acts as a catalyst for global warming. Especially since we are already suffering from the effects of climate change. We must force ourselves to go the extra mile in order to look after the Earth. This can be carried out via simple tasks such as recycling, reusing food waste as compost and also, reducing the amount of plastic we put to use. This way we can at least delay the process of global warming for the sake of the future generation.

 

If not now, when? If not us, who?