Why Go Vegan or Plant-Based ?
Why should one even CONSIDER going Vegan or adopting a largely Plant-Based Diet/Lifestyle ?
- Health
The most beneficial reason of them all. You. Do it for You. Abstaining from (or simply cutting back) the consumption of meat, dairy, and other unnecessary foods will change your life for the better and your body will love you for it. Results include but are not limited too; reduced risk of heart disease, reduced risk of cancer, lowered blood pressure, the curing of diseases, losing stubborn weight, clearer skin and much more. When you eat mainly from the Earth, not only does it help purify your body, but your mind as well. With out excess hormones being ingested from meat and dairy, you have better moods and states of mind. Better memory, less fatigue, and better concentration are some of the outcomes as a result from less brain fog. Lastly, it takes a toll on your spirit as well. When you're Vegan, you begin to develop a constantly growing appreciation for your food. Where it comes from, who gets it to you, and how it get to you. A truly holistic experience, enveloping your mind, body, and soul.
2. The Animals
The most popular, but as equally beneficial as the latter. The destruction of life. More specifically, sentient life. Which is any life form capable of thoughts, emotions and free will. Let me ask you this, if you had to go through the trouble to prepare your own cuts of meat from the slaughter to the butchering, would you still eat meat? Including but not limited too; restraining an extremely anxious and scared creature, slitting its throat, watch it kick and struggle until it bleeds out pints at a time, then proceed to skin the half alive creature, and cut and dissect the still moving pieces of flesh? No? Maybe ? If you still say yes, let me ask you this instead. How would you feel if your newborn, whom you just watched enter the world of living, be snatched away from you never to be seen again ? Or better yet, waited until they were a couple years old and then taken ? Your own child, whom you raised and connected with until that point. How ever you may feel, those situations are purely hypothetical for you and other humans alike, or else it'd be a crime. But scenarios like the ones previously mentioned is the reality for animals like pigs, cows, chickens, turkeys, lambs and others everyday. We are speciesists, meaning, we allow our own interests to override the interests of all others (think racism). The human ego has lead us to believe that because we are the most complex life form on this planet, that we automatically earn the right to dominate lower life forms as we please. Along with ego, our selfishness and greed does nothing more but fuel and sustain this industry. We are plant-based by design, and society has evolved in a way where we don't have to rely on animals for survival. But, because of purposeful misinformation by the meat and dairy industries, we are lead to believe, that we need meat and dairy to survive. We are not nomads anymore. It's time we grow up and let go.
3. The Earth & Environment
Last but not least, Mother Nature herself. It's more than safe to say that the one affected the most by our greed is Mother Nature. Not us. Let's start with the Earth as a whole. Climate Change. The number one reason for climate change is NOT, I repeat NOT caused by carbon dioxide caused by the combustion of fossil fuels (vehicles, factories, etc), like it is typically beat into our heads. It is in fact METHANE gas. And where is this methane coming from ? The over production and incorrect feeding of COWS. Aka the BEEF and MILK industries. As kids, how are we taught cows eat? Grazing in the fields right? Wrong, only a small percentage of present day cows even see a field. Cows are fed GMO SOY and CORN on feed-lots. A 100% UNnatural diet for a cow, which as a result causes numerous stomach problems and infections like E-Coli. And because of this feed-lot life, and not their naturally intended field life, they are often times ankle deep in manure which is all over their hides, which led to numerous outbreaks of the E-coli in meat and milk. And the run offs from these cattle feed lots infect vegetable crops. (Which can be recalled by the past E-coli outbreak in McDonalds lettuce, which caused them to remove salads off their menu for a while.) Which is a transition for the next point, the cultivation of these GMO crops to fuel this over production. Not only is the environment affected by run offs and methane gas, but the the types of crops that are put into the ground and how they grow them. A GMO is a crop engineered to withstand pesticides and insecticides, in order to have max yield of a crop. Since these lab crops are sprayed with chemicals (like RoundUp), those chemicals kill beneficial nutrients in the soil and promote "bad" bacteria. These chemicals are so strong they stay in the soil for months and years at a time, all while holding nutrients in the soil, ultimately degrading the soil and eventually causing it to become un-farmable as a result. Lastly, the driving factor for deforestation is you guessed it, the meat and dairy industry. 91% of ALL deforested Amazon Rainforest is utilized by livestock, for the meat and dairy industry. We treat Mother Nature like crap, but remember, She always wins in the end.
