I have often heard people say, “I could never be a vegan, I like the taste of cheese/lamb/salmon… too much to give it up”
Well, certainly these do taste nice – I used to enjoy them myself. But if we continue to consume these products we should ask ourselves some questions.
I have to admit that for much of my life I kept putting questions like these to one side. But they wouldn’t go away.
Is the production of these foods sustainable?
If not, then it is very short term thinking if the very act of consuming them is currently destroying them for ever. As an example of the problem, Is your Cheese killing the Planet? [1]
Does the production of these foods have an impact on the environment?
For example, these articles, Chicken Farms pollute the River Wye [2] and Watery Grave [3] show the impact of effluent running off chicken farms into nearby rivers.
Are animals exploited or do they suffer in the production of these foods?
You only have to google the question to get an idea of the problem!
In the news today,UK Politicians Call For Foie Gras Import Ban[4] because of the cruelty of force-feeding ducks and geese. Strangely,Force-feeding is illegal in the UK under the Animal Welfare Act, but around 200 tonnes of foie gras is allowed to be imported each year. Doh!
So reducing our consumption of these products is definitely a good thing.
But I would argue further, that the logical conclusion is to adopt a vegan diet because of the urgency of the global environmental crisis. Alongside changes to government policies, a vegan diet is the most effective way for most of us to reduce our footprint on the planet.
And if animal welfare is a consideration, then we should not be content merely to reduce suffering, but eliminate it where possible. Even if this means giving up cheese.
[1] https://grist.org/sustainable-food/2011-08-08-is-your-cheese-killing-the-planet
[2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-54181261
[3] https://www.monbiot.com/2020/08/14/watery-grave
[4] https://deframedia.blog.gov.uk/2021/03/09/foie-gras
