Dear Reader,
This is the only time I’m going to tell you why you should go vegan. Because let’s be honest, there are already a lot of resources out there.
That being said, over the years I’ve gotten the question a lot. “Why should someone go vegan?” (Or sometimes, “why should I go vegan?” if someone is interested.) And to be fair, that’s a pretty normal instinct. When someone makes a decision to live any lifestyle, asking them why is the first thing we want to do. However, when it comes to veganism, people tend to not just ask us why, but why they should be doing the same thing–even if we haven’t outright told them that they should.
And so, for this reason, I’ve devised a plan. I want to write this out, all at once, even if it’s long. (And it probably will be.) For anyone who is on this site and interested in veganism, they can find this conversation and use it for their own edification. And in my own personal life, too, I plan on using this as a tool. The next time someone asks me why they should be vegan or why I am vegan, I will send them here. Because I’m a little bit tired of the elevator pitch, and curating it on the spot for each new friend I meet. I know that being vegan is a deviation from the societal norm currently, and I feel that both the people I meet and the subject of veganism deserve the respect of a full and honest answer.
Why is this the only time?
Like I said, there are plenty of resources out there for figuring out why you should be going vegan, but that’s not entirely why this is the only time either. The thing is, this isn’t meant to be a persuasive site, and I don’t want it to become that. I began building this website as a place for, well, metaphorically myself. A place for people to learn about and engage with content about both being vegan and expanding their mind to strive to a more ethical life.
In short, this website is a place for people who already want to do better within their pursuits of veganism, as well as broadly making this world a better place. If you’re here, reading this, chances are you already know why you should go vegan. And you are already interested in it, or at least interested in vegan content, for your own reasons.
So this is not a place whose purpose is to try to convince you of veganism being the right way or the only way. But I do feel that as a site where there is a main philosophy being followed and applied, there is a certain amount of responsibility to explain why–why this perspective exists, and why many people have decided to onboard it into their daily decisions.
Disclaimer
I want to make it clear that just because I espouse veganism, doesn’t mean that I think it is the be all and end all of morality or anything like that. (And you can find that discussion here.) There are many issues that don’t fall neatly (or even close) to the realm of veganism that I believe are important. (Some of which I plan on discussing on this site more in-depth at a later date.)
Veganism, while a lifestyle, and in my opinion, an important topic, should not become your entire identity or realm of thoughts and opinions. Because as a person, you have more breadth than that. Remember that caring about something doesn’t mean you automatically have to care less about something else. You’re allowed to be a well-rounded person–as a vegan and as an individual. And I think that’s something we all should strive for.
That being said, this post is going to talk about veganism, as a general practice, on its own. This is for simplicity’s sake, as well as clarity. So let’s dig in.
A definition
Veganism, if you weren’t aware, is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of animal products. The definition as given by The Vegan Society is as follows:
“Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.”
The Vegan society is, in a way, the mother of modern veganism, and a treasure trove of vegan history. Check it out here if you get the chance.
But in plain speak, vegans don’t eat animal products or consume them in other areas such as clothes or makeup. They are also, in general, against animal use such as animal testing and breeding for the sole benefit of humans. This can get pretty messy in terms of specifics, and if you want to read more about that, you can check out my piece about the variations within vegan practices and opinions here. But for now, we’ll use this general, working definition. So, why go vegan?
The animals
This may (or may not) come as a surprise to you, but the animals who make our eggs and milk and become our steaks and pork chops really don’t have a fun time of things. Well, that’s an understatement.
I don’t want to be that vegan who shoves footage of violence toward animals in your face(and I won’t). I find such videos to be very psychologically damaging and scarring. That being said, they are out there if you are interested in understanding the plight of a factory farmed animal. But the truth is, if seeing that is psychologically damaging for us, imagine how bad it is to actually experience for the animals who become our food. (Not to mention the people who work in these facilities.)
It’s easy to take shortcuts when it comes to the care of an animal when you’re looking at them as a product to be produced and sold. It is for this reason that mistreatment in the industry is so rampant, particularly in countries such as the United States, where profit is king.
But I would also like to point out that even if an animal is treated well, breeding them and keeping them alive just to be killed in the future really isn’t very ethically sound. I mean, even if we were to do that to another non-human animal that we don’t consider it normal to eat, it would make us upset or at the very least uncomfortable. So why are we fine with only raising a pig, cow or chicken, for the point of killing and eating it later? Clearly, the cognitive dissonance in place due to the normalization of these practices looms large in our minds. But cognitive dissonance is not enough to change the ethical implications of such a reality. The animals don’t care if eating them is normal. They don’t want to be killed.
And it’s not just about meat either. Both the egg and dairy industry regularly kill animals too. The dairy industry feeds into the veal industry as far as what they do with male calves that won’t become dairy cows. And since male chicks won’t become egg laying hens, their lives are also not spared. (Not to say that being a dairy cow or a layer hen is necessarily a better fate anyway, particularly in a factory farm.) So even eating vegetarian is contributing indirectly to the routine practice of ending animal’s lives. If you want to learn more about the animals that become our food, visit the National Humane Education Society’s website( you can find that by clicking here). They’ve got information about each of the kinds of animals that we factory farm, and what they go through.
The environment
When it comes to the environmental impact of animal agriculture, it can be boiled down to two main points. Conservation and pollution. And if you’re someone who cares about the environment, these are two talking points that you’re already familiar with, though perhaps not in conjunction with veganism.
Conservation
So, conservation. It takes up a lot more land to make animal products. You need large pastures to graze your livestock, or if you’re feeding them corn or soy, large fields of that. Even more so than if you were just growing soy and corn to feed people. Because animals need to eat too. In this way, we’re just clearing land and filtering our food through them.
In fact, if we were to put our crops towards feeding people instead of feeding animals that people will then eat, we would find ourselves with a much more efficient system that would be able to feed our whole earth’s population (something that we are currently unable to do with this agricultural model). (And again, there’s more to it than that. We would have to develop systems of distributing that food in order to make sure that everyone would be fed. But finally having enough to feed everyone would be a good start.)
And then there’s also water conservation. To make animal products, the animals also need to drink water to keep them alive (before their inevitable death, that is). This filtering of our water through the animals exceeds the amount of water we would use were we to just grow and water our crops, then use them to feed people. No, instead we’ve got to water and grow the crops to feed the animals who also need to drink water to live. If water conservation is our goal, a diet laden with animal products is not the way to go. If you forgo one pound of meat, you save the same amount of water as not showering for six months. That’s how big the juxtaposition is here.
Pollution
Now we come to pollution. I would like it pointed out that vegan products also cause pollution, both in the creation and transport of said products. That being said, animal based foods cause more pollution than plant based ones, on average. In fact, it’s said that the average person switching to a vegan diet saves 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. That’s a lot more than many people would expect.
And there’s also the matter of water pollution. In general, we think of water pollution in terms of big, mean companies dropping scary chemicals in the water simply because they don’t care, (a la Dr. Seuss’ ‘The Lorax’) but the truth is, water pollution is actually a lot larger of an issue. An issue of feces. All of that waste that the animals excrete has to go somewhere. And while we would like to pretend that all of the waste goes to our sanitation departments and gets treated, it doesn’t. It gets into our ground water supply and pollutes the possible sources of viable drinking water that we have.
You may not work in a profession that could help solve any of these issues. But you can consume less animal products, which would decrease your demand for a product that is produced by such a broken system. If you want some fast facts, culinaryschools.org has compiled a dense and visually pleasing infographic for your viewing pleasure, so you can check that out here.
Health
There are many people who also choose to go vegan (or in some of these cases, eat plant based) for their health. It is scientific consensus that a well-planned vegan diet can be healthy for people at any age or stage of life (including pregnancy or childhood). That being said, there are certain health conditions that eating plant based can actually help aid in maintain health through.
For instance, when you eat a fully plant based diet, you are not taking in any dietary cholesterol. This is helpful for people who have high cholesterol that runs in the family. This isn’t to say that it’s impossible to have high cholesterol as a vegan, because cholesterol is a substance that your body makes on its own. Eating higher amounts of trans fat and saturated fat will enable you to have your own high cholesterol levels, just like anyone else. But without eating dietary cholesterol, you have a little more wiggle room, if you will.
Another thing that plant based eating brings to the table is the heightened propensity for dietary fiber during your day. You see, animal based foods such as meat, eggs, or dairy do not offer dietary fiber, and to be honest, a lot of us aren’t getting enough. This makes digestion go less smoothly than it could. Getting more fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains in your diet will bring you more dietary fiber to help keep you regular, with a side benefit of vitamins, antioxidants and nutrients. But let’s be honest, do you really need me to tell you that eating more fruits and veggies is good for you? You already know that.
For more information about eating a healthy vegan diet, check out some of the vegan dietitians that I list on my Vegan Resources page to get you started.
End the cognitive dissonance
And I guess the last reason to be vegan is a pretty selfish one, when it comes down to it. But I found that most of these things, a lot of us are at least tangentially aware of. We know that animals are bred, used, killed for our tastes. We know that our animal agriculture industry isn’t sustainable for our planet. But let’s face it, being vegan is seen as weird and difficult and restrictive. So we avoid it, in order to avoid the perceived social and emotion stress that would come with it.
I’ll be honest, it isn’t often the easiest option to choose veganism in any given moment. But with it comes an ease of the conscience. Many of us have had the experience of learning that chicken was, in fact, chicken when we were younger and being sad or even horrified. In most cases, our guardians assured us that it was okay, and over time, we learned to ignore our feelings about it. But that doesn’t mean that they actually went away.
All of that sadness and discomfort with the truth is likely still lingering beneath the surface. Once you go vegan, that weight gets lifted off your shoulders. Because for the first time in your life, you don’t have to pretend that you think it’s okay or resign to “how things have always been”. Instead, you get to say “I don’t have to be a part of that anymore.” And for me, as well as many other people, that feeling is incredibly freeing.
And so that is why “you should go vegan”. You should do it for the animals. You should do it for the environment. And really, you should do it for yourself. Because you truly deserve to live a life free of the guilt and emotional repression that comes with following the harmful societal norm. If that sounds good to you, consider subscribing to the blog. Here, we talk all about the ins and outs of living a vegan lifestyle, as well as other things we can to do put out more good (and less bad) into this world. As always, thank you for reading. Have a beautiful day.