23 reasons to go vegan in 2023

Thinking about going vegan, but not yet sure why? I think I might be able to help you with that! Here are 23 reasons why you might want to go vegan in 2023.

1: Animal welfare

Let’s start with the most obvious one. With the increasing demand for meat and dairy products, factory farming has become the main form in which we keep farmed animals. Over the years, we’ve started to lose sight of the fact that our fellow animals are living beings. Beings that have the ability to suffer. Just as much as we do.

We’ve turned animals into machines, adapting them to the factories. Rather than at least adapting the places in which we keep them to them. Furthermore, ‘farmers’ — or rather, factory operators— don’t get to work in the best conditions because of said demand and will often resort to beating, kicking and even cutting into the animals out of pure frustration (leaving them with gaping wounds and lacerations) whenever “they don’t comply”.

Because of the terrible conditions in which we keep them, many animals become so distraught that they resort to biting each other. Often times cannibalising on the bodies of the fallen or even eating each other alive. Because of this, pigs will often times have their teeth and tails clipped. And chickens their beaks cut off. Whilst most cows are dehorned or ‘disbudded’. All too often without anaesthetics.

Not only that, but we’ve selectively bread them to grow larger faster and to produce more milk and eggs, which causes major health problems. Many humans are afraid of hell, but little do they know that it already exists, right here on earth.

2: Why eat one, but not the other?

Perhaps you have a pet, or at the very least you know someone with a pet. You wouldn’t eat your (fluffy) little friend, right? Perhaps you also criticise the Yulin dog meat festival, or practices like whaling. But let me ask you this: why eat one, but not the other? And why criticise other people who don’t make the distinction, just because you see them differently?

Just to give you a little incentive: pigs are even smarter than dogs. They are actually known to have quite advanced problem-solving skills, (especially when compared to toddlers). And cows are basically just big dogs — or grass puppies — who absolutely love to snuggle and play ball. Something to consider, the next time you decide what to put on your plate. They are friends, not food.

3: The next pandemic: bird flu?

To keep things current, let’s consider the very real possibility of another zoonosis developing into a pandemic. Not from a wet market selling exotic animals this time, but from a factory farm. Not only do most influenza viruses originate in farms, the next one may be closer than we think.

The world is currently facing the worst bird flu outbreak in history. And not only has this virus started to infect other animals (a lot of them mammals such as mink, cats, badgers, etc), it has actually been known to jump over to humans. It may not be very dangerous for humans (yet) since we seem to have some natural immunity, but it has the potential to become quite deadly. Initially only a little girl in Ecuador had gotten seriously ill, but during the last few months more and more people have gotten infected and some have even died. Even though it doesn’t yet seem to be very contagious, this causes some concern. All it takes is one mutation.

And with the way we’re currently farming animals, it’s only a matter of time. Just think of the Spanish flu, mad cow disease, or the 2009 Swine flu pandemic. Factory farms are a ticking time bomb. (In fact, up to 75 percent of infectious diseases are zoonoses).

4: The next pandemic: antibiotic-resistant superbugs?

To follow up on the last point, because of the way we’re currently keeping most livestock — stowed together in a very small space in abhorrent conditions, which is an ideal breeding ground for bacteria — the animals are prone to getting ill. To combat this, they’re flooded with antibiotics.

Now, just like with humans, overmedicating on antibiotics eventually leads to antibiotic resistent super bugs. Add to that the fact that over 80 percent of antibiotics are given to farmed animals and we have a serious problem on our hands. So even though we should all be considerate of when it really is necessary to take an antibiotic, this is a far cry from what is happening in the animal agriculture industry. Are we really willing to risk going back to a pre antibiotic world? I think not, so this needs to stop.

5: Abhorrent conditions in slaughterhouses

To keep up with the outrageously high demand for meat, animals need to be slaughtered as quickly as possible. Because of the fast paced working environment which leads to ineffective stunning, many animals will often have their throats slit, get boiled or skinned while still conscious. These methods are supposed to cause the least amount of stress and suffering as possible, but this has been shown time and time again not to be the case.

Not only that, but slaughterhouse workers are often also a victim of the industry. They are prone to on the job injuries (such as spontaneous amputation) and illnesses caused by the unsanitary conditions. They may even develop perpetration induced traumatic stress or PITS for short. (A condition similar to PTSD wherein your trauma is caused by causing harm to others). And other emotional and psychological turmoil caused by the very stressful and traumatic conditions — sometimes resulting in suicidal ideation, substance abuse or violence towards other people.

In many cases, these people are immigrant workers or refugees who don’t have any other option. To make matters even worse, it has recently come to public attention that some US slaughterhouses rely on child labour for cleanup. That is not to say that anyone should be forced to work there, but children?!

6: Dairy cows

The average life of a dairy cow is one of the worst possible lives I can imagine. As with many other species, we rely on the exploitation of their reproductive system to keep up with our demands. Since mammals do not lactate without going through pregnancy, dairy cows are forcibly impregnated for the duration of their lives up until they’re spent. For reference: a cow can live for over 20 years, but being subject to this horrific process means they wont live for more than 5-6 years.

We’ve bred them to the point they will give up to 7 times as much milk as they’d normally give for their calves. But of course, the milk isn’t for the calves, so they’re taken away within hours after birth. Both mother and calf have been known to call out for each other for many days afterwards.

Imagine going through nine months of pregnancy, feeling your baby inside you, giving birth and having them ripped from your arms because someone else wants your milk. If they’re a girl, they’ll most likely be subdued to the same practice. Unless they’re a boy… then they’ll be either killed on site or briefly raised for veal. Just keep in mind that we humans are the only species that goes on to drink the baby sustenance of another species after weaning.

And cattle?

As for beef cows, they might live a slightly less horrible life, up until the moment of slaughter (around 1-2 years). Nevertheless, they’re often still crammed together, forced into a long chute (poked and prodded if they don’t comply) and deeply fear what’s to come. They can smell the blood and may cry at their fate once they’re no longer able to fight back.

But did you know that cows are very social creatures that form deep bonds with one another? Both familial bonds (spanning generations if you let them) and friendships, often going beyond species. It’s crazy to me that we all collectively root for cows that manage to escape slaughterhouses to be brought to sanctuary, when we turn a blind eye to the ones that aren’t that lucky and die terrified, in a very violent manner. It is unnecessarily cruel what we put them through, so here’s a wild thought: let’s just not?

7: Pigs

Okay, so, pigs kinda fall into two categories: the sows used for breeding and the pigs simply raised for pork. As opposed to dairy cows, those piglets get to stay with their moms up until about 4-8 weeks, when they’re taken away to be crammed together and fattened up for slaughter. Then the cycle starts again.

Sows are usually put in very constricting ‘maternity crates’ where they can’t move around. Often they won’t even be able to stand up or turn around. Farmers say that this is to prevent them from accidentally suffocating the piglets, which wouldn’t be profitable for them. But this prevents the sow from exercising her natural instincts such as building a nest.

Pigs are extremely intelligent creatures and need constant stimulation. If they don’t get this, it causes serious psychological distress. They may even start to cannibalise each other out of sheer boredom. So, instead of scaling down and giving them more space and enrichments, tooth and tail clipping and confinement it is. That doesn’t sound very humane to me.

Aside from that, rescue pigs often suffer major health issues, (but won’t always have access to care). This is because we have ‘optimally’ bred them for obesity since they aren’t meant to live beyond six months. Even though they could technically live up to 20 years.

8: Chickens

As with pigs, chickens fall into two categories: egg-laying hens and those mainly raised for meat (broiler chickens). Like pigs, they’ve been bread to grow as fast and large as possible within about six weeks, leading to major health issues such as broken legs from collapsing under their own weight. They’re often kept in extremely filthy conditions right on top of one another, leading to infected sores and plucking out their feathers from psychological distress.

Egg laying hens don’t really have it much better. Laying batteries are still common in a lot of countries and laying many more eggs than is natural depletes their body from nutrients. So much so that they’re spent after only one year.

Oh and about the little chicks: the female chicks are treated as aforementioned. Whereas the males are ground up alive (or drowned or suffocated, you get the point) right after hatching because they simply aren’t profitable.

Chickens are actually quite intelligent and have been shown to have puzzle solving skills. Not only that, but mother hens like to sing to their eggs/chicks and will shield them from the rain with their wings. And best of all: they purr when you pet them, how sweet is that?

9: Sheep & wool

Many people don’t really see the issue with wool and I’d like to clear some things up. Firstly, a recent report has shown that wool is not quite as sustainable as they’d like you to believe.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, wool… while it is true that we’ve bred sheep to the point they have more wool than they need and need some help not suffocating during summer, the reality of sheering isn’t pretty.

Firstly, the industrialisation of production has lead to a fast paced environment where a lot of sheep are injured in the process because slowing down to be more precise isn’t efficient. Secondly, there’s a method called mulesing that involves cutting layers of skin off a lamb’s bottom that’s supposed to prevent flystrike. Fortunately, the practice is decreasing, but I wanted to mention it anyway. Plus many sheep still have their tails cut off, so there’s that.

Once wool production has gone down and the animals are sent to slaughter, they’ll usually be put on big ships to be killed elsewhere. If it wasn’t apparent already: the conditions on such ships are absolutely dreadful. I’m not really going to go into detail on the (regular or halal) slaughter of sheep, because I feel like that’s pretty cut and dry, as with the other animals listed. You can look it up at your own peril; I’m absolutely haunted by a slaughterhouse video that involved a beheading and the cutting up of a still moving body…

10: Marine life

The absurd amount of overfishing does serious damage to the marine eco systems. Both by disrupting the distribution of the number of species, (also in the high amount of bycatch in sharks, dolphins, etc, that are often dead and/or definned before they’re thrown back overboard) and the damage ‘bottom trawling’ does to the ocean floor (decimating coral reefs and releasing carbon dioxide). Many species of fish such as bluefin tuna and crustaceans such as Alaskan snow crabs, are decreasing in numbers. As are species on land.

Since the local fishermen in Africa can’t compete with the factory fishing ships, they resort to hunting bushmeat like bats, monkeys, rats, snakes and other animals for their protein. This increases the chance of a zoonotic transfer, which could lead to an Ebola breakout or a new viral pandemic like we are experiencing with COVID-19.

The Phuket News

Besides that, there’s a common misconception that fish don’t feel pain. But not only do fish have a central nervous system and are therefore able to feel pain, they are intelligent, have emotions and can even get depressed. There’s no question about whether they have the ability to suffer. The same can be said for (for example) killer whales in marine animal parks. They have been known to display what can be surmised to be suicidal behaviour and self harm.

Ocean health

In any case, there are a lot of reasons to stop eating fish (and not support marine animal parks). To give you another incentive: a promising study has found that if we act now, we could potentially revitalise our oceans within the next 30 years. This is essential, because the ocean is our biggest ally against climate change, though not limitless — we help the ocean and it helps us.

Oceans absorb about a third of our CO2 emissions, at the cost of acidification. They also absorb 90% of warming generated by greenhouse gases. And while warming oceans are cause for concern, they warm at a slower rate than land, which could buy us some time. Plus the oceans produce 50% of the world’s oxygen. No small feat and therefore extremely important!

So if we stop eating fish and reduce our output in greenhouse gases now, we could mitigate the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss by quite a lot. All thanks to our lovely oceans.

11: The great Pacific garbage patch

I think most of us are starting to realise the serious problem that plastic pollution poses. Not only in the natural world, where more and more animals die from becoming entangled in waste (or from plastic consumption), but for ourselves as well in the foods that we eat — it is estimated that we consume one credit card worth of microplastics a week!!

This has serious consequences for our health and environment, so we’re constantly being told to reduce, reuse and recycle. Not to say that that isn’t a good start, but did you know that about 46% of the plastic pollution consists of fishing nets? Actually, new studies suggest that that number could be as high as 86%!! Again, not eating fish might just be the single biggest way to combat that.

12: Deforestation

One of the things one often hears as an argument against veganism is what about soy? And it is absolutely true that soy production is a major factor in deforestation. The thing many people either don’t know or fail to mention, is that the soy grown in the rainforests is not meant for human consumption. It is, in fact, used as animal feed. More than three quarters of all soy production goes towards animal agriculture, with a mere 7% towards human consumption. Along with palm oil, it is responsible for 18% of deforestation.

And before you say: “Oh but the farmers in my country don’t use that.” — I can almost guarantee you they do, especially the major factory farms. Sure, there may be a couple of small farms that operate in a closed cycle with their own (or local) production, but those are definitely the exception to the rule.

Another driving factor of deforestation that isn’t crops, is the need for land to be turned into cattle pastures. In total, (animal) agriculture is responsible for three-quarters of deforestation worldwide, with beef production taking up a whopping 41%. This leads to major biodiversity loss, leading me to the next point on the list…

13: Species extinction

Through destruction of habitat (see previous point), many different species are in decline worldwide. Vulnerable ecosystems are put under immense pressure to grow the crops that feed the animals we eat. Deforestation and ecosystem collapse quite simply go hand in hand.

Not only that, but this often happens in countries where people are already struggling to provide for themselves, stripping them from what little resources they had (both on land and water). This causes them to look elsewhere, sometimes resorting to poaching or hunting bushmeat. Not only does this hurt endangered species, it also increases the risk of zoonotic diseases… Remember: HIV came from chimps.

In fact, as Dr. Chivian noted, AIDS is just one of many powerful stories that can be told “to illustrate how we, the human species, are an intricate part of nature, and that we cannot threaten the survival of other species without ultimately threatening ourselves.”

EESI

Please keep in mind that livestock makes up 96% percent of mammal biomass worldwide (excluding humans), wild animals only account for 4%. Same for birds, 71% of bird biomass is made up of poultry compared to a mere 29% of wild birds. Those numbers are insane, nothing natural about that chain.

14: World hunger

As aforementioned, many crops grown and cattle raised happens on land where people are already struggling. Besides that, it takes 10kg of grain to produce 1kg of beef. That’s quite an inefficient way of distributing food since so many calories are effectively wasted.

Besides, we are currently producing enough food to feed 10 billion people, yet it is unfairly distributed. Tell me why more than 800 million people still have to go hungry…? Now, I’m not saying that all crops grown for animal feed are suited for human consumption and we could definitely do without wasting so much food. But think about how many people we could feed through land redistribution/repurposing, just by cutting out the middle man (animal agriculture). With all the pressure we’re putting on our precious planet, wondering how we can sustain an ever growing population, plant based might just be the way to go.

Realize that 82% of the world’s starving children live in countries where food is fed to animals that are then killed and eaten by more well off individuals in developed countries like the US, UK, and in Europe. One fourth of all grain produced by third world countries is now given to livestock, in their own country and out.

Dr. Richard Oppenlander

15: Water scarcity

Many people around the world do not have access to clean drinking water. Yet so much water is wasted in the production of food, especially meat. On average, it takes between 5000-20.000L of water to produce 1kg of meat, (beef being the worst offender), as opposed to 500-4000L for 1kg of grain. That is a massive difference.

Not to say that certain crops (such as nuts) or types of meat don’t cancel each other out when it comes to water usage, but if you were to look at further environmental impact, plant based is absolutely the way to go.

16: Summer 2022 was the hottest summer to date in Europe & China, making it the second hottest summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

(And certain records have already been broken this year. Such as records for April & May).

Let’s be honest, there’s no question as to whether or not climate change is at least in part caused by us humans. Almost every summer seems to be getting hotter and drier, continuously breaking heat records. With our current output of greenhouse gas emissions (about 16.5% of which comes from the animal agriculture industry), things will escalate and extreme weather patterns will start to be the rule rather than the exception. Summers will continue to grow hotter and drier, with the occasional tropical rainstorm. And winters softer, with more rain than potential for snow.

17: Climate disasters

The huge amount of greenhouse gasses we emit, act as a catalyst for climate change. Food production is responsible for 26% of global emissions. Like I said before, the majority of those emissions come from the animal agriculture industry, yet 93% of climate news never mentions meat.

We must drastically reduce our output to stay below the agreed upon 1.5-2°C warming within the next century — a target that we’re more than likely not going to be able to achieve (current numbers suggest a rise of up to 4°C). And with that, with every degree added, the amount and intensity of climate disasters such as floods, droughts, wildfires, storms and cyclones will continue to increase.

This will undoubtedly result in a high number of climate refugees. And I question whether or not we will be able to accommodate those people, especially if we don’t change our ways (speaking both in terms of emissions and cruel treatment of refugees). Just think of the unprecedented floods and storms in Australia and New Zealand. And the increase in wildfires and heat waves all around the world. This is only a precursor for what is yet to come. It is going to get much worse.

18: The Dutch nitrogen crisis

Okay, so perhaps this doesn’t immediately affect the rest of the world. Yet as a Dutchie, I felt like this was an important thing to mention. The effects of all the pollution and greenhouse gasses that are released from factory farms, is quite dire. I’m not even talking about the effects of CO₂ emissions here, because the nitrogen compounds do major damage to the little nature we have left and lead to biodiversity loss. Factory farms account for 40% of the total nitrogen emissions.

Farmers need to scale down, which has caused major outrage because the government kept on giving waivers for the construction of new factory farms up until very recently, effectively ignoring the problem until a judge finally ruled that the situation had become absolutely unsustainable.

The kicker is that about 75% of the food that we produce is meant for export, animal products account for the majority of that. And of our meat export (including import for export & transit), about 85% is produced here. As the small country that the Netherlands is, it’s Europe’s largest meat exporter and the world’s second largest exporter of agricultural products — the first being the USA. In comparison, the share of food that’s exported from the US by farmers is roughly 20% and the country is about 237 times bigger.

So all in all, this is not sustainable, especially not for the limited amount of land we have. So the world needs to (at the very least) reduce its awfully high meat consumption.

19: Pollution

Aside from all the greenhouse gasses emitted from animal agriculture, there is another major concern to be discussed: pollution. And for this specific point I’m not even talking about the pollution that leads to dead zones in the oceans, though that is no laughing matter either. No, I am talking about the pollution of the air and groundwater surrounding factory farms.

Not only is it disastrous for biodiversity, but for the people living in the area as well. It is not exactly fun to live next to such a farm. If not for the odour, for the health consequences. People living close to such farms are at an increased risk for respiratory infections, conditions such as asthma and depression and even certain types of cancer.

The problem is that they are often located where costs are low. Which in turn means that this has a direct effect on the poor and to that effect, people from marginalised communities. It is deeply disturbing to see how disproportionately this industry affects poor people all throughout the supply chain. From destruction and hoarding of resources, to polluting their homes, to using them for low cost employment. All whilst being a major health hazard.

20: Leather

Another argument often made against veganism is that products such as ‘fake’ leather are so much worse than the real thing. I can kind of see the logic behind it, seeing as it is technically a natural product. Hides in and of themselves are perfectly able to decompose (though it can take 25-50 years). The problem starts with tanning, since that preserves it; archaeologists frequently unearth leather that is thousands of years old.

Tanning process

Of course it depends a little on the method how biodegradable it is or isn’t; the way we tan leather nowadays is actually quite toxic. Whilst North American and European regulations prohibit the use of highly toxic chemicals to tan hides, Asian countries very much do not adhere to these same standards. And let’s be honest, if capitalistic greed tells us anything it’s that the majority of the production is gonna be moved to wherever it is cheapest with the least regulations to adhere to. This has major consequences for the people who are part of the industry and the environment.

Ethics

In fact, it completely voids the argument against fake/vegan leather. Vegan leather, whether it be made from plastic or plants, is much less hazardous for the environment and public health. And so long as it isn’t made from plastic but rather natural materials, it can be composted. Plus, it is cruelty free. Because leather in and of itself is not exactly a by-product of the meat industry, it is more of a co-product, meat and leather go hand in hand. Unless we’re talking exotic leather where animals are bread for their skin and their meat is more of a byproduct.

Who am I wearing?

One more thing to consider is that once it has been treated, it is very difficult to distinguish different types of animal skins. Logic follows that if you don’t know what animal it is, or where it comes from, you could technically be wearing dog or cat leather since certain countries don’t make hard distinctions between companion animals and those raised for food.

I’m not at all saying that such a thought makes it more detestable since all animals deserve to be left alone. But since most people seem to be oblivious to the realities of where leather comes from it is a little weird to (hopefully) have a general idea of where your food comes from, perhaps hold it to a higher standard and then not apply that same standard to your shoes. At least in my eyes, the life of an animal doesn’t increase or decrease in value depending on the product they’re then turned into.

21: Health (cancer, heart disease and dementia)

As of 2015 processed meats and red meats have officially been declared as carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Eating those types of meats is basically the new smoking.

It should also be noted that those red and processed meats have been linked to heart disease. Various studies have shown the benefit of plant based diets when it comes to cardiovascular health. Vegans are much less likely to suffer a heart attack.

If that is not enough, because of our polluting ways, large bodies of water are contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls or PCB’s (which are highly carcinogenic) and heavy metals. This means that a large amount of seafood contains varying levels of those pollutants, especially mercury. This is highly dangerous as it is highly toxic and has also been linked to Alzheimer’s and other neurological problems. So the benefit of those fishy omega-3 fatty acids might not outweigh the downsides of mercury poisoning (and the PCB/cancer risk). Yet another reason to stop eating fish/seafood.

22: Challenge yourself to try something new!

Although Veganuary ended quite a while ago, we’re only just halfway through 2023. (Fyi, you can sign up any time you like to take the 31 day pledge and receive emails on the daily). Now, I don’t believe in that “new (half) year, new me” crap, but I’ll always encourage positive change. With all of the reasons that I’ve given you here, why not take on a challenge? You might be positively surprised and perhaps you’ll stick to it afterwards.

If you have Facebook, you might want to sign up for Challenge22 to try veganism for 22 days. There you’ll get access to a secret facebook group with fellow participants and registered dieticians. There’s a reason I reserved this one for number 22, get it? 😉

For my fellow Dutchies, there’s also the vegan challenge.

23: It’s easier than ever!

It’s 2023 and veganism has been massively on the rise during these last few years. So unless you live in a food desert, chances are that you have access to plenty of plant based options. So what’s stopping you?

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