One issue I am very passionate about is global warming and being kind to our environment. There are very simple things I do such as not keeping the water on while brushing my teeth, carpooling with friends to places, and making sure I recycle whenever I possibly can. This environmental conscientiousness has been driven for my love of animals – I will most definitely be that girl when I am older to go to the pet store to buy my child a goldfish and come back with six puppies. Looking at these topics I was passionate about lead me to explore veganism which I knew from the beginning was beneficial to the environment and was pro- animal rights. By doing more and more research I came to find that meat production companies had a huge negative impact on the environment from resource depletion, deforestation, climate change and global hunger. They are even the leading cause of global warming over the motor vehicle industry. This then lead me to believe that there were more than the stereotypical reasons to going vegan other than health or animal rights, such as it can save our enironment. By looking at the deforestation and pollution caused by meat production and distributing companies we see their purpose is driven more by profit than environmentalism, which tells us that veganism is important to cutting down on meat industry production of dangerous greenhouse gasses CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide and as well as stopping deforestation of valuable land.

To first understand this topic and how it even relates to the environment, you must first know what veganism even is. A popular website ran by CEO George Gill gives us a clear definition right on the main page of the website: as the company’s main goal is to educate the pros of veganism as well as advocate for the companies promoting it. The definition 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 humans, animals and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals." (The Vegan Society) People do not take into consideration about how much resources animal by products take to make, and as much as they use it has a strong negative impact on our environment. From water consumption drank by the animals/used on them, or for production of their food, to all the land that is cut down to make into commercial farmland, which turns into habitat loss for all of the other animals in the world, edible grain crop used to feed these animals is then taken from third world countries adding to global hunger/ and or is chemically enhanced hurting these animals, and to top it all of it has caused 51% of all the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and has created over 500 nitrogen flooded dead zones in the ocean so far. (Veganism and The Environment) By taking the vegan life style into consideration we could slow these negative consequences that meat production companies know about and choose to ignore while promoting more of an ethical lifestyle for ourselves. 

 One website that promotes veganism for environmental and ethical reasons is the website “Your Daily Vegan”, a fact-based website that speaks further to the detrimental impact of these broad problems it also says how going vegan can have a positive impact on the environment by providing solutions that veganism will help long term. “Each day, a person who eats vegan saves 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 square feet of forests, 20 pounds of CO2 gas emissions, and the life of an animal.” (Veganism and The Environment). Yes of course there is the stereotypical reasons of animal rights but specifically looking at the environmental aspects we could save so much clean water, get our air cleaner by having more forestation around, and by having more forestation we would be saving endangered species, and lastly holding off on the gas emissions that are used in the abuse and killing of an innocent animal.  Even if someone did this just a few days a week think about how much healthier our environment would be eventually.

Unfortunately, there is a social stigma against veganism that prevents most people from even considering veganism as an option. We as a society need to get away from thinking that veganism is dietary social trend that needs to be done 24/7 or for publicity. This can be a leading way to save the environment for future generations, as by 2030 we are projected at this rate to reach the Earth’s livable CO2 limit. (Cowspiracy) As we are in a generation of constant social media presences the idea of veganism is not taken seriously or even taken into consideration as a way to save the environment. In the book “The Vegan Studies Project: Food, Animals, and Gender in the Age of Terror.” The theory is challenged that these non-talented celebrities even have an impact on the way veganism is looked at as most are doing it for the dietary ways or for promotional opportunities instead of the social movements it was meant for. Authors, Laura Wright and Carol Adams focused on this post 9/11 as many trends started changing then. “Furthermore, much of the discourse generated by vegan celebrity status functions to stimulate veganism within mainstream culture, thereby divorcing it for the most part, from predominant ideological investment in animal advocacy and its political function as a form of social and cultural protest. In fact, I would argue that perhaps in part because of the negative connotations associated with veganism post 9/11 there has been a media campaign staged by vegans and nonvegans alike to divorce contemporary veganism from its most foundational import and reconstitute it as something decidedly other- a diet- neutralized of its “fringe” focus on animals.” (131) Which is why we need to get away from thinking that this is just a dietary trend rather a social movement meant for rights which was what it was originally intended for. And if we (celebrities included) got back to the social movement of veganism being a positive impact for the environment and taking the commercial out of it, there would be many more benefits to our world.             

Just as celebrities are promoting veganism, there are celebrities who are indirectly tearing it down to disbelief in global warming, as it usually hurts their hands in capital gain or just do to ignorance. One of these celebrities/political figures is our very own president; Donald Trump. Here is an interview he did in responding to the question from interviewer Hugh Hewitt, “What is your stance on global warming?” and one of the key quotes that mostly sums up the response from Trump is, “So I am not a believer and I will, unless somebody can prove something to me. I believe there’s weather, I believe there’s change, and I believe it goes up, and it goes down, and it goes up again. And it changes depending on years and centuries. But I am not a believer, and we have much bigger problems.” He then goes on to insult Russia and China. He uses non-sense sentences to direct away from the topic with no factual back up. The connection to this and the significance to my topic is these big corporate holders are more interested in financial gain in benefit of themselves rather than thinking of the environment. And as always, these big corporations are leaders in CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions and deforestation of valuable land placing these companies. This is exactly why some monopoly leaders will not admit to environmental issues and they know it would be a lot more expensive to do the right thing and vs. the energy efficient alternatives.  Too bad at this rate we probably won’t have a livable Earth for them to spend all their “hard earned” money on. 

Just as there is disbelief in climate change from powerful people in the world, there is large consciousness to it from other powerful corporations. Such as the United Nations, one of the most powerful government organizations in the world that helps to solve issues around the globe and bring countries together. A report that was put out by their United Nations Environment Program’s (UNEP) international panel of sustainable resource management urges, “A global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change…….……. Professor Edgar Hertwich, the lead author of the report, said: ““Animal products cause more damage than [producing] construction minerals such as sand or cement, plastics or metals. Biomass and crops for animals are as damaging as [burning] fossil fuels.’’ Even if people progressively moved to a vegan diet such as eating vegan a meal a day, then once a week, then to a few days a week, we could have such a huge positive impact for future generations. And if a big national corporation such as this who have such a hard job of making everyone agree on things collectively agree to post this article about veganism being so crucial to the saving the environment and reducing greenhouse gasses, there must be some significance.  

The United Nations great in shedding light on veganism being a new possible way to save the environment and my next article “Potential contributions of food consumption patterns to climate change” shows the average amount of emissions of CO2 in kg in vegan vs non-vegan product production and proves the exact same thing. This article written by scientist Annika Carlsson-Kanyama and Alejandro D. Gonzalez for the American Journal of Clinical Nutricion states, “For protein-rich food, such as legumes, meat, fish, cheese, and eggs, the difference is a factor of 30 kg with the lowest emissions per kilogram for legumes, poultry, and eggs and the highest for beef, cheese, and pork. Large emissions for ruminants are explained mainly by methane emissions from enteric fermentation. For vegetables and fruits, emissions usually are ≤2.5 kg CO2 equivalents/kg product, even if there is a high degree of processing and substantial transportation. Products transported by plane are an exception because emissions may be as large as for certain meats. Emissions from foods rich in carbohydrates, such as potatoes, pasta, and wheat, are <1.1 kg/kg edible food. We suggest that changes in the diet toward more plant-based foods, toward meat from animals with little enteric fermentation, and toward foods processed in an energy-efficient manner offer an interesting and little explored area for mitigating climate change.” Proving that most non- vegan foods give off way more C02 emissions than vegan foods. And at the pace these meat/non vegan food monopolies are mass producing these harmful products puts a lot of these harmful chemicals into the air. CO2 is the leading chemical cause of global warming, by cutting back on these products we save so much harm to our wonderful environment that really gives us life.

Finding out that CO2 had such a detrimental impact to our environment I wanted out more specific facts on how else meat monopoly companies affect the environment. And with that I watched a real-life expose Cowspiracy: The sustainability secret on Netflix. The documentary focusses on meat monopoly companies’ environmental impacts and immoral acts against animals raised for slaughter.  While Kip Anderson and Keegan Kuhn are whistleblowers on the industry, they risk their lives in pursuit to shed light on these topics as meat monopolies will truly stop at anything to have this production shut down. Here are some key facts condemning meat monopolies and shedding light on the effects of eating animal products and using their byproducts. Globally 51% of all greenhouse gas emissions is due to livestock and their byproducts vs the 13% due to transport which includes motor vehicle, railroads, air travel, and marine. The meat and dairy industries use 1/3 of Earth’s fresh water. Meat monopolies livestock take up 45% of the world’s total land. For every 1 pound of intended fish type to be caught 5 pounds are unintentionally and killed regardless. Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zone creation, water pollution, and habitat destruction. Animal agriculture is responsible for 91% of Amazon destruction. (Cowspiracy) And if these facts don’t scare you and raise a red flag on the future quality of life our planet is headed too I don’t know what will. These facts are all examples as to why veganism should be taken into serious consideration for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation. Even if our current president does not believe in setting up some sort of plan or bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide this is something you can do on your own to help save our planet. By becoming a vegan, you can reduce your carbon foot print by 50%. (Cowspiracy) This is why it is so crucial you take this movement into consideration. 

There are so many more pros to going vegan than being an omnivore, from health, to dietary constrictions, to ethical reasons, to most importantly the environment. The only lievable place in the universe for all of us. That is why I encourage everyone to become a moral vegan, as a real way to save this planet. From the scholarly article “Veganism and Living Well” written and researched by Christopher Ciocchetti, “Moral vegans don’t eat animal products of any sort because of the morally objectionable practices of current animal agriculture and they argue that we should move towards a food production system that doesn’t depend on animal agriculture. Without taking a stand on the past or the appropriate diet for people who do not have ready access to adequate vegan food, moral vegans aim to transform current eating habits for moral reasons. These reasons are often mixed, including concern for the environment, workers’ welfare, and the animals involved. Concern for one’s health or a dislike of meat is not sufﬁcient to be a moral vegan.” This hits on exactly what we need, as moral vegans are focused more on the environmental issues than dietary constrains which come in as an bonus. The facts above have to have some moral impact on your consciousness. Even if it is just one meal a day every month, you can make a difference. That is why veganism needs to seriously be taken into consideration as a way to save our beautiful Earth. We only have one, we should not waste it, while the big monopolies are majorly profiting off animal cruelty and small vegetable farmers are hurting for money. Eat whatever vegan meals you want, eat vegan French fries for every meal if that’s what it takes you to get to do it, but know it is for such a great cause and a positive impact for future generations which is exactly the kind of attitude we need to make a change and save the world.  
