And I’m doing it for one, and one reason only.
First, what I’m not doing it for. I’m not doing it for the animals. I love animals, but I’ve been eating them since I was about two. I’ve even killed a few. No, I’m not some weak-kneed, PETA-worshiping animal do-gooder. Sure, it’s a nice side effect of veganism, the warm feeling knowing nothing on my dinner plate suffered the cruelty of factory farming, but in the end, the animals themselves don’t matter.
Next, I’m not doing it for my health. I haven’t lost any weight or felt any better as a vegan and I have decidedly not discovered newfound energy or a miraculous change in stamina or strength. I feel exactly the same. I’ve been an active person as an omnivore and I will continue that as vegan. I know, like most doctors and nutritionists know, that you can be ultra-healthy as either an omnivore or a vegan. No, health isn’t the reason.
So why?
Simple. I’m a lazy, yet hopeful environmentalist and going vegan is the easiest, yet absolutely most personally impactful thing any individual can do to assist our endangered planet.
Look, I like to try and do all the things a good environmentalist should, but I frequently fail. I drive –often for no real purpose. I shave with the water going, I turn up the heat when it’s cold and I’ll often just throw something out instead of sorting and recycling. And in many cases, my sloth stems from never really being sure that my “green” efforts were making a difference. And for someone as lazy as me, that often means throwing caution – and carbon – to the wind. Basically, I would give myself an A for intent, but a C- for execution and really saw no way of upping my environmental grade point average.
Then I saw the documentary Cowspiracy.
I won’t go into great detail about this film, but the gist of it is this: hiding in plain sight, yet often unspoken, is the fact that what we eat and how we raise it is without question the biggest threat to our planet and if we moved to a largely plant based diet, we would reverse our deadly footprint. Further, the film does a great job of illustrating the positive impact one vegan convert like me can have on the environment - today. For me, becoming vegan is actually an easier way toward green living.
After viewing the film, I felt that embracing veganism would be a giant (relatively easy) form of checking the environmentalist box. By embracing a plant based diet , I can guiltlessly drive without purpose, take long showers, buy fruit with an obscene amount of food miles….and still check the box of being a rabid environmentalist, because I’m doing the single and most measurable thing to help the environment – stop eating meat and animal products. Period.
Here are the facts, painstakingly laid out in the film: “A person who follows a vegan diet produces the equivalent of 50% less carbon dioxide, uses 1/11th oil, 1/13th water, and 1/18th land compared to a meat-lover for their food. Each day, a person who eats a vegan diet saves 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 sq ft of forested land, 20 lbs CO2 equivalent, and one animal’s life.” I’ve never come across statistics and facts so clearly illustrated. Little old me could make a hugely positive impact on the world – right now.
Wait a second?, you might say. How can completely changing your diet be the easier path toward a sustainable lifestyle? Because, as I found out almost by accident, the only real change I had to make was rethinking the order of things on my plate. As an omnivore and the main cook in our family, I had always been conditioned to think about the meat serving first. From there, I would build out the meal, from there I would construct the shopping list. I credit my wife, who went vegan first, with simply asking the question, “why not think of the veggies first?
Need more proof about the relative ease of veganism vs. other green practices? Here’s what a meat-eating environmentalist would need to do to match my diminished environmental footprint:
- Audit all water consumption and reduce daily us by around 75 percent
- Sell the family car, purchase a bike and/or take the bus
- Purchase thousands of dollars of carbon offsets in order to replace deforested land
- Reduce all home heating and cooling to about zero.
Here’s what I have to do: buy and eat nuts, beans and lentils instead of chicken and beef.
What about taste?!, you might scream. Yes, animals taste great and no, tofu doesn’t seamlessly replace chicken in a perfect stir fry. But again, for me the path toward veganism has really been about simply re-ordering my thought process.
For example, let’s take bacon – the kryptonite of many a vegetarian or vegan. Bacon is wonderful to eat, no arguments here. But what is bacon really? Bacon is just an ideal fat and salt delivery system. And I can get my salt, my fat, and other yummy components like sugar and carbs easily from plants. The satiety from meat can be replaced; bacon replaced by salted cashews and French fries.
In closing, if you don’t care about environmentalism, this little article is not for you and you are more than welcome to grab a burger and forget all about veganism. However, if you are concerned about doing your part for the environment, yet haven’t really found your place in the cause – perhaps the plant-based way is for you. What’s great about veganism is that it offers something very tangible to both sides of the political divide. Of course, liberals can jump on board because of the environmental sustainability, but there is (pardon the pun) red meat for conservatives as well. Meat production is one of, if not, THE largest government subsidized and supported industry in the world. You hard core free market devotees should greatly appreciate a movement which aims to directly end the devil’s bargain between big government and big meat.
So if you want to help save the planet but don’t want to abandon cars, central heating and your hair dryer, consider eating your way toward a greener tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment