1. November - World Vegan Day or why vegan though?
In November 1944, Donald Watson, an English animal rights advocate, coined the term vegan by founding the first ever Vegan Society in England, with the philosophy to object any harm to living creatures. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Vegan Society, on 1. November 1994 the World Vegan Day was established. It is the first year for me to actually acknowledge this day, so in celebration, here are 5 reasons I’m living a vegan lifestyle and why it’s been one of the best decisions in my life:
1. Never felt more in sync with my inner voice and beliefs. I remember being a child and any time I’d see any animal suffer or being slaughtered (yes, I did happen to see that since my grandparents had a little farm), I’d experience an immense pain. Fast forward a few years, I was taught that this is just the way things are and where food comes from, so I “grew up” and somehow became numb and got used to suppressing my feelings and ignore this inner conflict. I still throughout my whole non-vegan life until the age of 27 had issues touching and cooking raw meat myself though. Therefore, I’ve never lived more in harmony and true to my beliefs than for the last around year and a half since I became vegan.
2. It is healthier. A plant-based diet contains all the nutrition our body needs. It is proven to reduce the risks of heart disease, blood pressure and cholesterol and significantly reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. And there is really no reason, other than cultural and habitual, for us humans to consume animal products. The diary, meat and drug industries pay a lot of money to get those animal products into the education system and convince us they are an essential part of our diet, while providing us the drugs to cure the disease they cause.
3. It is better for the environment. A plant-based diet is the single biggest thing one person can do to reduce their impact on the environment. According to United Nations reports, animal agriculture is the leading cause of climate change, soil erosion and water depletion. In fact, it is responsible for more greenhouse emissions than all the world’s transportation systems combined, including cars and airplanes. Isn’t that a crazy thought?
1. It can end world hunger. Currently, about 1/2 of the whole habitable area on earth, or the size of North, Central and South America combined, is used for raising livestock and growing crops for their food. In comparison, crops for humans currently use 1/4 of that amount of land. Furthermore, the water used for growing crops for feeding animals and their drinking water results in approximately 9.000 kg of water to produce 1/2 a kg of beef, which is 10 times the amount of water for producing a kilo of tofu. Think about the possibilities.
5. Vegan food is amazingly delicious. In fact, vegan food was always my favourite food to eat, I was just taught by society it was a side dish that I am supposed to eat only in combination with my chicken breast. I’ve had the time of my life since I realised it’s not true.
Btw, the second photo is me just before biting on a 600 kcal almond butter and jam toast in San Francisco, on a #whatveganseat note. And yes, do not always manage to avoid non-reusable coffee cups as I would like to.
