One of the requirements for Junior English in high school is a research paper. My teacher recommended choosing a topic you feel strongly about, so I chose veganism. It really wasn't much of a shocker for those who know me even the slightest. My teacher actually liked my paper very much, and was actually surprised at the amount of evidence I was able to offer, particularly towards the ethics side of it. Those who know much about veganism, animal rights, etc. probably would not have been so surprised. Within the 1350 word limit, my paper touches on why veg*nism is superior to eating meat in 3 different areas. Trust me, if it weren't for that word limit, I would have taken the time to wax eloquent. Here is my junior English research paper (left in the required format, and original word limit.)
It is said that what a person does not understand, he will either fear or hate because most people are raised with biases and prejudices. With controversial subjects, generally even those who are relatively uninformed wish to opine. Veganism and vegetarianism fall in this category. However, a surprising number of people do not know the difference between vegetarianism and veganism. Veganism began as an offshoot of vegetarianism. Like vegetarians, vegans do not consume meat. They also do not use any products made from or tested on animals. Avoiding animal products has a beneficial impact that makes vegetable-based diets physically, globally, and ethically superior to omnivorous diets.
Vegetable-based diets are more healthful than omnivorous diets. Eating meat contributes to diseases. Not only are animal products inefficient to produce, but they are unhealthful because “we take a crop. . . rich in protein, fiber, and carbohydrates. . . and totally devoid of cholesterol and artery-clogging saturated fat. . . . We feed it to [animals] to create a product with no fiber or complex carbohydrates at all, but with mega doses of cholesterol and saturated fat.” (Newkirk [1]). There are other hidden dangers in meat. According to Freston, achidonic acid, which causes inflammation and leads to Alzheimer’s and a plethora of other diseases, is unavoidable in meat (“A Few” [1]). A more frightening reality is that “one sausage a day increases our chance of bowel cancer by 20%. It only takes 1.8oz (50g) of processed meat daily to significantly increase our risk of this deadly type of cancer” (Walters [1]). Meat in diets is not the only animal source of problems. According to Dani Veracity, milk worsens asthma cases by stimulating mucus production, and many are allergic to milk proteins or the antibiotics found in it. Milk allergies, which are extremely common, manifest themselves in worsened acne and eczema, as well as diarrhea, asthma, ear infections, rashes, and hives. ([1-2]) Certainly all of these illnesses are plenty of cause to avoid meat and animal products.
Herbivorous diets provide essential nutrients and reduce risk of illness. Many people have qualms with giving up eggs, milk, and meat for fear of deficiencies; however, Veracity explains that broccoli and tofu provide calcium just as well as milk. ([2]) Other deficiency fears include vitamin B12 and protein. However, “Any food that gets dirty develops B12 from bacteria. . . . we get our B12 from meat because its dirty. And our need for B12 is tiny. . . akin to four grains of rice in our lifetime” (Rivera [1]). When it comes to consuming proper amounts of protein, “most people on a standard meat diet are actually protein deficient. . . . Vegetarians actually grow muscle mass at a faster rate with a diet of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.” (Rivera [1]). Not only do plant diets provide essential nutrients, but “a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that people of all ages, including children, that adhere to a vegetarian diet. . . are generally leaner than their meat-eating counterparts” (Huff [1]). Those who maintain healthy weights are less likely to suffer from heart disease and other diseases linked to obesity. In fact, “Dean Ornish, M.D. was the first person to prove that heart disease can be reversed, and he did so by feeding his patients a vegetarian diet” (Rivera [2]). Abstaining from meat protects from reduces cancer risk. “[Researchers] found that the lifetime risk of developing cancer was 14 percent lower in vegetarians than in the general population. The protective effect was greatest for stomach cancer, bladder cancer, Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and blood cancers. Vegetarians were less than 50 percent as likely to develop lymph and blood cancers as nonrestricted eaters, while their risk of. . . multiple myeloma was 75 percent lower” (Gutierrez [1]). Vegetable-based diets obviously are more healthful because of their lowered risk of disease.
Second, vegetable-based diets reduce and discourage the animal cruelty caused by omnivorous diets. Eating meat promotes the unjust treatment of food-animals. The cruelty in factory farms exists from the beginning of animals’ lives. According to Matt Ball, animals live their whole lives with “the confinement and overcrowding, the stench, the racket, the extremes of heat and cold, the attacks and even cannibalism, the hunger and starvation, the illness, the mutilation, the broken bones and failing organs etc. Indeed, every year, hundreds of millions of animals. . . actually suffer to death” (“A Meaningful” [3]). Law requires that the animals lucky enough to survive until they reach the slaughterhouse be stunned before slaughter to desensitize them, but “it’s not uncommon for an animal to suffer one or two failed stuns. . . . Unconscious animals whose necks are not cut soon enough may regain their senses after being hung on the bleed rail” (Ball, “If Slaughterhouses” [1]). These stuns are supposed to be the humane way of killing animals, however, when they are unsuccessful, pigs “are dunked in tanks of hot water after they are stunned. . . . A botched slaughter condemns [them] to being scalded and drowned” (Ball [4]). Even worse, kosher and other ritual slaughterhouses are not even legally required to desensitize animals before they begin the butchering process.
Additionally, Herbivorous diets reduce the suffering of innocent animals by promoting ethical eating. A single person’s asceticism may not seem to have an impact, but the laws of supply and demand explain that when demand for a product decreases, the supply of the product decreases. The result would be the slaughter of fewer animals. Causing the suffering of sentient beings is ethically wrong, so if one reduces the number of animals who suffer, his action is ethically praiseworthy. Animals “are not things. They can feel pain. They can suffer frustration and boredom. They have lives of their own” (Mason, 122). According to “Vegetarian 101,” an article published by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, 27 billion food-animals are slaughtered annually, but every year, an individual vegetarian saves approximately 100 of those animals (“Vegetarian 101” [1-2]). If more people would become vegetarians or vegans, the number of animals saved from the torture and slaughter would be astronomical.Last, vegetable-based diets are environmentally friendly than omnivorous diets. Eating meat encourages environmental degradation caused by inefficient factory farms. These commercialized farms traffic millions. Their “livestock accounts for 18 percent of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions” (Klein [1]). For example, “‘manure lagoons’. . . [are] acres of animal excrement that sit in the sun steaming nitrous oxide into the atmosphere” (Klein [1]). Additionally, Inefficiency continues because “we have to transport the animals to slaughterhouses, slaughter them, refrigerate their carcasses, and distribute their flesh all across the country. Producing a calorie of meat protein means burning more than ten times as much fossil fuels. . . as does a calorie of plant protein” (Freston, “Vegetarian” [1]).
Herbivorous diets promote a more efficient use of natural resources. It is commonly known that plant-based diets require approximately only a tenth of the crops that are required to create animal products. Because of this vast difference, “Americans and Europeans can't raise all the feed domestically that is needed to sustain their meat addictions. . . . Agribusiness has started cutting down the rain forest. . . . If more people went vegetarian, we would need far less land to feed people” (Freston, “A Few” [2]). Veganism also conserves water resources because “it takes about four times as much water to feed a vegetarian as it does to feed a vegan and 14 times as much water to feed a meat-eater. And, if you have to feed animals, you have to irrigate the crops that you feed to them and you have to give them water too. You have to hose down the factory farms and slaughterhouses with water” (Newkirk [2-3]). Clearly, going vegan is the most responsible lifestyle choice.
Meat-free diets are undeniably physically, globally, and ethically superior to eating meat. Many Americans believe in a right to eat meat, classifying it as part of their right to the pursuit of happiness. However, consuming meat is not a right, and trying to ignore the facts will not make them any less true. Those in wealthier countries should implement ways to reduce their use of animals products. Failure to do so is clearly irresponsible.
Works Consulted
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