Essay 3 Final Draft

Jacob Fortner

Janel Spencer

WRT101S

5 May, 2019

Anti-meat Manifesto

            People around the world are typically accustom to the widely accepted omnivore diets. This diet consists of meat, poultry, fish, dairy, and plant-based foods. However, a new, continuously trending diet has been challenging the omnivore lifestyle. Many people are making the transition into the vegetarian diet. The reasons may vary: animal compassion, health, reducing carbon footprint, or for self-pride in saving animal lives. Whatever the reason, the results are always the same: whoever coverts to this diet will live and feel a healthier lifestyle. If switching is seeming impossible to you, try it as a cleanse or perhaps cut back on meat in general. The benefits will still follow. Before discussing the benefits, there are various types of vegetarian diets to learn about to before you consider adopting this diet into your life.

            The vegetarian diet consists of many sub-categories, most excluding the consumption of meat. The categories include: lacto-vegetarian, ovo-vegetarian, lacto-ovo-vegetarian, and veganism. All of these diets, with the exception of veganism, are lenient towards animal-based diets. Ovo-vegetarians consume eggs with no meat, lacto-vegetarians consume dairy with no meat, and some diets allow the consumption of poultry, meat, or fish. However, this article will be focused primarily on the vegan diet. This is the most strict of all the vegetarian diets, as it doesn’t allow you to consume anything animal based. This includes meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, and honey. This diet, while being the most difficult to transition to, proves to be the most beneficial. Vegan diets are highly beneficial for your health whether you make the switch, or simply just want to cleanse your body.  

Vegan diets have been proven to provide health benefits. Research suggests adopting a vegan diet reduce your chance of obtaining heart disease, cancer, hypertension, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and type two diabetes. (Harvard Health Publishing/Craig) According to Harvard, the diet decreases you chance of dying of heart diseases by 25%. Since vegans consume more vegetables and fruits, this puts them at a lower risk of obtaining cancer. Removing read meat from your diet also prevents colon cancer from occurring. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, cutting out red meats can reduce your chance of obtaining cancer from 20%-60%. Vegan diets are also commonly misconstrued to lack calcium. The diet excludes dairy, so finding a source for vitamin D can be more challenging. However, tofu, soybeans, soy milk, and broccoli are all rich in vitamin D and calcium, making it possible to obtain vitamins and minerals from your previous diet. Furthermore, along with calcium and protein, bone health is also influenced by nutrients such as vitamin D, vitamin K, potassium, and magnesium. Vegan diets are rich with these which suggest better bone health to those who adapt to the diet.

            If you are compassionate for animals and others around the world, the vegan diet is the one for you. By converting to this diet, you save more animals from the farm factories that murder countless pigs, cows, chickens, turkeys, etc. Switching from meat-based farms to plant-based farms could provide more food to distribute to starving people around the world. According to Global Citizen, approximately 700 million tons of food being consumed by livestock could potentially feed humans instead. IOP Science said that world-wide calorie intake would increase 70% if we switched from using those grains as animal feed to using them for human consumption. If we switched to a plant base diet, the need for livestock would be eliminated, thus, we would be able to use consume their grains providing more food per person. According to IOP Science, one-third of resources put into animal feed results in waste. Eliminating livestock farming would save money on agriculture as well as cut back on resources, such as food and water, that we could provide to others to sustain their health. While saving lives, food and water resources, going also cuts back on your carbon footprint. Global Citizen also suggests: it takes 100-200 times more water to raise a pound of beef than it does to raise a pound of a plant-based food. Switching to a plant-based diet would save hundreds of gallons of water helping to reduce your carbon footprint. Farm Sanctuary suggests that in 2008, more than 2.5 million dairy cows were slaughtered for meat. The University of Tennessee suggests that a cow, on average, produces 532 lbs of meat. That means by eliminating one cow from factory farming, you will save anywhere from 53,000%-106,400% of the water you would invest into 532 lbs of plant-based foods, such as grains.

It’s not uncommon for omnivores to be thrown off by the sound of a vegan diet. Trust me, I was one of those people. Sincerely, it’s not as hard to switch as one might imagine. With the gaining notoriety of this diet, more and more businesses have been accepting and appealing to the vegan diets. There are many restaurants and food companies that are producing and distributing meat-like foods and the list will only continue to grow. The most common excuse for not switching is the “I just love meat too much.” To that saying, I say, “Don’t knock it before you try it.” Many, like myself before, imagine a plant-based diet as very mundane and bland. However, some of the best foods I have eaten are plant-based foods. Just like the omnivore diet, you must find foods you enjoy that fit that diet. Another concern for the switch is the common misconception of vitamin deficiency. According to NCBI, vegan diets are occasionally susceptible to lack B-12, protein, and calcium. Just like the omnivore diet, a vegan diet can be healthy or unhealthy, depending on what you consume. To prevent deficiencies, eat various foods and know what you are putting in your body. Keeping track of calories, proteins, carbs, and vitamins is essential for a healthy lifestyle, regardless of your diet restrictions. If you are still unable meet the requirements of vitamins and minerals, they are available to purchase from grocery stores and pharmacies; in the case you are unable to properly fit all vitamins into your diet.

Veganism is a highly debatable topic. It’s still a growing epidemic in which we have a lot to learn about. From my experience, I can tell you it’s one of the better health decisions I made. I feel more energized and less lethargic after eating meals. My overall mood has improved, and I feel “lighter.” I continue to work out at high intensities and have gain leaner, cut muscle. Overall, it’s a change I would recommend everyone try. Switching to a vegan diet can be challenging, but it is also informative and beneficial. If you need some influence, one of your favorite actors and/or athletes might be vegan.

The question you might have now is: what does this have to do with Tucson? Well, a lot of downtown Tucson is comprised of various vegan restaurants. By making the switch, you will be providing support for local small business. Purchasing vegan options would encourage vegan business to stay open and provide more vegan options as the continue to thrive. If you aren’t big on small business, consider that buying vegan will also stimulate Tucson’s economy, whether small or big businesses. Sprout’s and Walmart are both affordable options with numerous products to choose from. Also, by switching to the vegan diet, you reduce your carbon footprint by saving tremendous amounts of water that could be potentially used on livestock. Tucson, being the dry desert it is, could use all the water we could save. Being that we are in the dessert with limited amounts of water, conservation would be ideal for our situation. Water be saved from livestock can be conserved and conveyed into a more serviceable way.

A diet transition can be difficult for many to overcome, especially when it’s considered normal by society. However, using one of the many benefits as inspiration, you can make the switch that much easier. All it takes is practice and dedication. The vegan lifestyle will improve your health and provide you with moral pride. This dietary lifestyle is popular and continues to gain positive publicity every day. If society could provide more healthier food options, leave a smaller carbon footprint, and avoid killing animals all at the same time, then why don’t we?

Works Cited:

Cassidy, Emily S, et al. “Redefining Agricultural Yields: from Tonnes to People Nourished per Hectare.” IOP Science, IOP Publishing, 1 Aug. 2013. Accessed May 6, 2019.

Craig, Winston J. “Health Effects of Vegan Diets.” Health Effects of Vegan Diets, Oxford University Press, 11 Mar. 2009. Accessed May 6, 2019.

“Factory Farming.” Farm Sanctuary, Farm Sanctuary,. Accessed May 12, 2019

Harvard Health Publishing. “Becoming a Vegetarian.” Becoming a Vegan, Harvard Health Publishing, Oct. 2019. Accessed May 6, 2019.

Holland, Rob. “How Much Meat To Expect From a Meat Carcass.” Farm Sanctuary, University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. Accessed May 6, 2019.

Le, Lap Tai, and Joan Sabaté. “Beyond Meatless, the Health Effects of Vegan Diets: Findings From the Adventist Cohorts.” Nutrients, MDPI, 27 May 2014. Accessed May 6, 2019

McCarthy, Joe, and Erica Sanchez. “9 Ways Veganism Is Helping the Planet.” Global Citizen, Global Povert Project, 15 Aug. 2016. Accessed May 6, 2019.