them.
Over five million acres of South and Central American rainforests are cleared each year for cattle to graze on. The local people don’t eat this much meat—it is exported to make the $1 hamburger and a cheap barbeque meal in America.
Save Energy, Clean Air
Not only do livestock farms produce carbon dioxide and other harmful gases, but producing animal-based protein also requires more fossil-fuel energy than plant-based. This means that the meat industry not only pollutes the air, but uses an incredible amount of energy too. By not eating meat, or even eating less meat, we could contribute to a cleaner atmosphere and a healthier environment by not adding to fossil fuel use or carbon dioxide creation.
Help Feed More People
Right now, most grain that is grown in the United States goes to feed livestock. Cornell did a study and found that with the amount of grain that goes to feed livestock, 800 million people could be fed. Additionally, land that could be used for farming is being destroyed by livestock farms that don’t look after the soil. Being conscious of not eating meat could change this system to allow more people to be fed.
It’s More Ethical
Most of us are no strangers to the conditions lots of livestock animals live in before heading to the slaughterhouse. Packing animals into tight spaces, not allowing them to see sunlight or grass, from birth until death is a cruel way of existence. By buying cheap, factory-produced meat, or going to fast food restaurants that use factory-produced meat, you contribute to this cycle of horrible conditions.
Sir Paul McCartney and many other celebrities support Meat Free Mondays. Check it out at www.meatfreemondays.co.uk. The Belgian city of Ghent has instituted a Meat Free Thursday. Get inspired and start a local meat free day! Start a farm-to-school project in your school district; all the know-how is at www.farmtoschool.org. Making small steps like these go a long way in helping us keep our planet happy, and ourselves healthy.
You’ve read about what being a vegan means and you’re ready to take the plunge. It can be a daunting process so here are the first few steps to help you get going.
Do Your Research: You’ve already done some reading, but do you really know what being vegan is all about? Obviously, this book is a fantastic step to introduce you to the ins and outs of veganism. You probably shouldn’t make a huge life change after reading just one book. Read a few, along with magazine articles and online blogs.
Take it Slow: Some people say that stopping all animal products in one fell swoop is the way to go (going cold turkey, if you’ll forgive the phrase). But it can be really hard when you consider the huge range of things you are suddenly going to have to cut out of your diet and your life.
A good first step is to get rid of meat. Once you’ve started to master cooking vegetarian meals, start to let go of eggs and dairy. After that, you can start to really examine labels and ferret out all the hidden animal ingredients in your food. Even if it takes months to get to a real vegan place, it will be worth it.
Learn to Cook: If you don’t already have great cooking skills, now’s the time to learn. So many conventional and processed foods are non-vegan that you’ll almost certainly have to start doing a lot more home-cooking to make it work.
Try New Foods: It’s not just about what you take out of your diet. Make up a batch of quinoa, do a stir fry with tempeh or grill up a black bean burger. Experimentation will open up so many new doors that you won’t even realize that some things are gone. Try at least one new food a week.
You’re Not Perfect: Once you start to notice all the animal products in so many things around you, it can be pretty overwhelming. Don’t throw your hands up and quit because you find your hand lotion has some glycerin in it. Being as vegan as possible is better than just giving up.
The specifics of how you get started aren’t that important. What matters is that you do it.
This isn’t really an easy question to answer because it’s not as cut and dry as you might think. It’s a mixture of new things you will want to buy, as well as some things you won’t be buying anymore. How that final equation balances out will be different for everyone.
According to NPR, the average American household spends around 21% of its food budget on meat, and then another 11% on dairy products. That means approximately one third of your grocery budget is going to animal products. Once you start a vegan diet, all that money then gets freed up to be used for other purchases. And since meat is considerably more expensive than fruits, grains, and vegetables to begin with, that means you can buy a lot more food while not changing your overall expenditures.
So buying that organic soy milk may seem like an added expense compared to the usual cow’s milk, but don’t forget that you won’t be buying any chicken breasts, pork tenderloin or roasting beef either. You have to look at the whole picture before you can really calculate the costs.
The trick is not to fall into the replacement trap. As a new vegan, you’ll quickly find that you spend most of your money on the meat, dairy and egg replacements. You have to shift your eating habits altogether to add more fruits, grains, nuts and vegetables to each meal rather than find some “fancy” alternative to the meat you are used to. That’s how you keep your budget under control.
The bottom line is that many vegan products can cost more than their conventional counterparts, but when you factor in all the meat and dairy you’re not eating, it isn’t as bad as you might think. With a little planning and effort, you probably can eat for less as a vegan, even with that organic soy milk or non-dairy cheese.
One way to speed up your shopping is to keep your eyes open for the vegan symbols on your food products. It sure is simpler than trying to read all the ingredients for yourself.
Unfortunately, there isn’t one single regulating body for a universal vegan logo. The most common symbol comes from the Vegan Society, which has been advocating for vegan living since 1944. In order to register for their trademark, a product has to:
• Contain or involve no animals, animal products, by- products
