FAQs

What is veganism?

Vegans do not consume any products which originate from animals, this includes meat (and yes, chicken and fish are meat), dairy and eggs. Vegans also do not wear wool or leather. Many people become vegan because they believe it is wrong to use an animal as a ‘resource’; that we do not have the right to use or kill an animal in any way we please. However, more and more people now choose veganism because it is the most ethical dietary choice for the environment and human rights and has tremendous health benefits.

Humans are omnivores, we are meant to eat meat!

Carnivores, herbivores and omnivores all have distinct digestive systems to deal with the foods they eat. Humans have become omnivores through their own making but our digestive systems do not easily deal with the foods we now eat. Our digestive system is most consistent with herbivores; we are not natural meat eaters.

Our teeth and nails are not designed to tear in to flesh and bone. Our long intestinal tracts are not designed to eliminate meat quickly before it putrefies or to quickly eliminate dietary cholesterol. In fact, our teeth, nails, jaw motion, jaw muscles, stomach acidity and length of intestine all suggest we are much more suited to a vegan diet. With this in mind, it is no surprise that the consumption of meat and dairy are closely related to human illnesses such as heart disease and cancer.

If I switch to locally reared organic meat, won’t that reduce my impact on the environment?

No, not significantly so. Animals raised under organic and free range conditions require more land, so certainly if everyone switched rather than stopped eating meat altogether we would see huge amounts more land used to raise animals. There is no escaping the fact that meat is a resource-intensive and inefficient source of food. Organic, free range animals still need to be fed, and often that food is imported from poor countries in the South.

For example, Ethical Eating contacted the main supplier of organic poultry feeds to commerical producers in the UK, who are approved by Organic Farmers and Growers, and they told us that they imported maize from Argentina, soy from Canada and wheat from Ukraine and Khazakstan. The most shocking fact is that forests in Latin America are destroyed to make way for organic crops which are used to feed animals reared under organic standards. This is hugely misleading.

A recent study (see ref 52 and blog) has shown that switching to organic, rather than meat free, only reduces greenhouses gas emissions by around 8%, whereas going vegetarian produces a reduction in emissions of 50% and going vegan, a reduction of a whopping 87%.

So, you could be eating meat from a local, organic farm, but that’s meaningless if the food has travelled across the globe and rainforests were destoyed to produce the crops to feed the animals. And let us not forget, cow’s still emit methane, regardless of whether they are raised organically or not.

Meat is an important cultural aspect for many communities; it’s disrespectful to say we should not eat meat.

Many violations of human rights originate from culture and tradition. For example, most of us recognise that gender inequality is wrong, yet this contradicts many cultural beliefs around the world. We need to evaluate what is right and wrong based on what we know today, not based on what we have always done.

Vegans eat loads of tofu. That’s really bad for the environment!

In 2007, 222 million tonnes of soybeans were produced. Of this, only 9% was eaten by people as tofu or other meat substitutes. The bulk of the rest was fed to animals raised for meat or dairy. (ref 27) Therefore, if you are concerned about the destruction of the rainforests, stop eating meat and dairy.

There are many complex issues regarding world hunger, how can you say that the meat industry is so responsible?

It makes absolute sense that if we started using our food resources more efficiently, less people would starve. Currently, much of the crops grown in developing countries are fed to animals in the North to fulfil our desire for meat. It is shocking to think that whilst Live Aid took place to help ease the famine in Ethiopia, grain was being sent from Ethiopia to Europe to feed animals! This is simply wrong.

One of the main causes of world hunger is poverty. As worldwide stocks of grain fall, prices increase which makes them even less affordable to the world’s poor. Animal agriculture is not only responsible for the unsustainable and unethical use of grains but is also a leading cause of climate change – two main factors in the fall of world grain stocks and the resulting rise in food prices.

Many social justice and environmental NGOs point their fingers at the neoliberal policies of multi-national agribusinesses like Cargill, whose massive plantations of crops in developing countries have taken over from small, local farmers and directly contributed to hunger, illness and other human rights abuses in those countries. However, these corporations are what makes it possible to feed so many animals in the North to provide us with the vast quantities of cheap meat we eat; whilst they must be stopped, so must the consumption of meat. Read more.

Lions eat antelopes so why can’t we eat cows?

What makes us difference to other animals is our morality, our conscience, our being aware of our impacts on others and having the choice not to do it. A lion has not developed morals and also, as a carnivore, has to eat meat to be healthy. We are fully aware that what we do causes suffering, therefore we should take responsibility for that and take the right action. You could not expect another member of the animal kingdom to follow this thought process simply because they do not have the capacity to do so.

How can I get enough protein in my diet as a vegan?

Contradictory to what most people believe, it is very easy to get enough protein in a vegan diet. Beans, lentils, wheat, wholegrain rice, oats, chickpeas, tofu, quinoa, cereals, pasta, nuts and seeds all have plenty of protein – even potatoes contain protein! If you consume an adequate amount of calories from a varied diet, it is almost impossible to be deficient in protein. In fact, many people consume too much protein, which can lead to diseases such as osteoporosis.

What other ways can I ensure my food choices are ethical?

As much as possible, buy locally produced organic food. Always look out for fair trade produce – in particular fair trade bananas, coffee and chocolate are readily available in most stores.

Apart from making the right food choices, how else can I live ethically?

Many, many ways! A good start is to join some charities, as they always give you information on how to help others and how to reduce your impact on the world. You could start with Friends of the Earth International for environmental and social justice issues, Amnesty International for human rights and Animal Aid for animal rights.