Vegans from Space

Most people have a couple of vegetarian friends, and fewer have vegan friends. Vegetarians do not consume any form of meat, sometimes including fish. Vegans eat and buy essentially animal-free products. This means no dairy, no meat, no fish, and definitely no bad ass leather jackets. For the average, steak-a-day American, veganism sounds entirely outlandish. No meat? Okay. But no animal products whatsoever? That's insane.

I consider myself a mostly vegetarian--merely environmentally friendly. I eat meat once, maybe twice, a week for two reasons: the health benefits and lessening my individual impact on the environment. Would I ever go total vegetarian? Eventually, maybe. After talking to a friend who recently went vegan and watching this awesome documentary (it's called Vegucated. I suggest watching it purely out of curiosity), I took a second look at my quasi-vegetarianism and realized something. I wasn't the total veggie junkie I'd been working to be since January. While my (now vegan) friend ate lots of cheese as a vegetarian, I ate lots of starch. All this inspired a vegan recipe-Google search and taking a step further into kitchen. Most of the starchy foods in my diet were bread, and thus contained animal products. What would my options be if I were vegan? Hint: more variety of veggies.

But enough about why I'm slowly building a more vegetable-intensive food supply. Why should you attempt to go vegetarian, vegan, or simply eat less meat? Perhaps the most popular proposal is the health benefits. By adopting a plant-based diet, risks for diabetes, cancer, and other diseases decrease significantly. Some people argue that without meat, a person can't get enough protein. The reality--there are plenty of alternatives, such as beans. These alternatives can easily replace how you can get your protein. The average American eats about three pounds of meat per week, which is definitely more than necessary. Add this to the growing population of people in the world, and we create a bit of a demand crisis.

If you are a bit of a 'green freak' like me, the environmental impacts of the farming industry would be of concern to you as well. If not, the environmental impact can easily translate into economical terms, and issues with resource depletion. The farming industry demands lots of resources, primarily fuel and water. About 3,515 liters of water is needed for every eight ounce steak. Tons of of farmland is needed to even just haphazardly raise animals. Then when you think about how much energy it takes to run a farm and slaughterhouse, it all adds up. If every American were to eat significantly less meat, about 1.49 tons of carbon dioxide would be saved every year. 

And then for the fellow animal rights activist, farm conditions for animals are quite less than ideal. I shiver just thinking about it. But that is something I will leave the reader to research on their own, as it is still a fresh topic for me (and one I am not too fond of writing about. For now).

A lot of people raised with a hearty meat-loving childhood might see veganism as totally alien. You were raised with milk and eggs for breakfast, grilled chicken for lunch, and good 'ole steak for dinner. Eliminate all that? No way. Then again, being vegan doesn't have to mean strictly animal product-free. It's easy enough to be mostly vegan. Either way, decreasing meat and dairy consumption is not only beneficial to the individual, but does wonders for our world. So... will you take the challenge?