The further along I get on my fitness journey, the more and more intrigued I become with the vegan diet. Recently I have checked out numerous vegan cookbooks from the local library and scanned just about every corner of Pinterest for new ideas. Then I got to thinking: Why am I choosing to make the step towards becoming vegan? Are there actual advantages of veganism? Is veganism feasible? So, because I never like to trust just one source I did some of my own research and would love to share my experience with all of you.
However, before I start let me put out a little disclaimer: I am not in any way trying to pressure anyone into a vegan lifestyle. I completely understand it is a big step and takes commitment, plus I’m not even fully there myself. I am however, a huge proponent of eating less meat and aim to make others more aware of how doing so effects health and the environment. I am simply presenting you with what I have discovered and allowing each of you to decide if it’s right for you.
Many individuals are aware of the vegan population that choses to live so in order to help stop the mistreatment and butchering of animals. However, did you know that there are numerous vegans out that with a variety of different reasons as to why they have transitioned to this lifestyle? I am one of them. My move towards vegetarianism began after I watched Forks Over Knives, out of concern for my personal health. Knowing that at the current rate society is moving 1 out of 2 people will die from heart disease terrified me. Not to mention both cancer and diabetes also runs in my family. It was enough to convince me that I had nothing to lose by altering my diet. The more I investigated and learned, the more I realized that choosing not to eat meat could also save the planet and I became more interested in taking the steps to becoming a full blown vegan. While I still have a long ways to go, I hope sharing my experience thus far will enlighten you and aid you in making educated decisions about the products you choose to consume.
The United States is currently in a food revolution, with many people becoming much more aware of nutrition facts and food labels. Better education is leading people to choose quality product, specifically whole and plant foods, untimely putting pressure on the food industry to rethink production methods and ingredients. As a result of this food revolution and growing knowledge, the vegan population rose to 2.5% from only 1% in 2009! While this may seem like a very small increase, after the facts I am about to share with you, you will realize just how much impact one person’s changes can have.
Beside my health, I have chosen to make this change for environmental benefits. As I hope many of you are well aware, California is in a massive drought and now forced to regulate water distribution. Currently 70% of freshwater is used by meat production and factory farming, taking a little over 2,400 gallons of water to produce 1lb of meat. So what would this water go to if we stopped eating meat? My boyfriend was quick to state that it would still be wasted on vegetables, fruit, and legumes. I agreed that yes, it would be used, not wasted, on these crops since more people would now be eating these products. Yet vegetables, fruit, and legumes need significantly less water to grow and would therefore leave us more water to distribute elsewhere. Those 2,400 gallons of water used to produce 1lb of meat could instead be used to produce 11lbs tofu, 13lbs of whole wheat four, or 84lbs of fresh tomatoes. Expanding this data on a wider scale illustrates that one ton of tofu saves 4,361,200 gallons of water and has the added benefit of feeding 4,000 more people than the exact same amount of beef produced. This means we would be able to feed a wider population with vegetables, fruit, and legumes with less amount of water. Shocking I know! I did the math several times because I didn’t believe it myself. Check out Marcia Kreiths’ Water Inputs in California Food Production and see the astonishing results yourself. Another astounding fact according to David Pimentel, professor of ecology at Cornell University, is if all the grain we use to feed livestock was eaten directly by humans, we would be able to feed approximately 800 million people, drastically reducing worldwide famine.
The other frightening effect of meat production and factory farming are the high levels of greenhouse gases emitted. A meat diet creates 7 times the greenhouse emissions as a vegan one. This is due to two main reasons. First, these animals are fed an unnatural diet requiring a lot of fossil fuels. Second, animals are the largest produces of methane, which is more powerful than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping heat. Eating vegan 1 day per week saves the same carbon dioxide emissions as taking 500,000 cars off the road. If even one person decided to stop eating meat and dairy, carbon dioxide would be reduced by 1.5 tons a year. Here is a great opportunity for those of you interested in trying veganism as well as helping the environment, try not eating meat for just one day a week. Giving up meat for a single day doesn’t have to be complicated. Take a look at some easy substitutions:
Something important I would like to make you aware of before you venture into exploring the vegan world is that modern-day industrial agriculture in all forms, plant and animal, is threating the environment. Therefore, please do not run out and buy over processed soy burgers and fake meats, as the production methods used to make these items could be just as harmful as eating a juicy burger. I say “could” because I have not done much further investigation into this just yet and challenge you to do so. When making the switch opt for non GMO tofu and tempeh instead or simply stick to whole foods and veggies. If you do choose to eat meat please select grass feed meat and wild caught fish as the production methods do not put as much stress on the environment.
Now get out there and experiment with a vegan diet for yourself. And remember, you have to give up everything at once. First try substituting a single meat/dairy free meal into your diet. Once you have mastered that, try going a whole day, a whole week, a whole month, and so on. I wish you all the best and please feel free to share any of your experiences or questions with me.