SCIENTIFICALLY, FACTUALLY, AND MATHEMATICALLY A VEGAN?

SCIENTIFICALLY, FACTUALLY, AND MATHEMATICALLY A VEGAN?

I am vegan because the readily-available SCIENCE demonstrates that raising animals for food is incredibly harmful and destructive to the planet I live on. 

I am vegan because I have learned the evidence-based SCIENTIFIC DATA of human anatomy and what is the most optimal form of ‘fuel’ for my species. 

I am vegan because I understand MATH – how tons of edible food and hundreds of gallons of water are wasted to make very small amounts of ‘animal protein’ – it merely takes MATH to easily demonstrate how much eating (or drinking) ‘animal protein’ contributes to global famine.

I am vegan because I have researched the FACTS about the massive amount of drugs used in raising animals for food, including antibiotics and steroids, putting our antibiotics at risk for all of mankind and producing ever-more dangerous ‘superbugs’, along with introducing unnecessary chemicals into my body. 

I am vegan because of all the SCIENTIFICALLY identified pathogens – the E. Coli, the Salmonella, Listeria, Campylobacter, the resistant forms of microbes found in ‘animal protein’ and I realized that simply “cooking it enough” was just not a good option.

I am vegan because I saw for myself the FACTS of what happens when manure lagoons flood - what happens when all the farm run-off gets into my soil and water, the massive pollution that has resulted from raising animals for food, and the contamination of our ‘clean’ food.

I am vegan because I have seen the SCIENTIFIC DATA of the effect on our nature and wildlife and of the massive amount of wildlife that is killed off on an ongoing basis to make room for more grazing land, cropland (meant to feed more farm animals), or to protect ‘food animals.’

I am vegan because I understand the known FACTS that animal agriculture is the number one cause for loss of biodiversity, species extinction, global pollution, climate change, and deforestation. 

I am vegan because anything less than living vegan would be to cause harm, fear, distress, suffering, pain, and/or death to another sentient being who I fully understand in SCIENTIFIC terms is able to feel the exact same emotions I am able to feel.

But MOST OF ALL – MOST IMPORTANTLY - I am vegan because determining ‘right’ from ‘wrong’ is easy. Even if ALL AVAILABLE SCIENCE wasn’t on my side (WHICH IT IS), I would still be vegan…because it is simply the right thing to do. I understand myself and my values extremely well - animal abuse, global devastation, and the devastating effects on other humans is simply not within any moral guideline I was ever taught, and I believe our morals are defined by our actions and not by empty words.
(Still…though…I can’t help but be in awe at how perfectly it all seems to line up…the science, the values, the body. It truly does amaze me.)

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"To me it is deeply moving that the same food choices that give us the best chance to eliminate world hunger are also those that take the least toll on the environment, contribute the most to our long-term health, are the safest, and are also, far and away, the most compassionate towards our fellow creatures."

~ John Robbins

Here’s a list of some of the BAZILLIONS of articles out there…veganism is morals…but veganism is also supported by SCIENCE AND FACTS.

The end of meat? Economics, the environment and changing tastes have top protein feeling the heat

http://business.financialpost.com/news/agriculture/the-end-of-meat-economics-the-environment-and-changing-tastes-have-top-protein-feeling-the-heat

Meat consumption is selfish and damaging to the environment

http://collegian.com/2016/10/stettner-meat-consumption-is-selfish-and-damaging-to-the-environment/

'Eat less meat, or no meat at all' - Mary Robinson suggests going vegan to reduce carbon footprint

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/climate-change-and-you/eat-less-meat-or-no-meat-at-all-mary-robinson-suggests-going-vegan-to-reduce-carbon-footprint-35088537.html

Why Eating Fish is Ecologically Irresponsible

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/why-eating-fish-is-ecologically-irresponsible/

The Evidence for a Vegan Diet

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/01/the-evidence-for-a-vegan-diet/251498/

10-Year Study Shows Plant-Based Diet Slashes Cancer Risk

http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=7390&catId=1

Nutritional Update for Physicians: Plant-Based Diets

http://www.thepermanentejournal.org/issues/2013/spring/5117-nutrition.html

VIDEO: Eating you alive

https://www.facebook.com/eatingyoualivefilm/videos/1673708796202365/

7 Ways Milk and Dairy Products Are Making You Sick

http://www.forksoverknives.com/7-ways-milk-and-dairy-products-are-making-you-sick/

Meat, dairy may be as detrimental to your health as smoking cigarettes, study says

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/meat-dairy-may-be-as-detrimental-to-your-health-as-smoking-cigarettes/

MRSA Superbugs in Meat

http://nutritionfacts.org/video/mrsa-superbugs-in-meat/

The Secret to Putting Your Cardiologist Out of Business

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/patient-advice/articles/2016-09-16/the-secret-to-putting-your-cardiologist-out-of-business

Why Even Grassfed and Local Beef Isn't Sustainable

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/vegan-challenge/2014/04/why-even-grassfed-and-local-beef-isnt-sustainable

The Triple Whopper Environmental Impact of Global Meat Production

http://science.time.com/2013/12/16/the-triple-whopper-environmental-impact-of-global-meat-production/

Pew Commission Says Industrial Scale Farm Animal Production Poses “Unacceptable” Risks to Public Health, Environment

http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/about/news-room/press-releases/2008/04/29/pew-commission-says-industrial-scale-farm-animal-production-poses-unacceptable-risks-to-public-health-environment

How Much Your Meat Addiction is Hurting the Planet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/06/30/how-much-your-meat-addiction-is-hurting-the-planet/

Vegan diet makes the difference in reversing diabetes

http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/02/16/vegan-diet-makes-the-difference-in-reversing-diabetes/

Advice From a Vegan Cardiologist

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/advice-from-a-vegan-cardiologist/?_r=1

Heart Diseases Of Vegans Drop by One Third According To The Oxford University

http://www.goingveganhealthbenefits.com/heart-diseases-of-vegans-drop-by-one-third-according-to-the-oxford-university/

Why I Abandoned Traditional Cardiology to Become the “Healthy Heart Doc”

http://www.forksoverknives.com/why-i-abandoned-traditional-cardiology-to-become-the-healthy-heart-doc/

Bacon And Sausages As Big A Cancer Threat As Cigarettes, Say World Health Organisation

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/bacon-sausages-big-cancer-threat-083910518.html

AAP: Animal Antibiotics Threaten Kids' Health

http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/PublicHealth/54718

Plant-based diet is solution to ending America’s health care crisis

http://www.mrt.com/news/health/article/Plant-based-diet-is-solution-to-ending-7414519.php

Top Italian oncologist says eliminate meat altogether

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/10/26/top-italian-oncologist-says-eliminate-meat-altogether_82191ead-d8b6-4a22-a1c2-5cb5391efb7c.html

How Big Meat and Dairy Fund Misleading Health Research to Fatten Their Wallets

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/natural-health/how-big-meat-and-dairy-fund-misleading-health-research-to-fatten-their-wallets/

Absence of Meat Makes the Heart Grow Stronger

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2015/09/02/absence-of-meat-makes-the-heart-grow-stronger

Childhood Constipation and Cow’s Milk

http://nutritionfacts.org/video/childhood-constipation-and-cows-milk/

There Is Poop in Basically All Hamburger Meat

http://m.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2015/08/poop-ground-beef-superbugs-antibiotic-resistant

Superbugs Found in a Scary Percentage of Meat

http://www.grubstreet.com/2015/11/superbugs-in-meat.html#

How the U.S. Taxpayer Is Used to Promote Meat, Milk, and Sickness

http://www.forksoverknives.com/how-the-u-s-taxpayer-is-used-to-promote-meat-milk-and-sickness/

Doctor's shocking recommendation about drinking milk

https://www.facebook.com/darrengaudry/videos/10207858077514587/?hc_

Got a Prostate? Ditch the Dairy.

http://www.pcrm.org/nbBlog/index.php/got-a-prostate-ditch-the-dairy

Casein: The Disturbing Connection Between This Dairy Protein and Your Health

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/natural-health/casein-dairy-protein-and-your-health/

'Living medicines': Doc prescribes plant-based diet for healing

http://www.today.com/health/plant-based-diet-helps-patients-heal-doctor-says-t23211

A Survey Was Given to 114 U.S. Doctors About Nutrition. These Results Are Pretty Scary

http://althealthworks.com/1868/do-american-doctors-really-take-enough-nutrition-courses-the-answer-may-surprise-you/

Plant-Based Diets: a Prescription for Optimal Health

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2015/01/28/plant-based-diets-a-prescription-for-optimal-health

"Water and Sunlight"

“She was going to live on water and sunlight"

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Much like the ‘Everest Vegan’ (lol) the media likes to make a big demonstration of any *sick vegans* to perpetuate corporate propaganda. And nonvegans ‘eat it up’ as they continue to attempt to justify the unjustifiable. I'm seeing headlines about this (and occasionally others) ‘vegan’ mom whose ‘vegan diet’ caused her child to be malnourished. I had initially let the article go by and ignored it - as I am well aware of the millions of happy vegan babies and children in the world - but then someone *used* it in a feeble justification, and curiosity got the better of me and I clicked on the article.

CAN WE ALL JUST READ THE LAST SENTENCE ON THE PICTURE PLEASE? Apparently the general public cannot differentiate between a vegan and someone with a severe eating disorder or psychiatric issue.

(Pssssttt…the sentence says: 

“She was going to live on water and sunlight,” Hawk’s sister-in-law Brandy Hawk recalled her saying, according to the news station.)

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“Just to point something out before anyone else does.... if you choose to feed your baby nothing but nuts and berries, and only periodically, and they become malnourished, that doesn't make you a vegan it makes you a stupid parent, just like it would if you chose to feed them only cheese and the same thing happened...”

~ Mark Hibbitts

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This reminds me of a few years ago when a vegan blogger “quit veganism” for “health reasons”

This excerpt is from her blog, her own words:

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"I also started fearing a LOT of things when it came to food. Having grown up with a notoriously sensitive stomach, I already avoided wheat, fried foods, sauces, oil, flour of any type, some legumes and many grains. Then I started reading about raw foods, digestion, food combining, the space at which meals should be eaten apart from each other, and the dangers of even all-natural fructose. (And let’s not forget my bout with 80/10/10 raw veganism.)

I started living in a bubble of restriction. Entirely vegan, entirely plant-based, entirely gluten-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free, flour-free, dressing/sauce-free, etc. and lived my life based off of when I could and could not eat and what I could and could not combine. There is nothing wrong with any of those things (many of them are great, actually!!) but my body didn’t feel GOOD & I wasn’t listening to it. Does that sound crazy to you?"

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That person clearly also has an eating disorder. I am not trying to be offensive, but those words reflect someone who needs more guidance than what yet another diet book can provide.

So here is the obvious – eating disorders come in all shapes and sizes and across many varieties of people. A huge majority of people are misled on nutrition and not seeking or given reliable support and information. 

A huge number of babies and children are raised vegan (plant-based) without issue, but that story doesn’t serve well with a population who has persistent lust for flesh-feeding and secretion-sucking and is seeking ongoing justification for their barbarism. No, a sick vegan garners much more attention and joyous shrieking amongst the carnists for sure. People are only shown slivers of truth that leads to an overall continued gross ignorance.

A Simple Request?

It is our responsibility to put an end to this. It is our responsibility to tell people we will no longer allow this in our lives. To tell them to stop. We MUST stop the horror. We cannot allow such atrocity to continue.

Most vegans live with the knowledge of some pretty hurtful and harrowing truths. Most find a way to deal with it and actually live a happier and more fulfilled existence having become vegan. But being surrounded by the corpses and secretions of suffering animals can be very disturbing.

Many vegans will tolerate this often-distressing situation for valid reasons such as vegan outreach, the love of family, socialization, etc. While no one is saying there is anything wrong with that, it is unclear as to why my moral discomfort is less valid than their minor inconvenience? In thinking outside the realm of societal groupthink, why would asking someone to refrain from needlessly harming animals in my presence be considered anything but a totally reasonable request?

Even if those who say they love me claim to care about nothing else, shouldn’t they at least care about hurting me? And if they don’t, what does that say about what kind of person they are or about how much I really matter to them?

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