Veganism And The Environment

In this documentary, Kip Andersen ventures out to research the sustainability of a meat and dairy industry. As he uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today, he also investigates why the world's leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it. This documentary reveals the negative environmental impact large-scale factory farming has on our planet, and offers a path to global sustainability for a growing population. While touching on pathos by discussing the treatment of animals, Andersen focuses on the logos aspect. By utilizing facts and statistics, all of which are backed by credible research, this leads viewers to not only question whether taste and convenience is worth the the mistreatment these animals

Albert Schweitzer, French philosopher, physician, and musician, said “until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.” This is a tacit statement, humanity will not be able to “find peace” until it adopts a more sustainable lifestyle, and it has been proven time and time again, that veganism is that lifestyle. Becoming vegan is a powerful experience, and one feels rejuvenated, both morally and physically, after acclimating to the diet, and, although the opposition claims that veganism is either detrimental or useless, the diet is, in fact, beneficial to the environment, to animals, and the individuals who follow the lifestyle.

Vegan or Go Home!”, Sarah Breslaw asserts veganism as the answer to curbing environmental concerns. Breslaw makes a clear argument in her thesis and explains both negative and positive aspects of veganism but ultimately succumbs to logical fallacies, faulty sourcing and evident subjectivity which weaken her claim.

Since the beginning of mankind, we have become dependent on animal products as a food source. As population increased, so did the production of animal agriculture and its profitability. Unfortunately, it has grown into an industry that is unsustainable for this planet and is demolishing our environment at an astonishing rate. In the academic article, ‘Cowspiracy’ Strips the Meat Industry Down to the Bone, Ford reports the shocking statistic that “even if all utilities were turned off and every fossil-fuel-guzzling system of transportation ceased immediately, environmental damage that results from greenhouse gases would be irreversible…even with humanity’s greatest efforts, the dairy and meat industries will still eventually destroy life on Earth”. As the environment is at its most crucial and devastating point, the major contribution that animal agriculture has on rainforest deforestation, pollution of our water, and global warming becomes undeniable.

Agriculture for meat and beef, eggs and dairy products are responsible for eighteen percent of all the greenhouse gas emission per year, which is more than the emissions of cars, planes, and trains together. And livestock and their byproducts are responsible for fifty-one percent of the greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and for up to ninety percent of water consumption in the U.S.. Thousands of gallons of water are used to produce beef, eggs and dairy products. More than half of the oceans are fished and two acres of the rainforest get destroyed every second for food production. Switching to a vegan lifestyle can decrease all these factors and make the world we live in now exist longer.

“Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret" is a documentary by Kip Anderson and Keegan Kuhn. Leonardo DiCaprio was one of the producers of the film helping it’s release September 15th on Netflix. The documentary explores the multi billion dollar cattle industry, specifically focusing on cows. For years environmental organizations and government officials have encouraged society to car pool, ride bikes, conserve electricity and water, compost, and recycle. But is this enough?

For the past year or so, my fellow colleagues have asked and recommended me to watch this documentary – Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret, but I never had the time to watch it. I am glad that this assignment presented me with this opportunity to watch the documentary. The documentary definitely opened my eyes on how I think about both the environment and environmental activist/ organizations/ lobbies/ interest groups/ special interest groups and the list goes to whose whom advocate for our environment. Out of all the things that stood out to me the outstanding logical point that I took from this film is that the issue(s) around the animal agriculture sector is all interconnected with

Cows are destroying our planet?! According to Margaret Lundberg they are. In Lundberg’s essay “Eating Green” the author states her belief “that our personal and global health [are] tightly interconnected, and what benefits one will benefit the other” (Lundberg 570). Lundberg than goes on to explain why a vegetarian diet will restore the environment. She lacks a realistic solution for her American meat-obsessed audience. Lundberg also used unreliable sources to over emphasize the effects that the meat industry has on the environment as well as shows no evidence that a vegetarian diet is actually good for the environment.

This weekend I watched the documentary, Cowspiracy, directed and written by Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn. The documentary follows Kip Andersen’s journey of uncovering the truth behind animal agriculture and its impact on our planet. In 2006, after watching Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, Andersen became a self-proclaimed OCE (Obsessive Compulsive Environmentalist). However, after reading a UN report Andersen realized it would take more than just recycling and taking shorter showers to truly give back to the environment. Through a series of interviews, Kip Andersen exposes the selfish and shameless agenda behind some of the biggest Environmental Organizations in the country.

The main reason people decide to go vegan, is for the animals. To prevent the exploitation, because of emotional attachments to them, because of the belief that all creatures have the right to life and freedom,

Veganism is not only good for the human race, but also the many types of animals that are harvested and exploited for human use. Many of the large corporations that claim to

Veganism is good but it's not for everybody. There are many great things like helping animals and keeping a healthy diet. It does result in a lack of important nutrients that you can only get from animals. There are also bad side effects like, skin getting worse, getting sick easier, and more. It can also cause digestive problems when switching to veganism. While veganism may be good for the planet, it can't be perfect seeing as humans there are bad things like lack of nutrients and other unhealthy side effects.

Whitney Lauriston article discuss and gives 5 reason why to go vegan to save the planet rating to my topics. I agree with her because tells the importance we should consider of going vegan to save environment. Veganism can offer good benefits not just to environment but to our health. I also learned that livestock pollution can be very harmful to us humans. Livestock Factory releases many harmful toxics gas to the air that we breathe in. We can form tumors that may be dangerous if not treated early.

One may argue that a reason to begin a vegan diet is to reduce the environmental impact of meat manufacturing. In Sussex County, Delaware, the chicken manure produced is spread out on the farmland instead of being processed like human waste causing the manure to seep into rivers, streams, and groundwater (Singer and Mason 29). The act of spreading the manure onto the fields seems beneficial, but it can have detrimental effects on the marine life. For example, when manure washes off into the ocean or other bodies of water it causes algae to grow and decompose rapidly which creates an area low in oxygen that is referred to as a “dead zone” because the aquatic life’s inability to thrive (Manure’s Impact on Rivers, Streams and the Chesapeake Bay).

The first thing that usually comes to one’s mind when they hear the word Veganism is healthy. However, many points would debate against and for this very statement. There are many researches that prove the vegan diet is a healthy one and that this diet is better than a normal animal product eating one, however none proving that it is better than all the other diets, like some people claim the plant-eating one to be. Being a vegan means that you miss essential nutrients on a day to day basis such as vitamins, iron, zinc and calcium just to name a few. As well as this, when you get rid of all these animal products you are at a much higher risk of developing a nutritional deficiency and becoming under-weight. Looking