Britain has about 250,000 vegans as of the end of 2006, while a typical vegan in the world emits 1.5 tonnes CO2 less than a typical meat-eater because it takes 7kg of feed to produce 1kg of beef, for example, and there’s also all that methane from farting cows and nitrous oxide from fertilizer.
Posted by envirostats on Friday, January 4, 2008
There’s a lot of health benefits to being vegan, but also a lot of challenges just to stay healthy because it is hard to get all the nutrients you need to stay healthy in the quantities you need, like iron.
Looking at this statistic, you should be concerned about your health in your ability to go vegan if you are considering it, and not the nobility of global warming. You can offset the 1.5 tonnes CO2 for about $45, which is a LOT less than the cost you’re going to incur in eating meat compared to going vegan, or your doctor and health bills if you don’t go vegan sufficiently to sustain your health.
I’m not against one or the other. I’m a meat-eater, to be upfront. However, I’m not going vegan because I know I can’t without devoting far more of my life to my diet than I care to do to get the proper requirements to not only stay healthy but also to marathon training. I know others who do it and I know I can’t do what they do so props to them. I’m just trying to put things into perspective, which is part of my purpose in having this blog.
However, here is some great advice from the source article below on how to be a “caring carnivore”, a term that must just make the vegans and vegetarians cringe! [Envirostats author]
How to be a caring carnivore
* Elect to eat one or two organic, locally produced cuts of meat a week rather than eating cheap processed meat every day
* Roast a chicken and live off it for a week, making stock from the bones and eating the leftovers – avoiding wastage
* Investigate meat alternatives such as tofu (pictured left), tempeh, textured vegetable protein and Quorn
* Buy organic milk, or try soya (pictured right), almond, oat, hazelnut or quinoa milk instead
* Chicken and pork are more carbon-efficient and produces less methane than beef
* Be aware of other good sources of protein. These include pulses, beans, nuts, seeds and, of course, soya beans
* Many kinds of bread and even some vegetarian products contain unnecessary milk products like whey, buttermilk or lactose, or eggs. Check the packaging and avoid buying non-organic dairy by avoiding these products
- Researchers from the University of Chicago for statistics on vegan versus meat-eater emissions via The Independent, Dec 23 2007
- Unattributed source for number of British vegans, via same newspaper source and link above
Monday, February 11, 2008 at 3:04 pm
phail entry is phail.
You’d incur more health benefits by going vegan - the majority of the population is going to die from either heart disease or cancer due to their animal product laden diet.
Also not only does our massive demand for animal products contribute to the greenhouse effect, it also puts an enormous strain on our natural resources. 30% of all land on the planet it used for either holding animals or growing feed for them, the amazon is being deforested to grow animal feed or graze cattle. Livestock is the leading facter in deforestation, coastal sedimentation, pollution, and so on.
- most of this is from a report by a sector of the UN. Look it up, it’s called ‘Livestock’s long shadow’.
educate yourself.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Thanks for your reply. I think it comes down to a question of priorities and values. I admire those who do go vegan, but when it comes to the value of it to society, the nobility is more myth than reality. There are a lot of other places I’d rather put resources in to help the world environment than trying to convert more people to go vegan, as far as the implications of going vegan go. And don’t forget, not everybody is capable of going vegan, physically or mentally with the discipline it takes, which is why I admire those who can. However, apply it to the masses and I’d like to see what health care would be like if we were all forced to go vegan. And don’t kid yourself, it ain’t going to be less or pretty! You thought we’ve got health care problems now!
Friday, June 13, 2008 at 6:44 pm
I guess my only concern is that being vegan might cause more babies…Dennis Kucinich has informed me that vegans are sex gods!
Saturday, August 2, 2008 at 3:06 am
It’s good you’re talking about veganism.
I’ve been vegan for around 8 years, and vegetarian before that. It’s definitely the way things are heading, and i would encourage everyone to take up a vegan diet. There are many athletes also making this change. Yes it takes a little more effort when buying food, but once you know what to look for it’s easy.
There seems to be more and more research coming out lately that proves animal products (meat,dairy and eggs) certainly do increase risks of cancer and heart disease dramatically.
A vegan diet seems to promote/activate the cancer fighting genes in the body, check out this recent study:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/06/16/scidiet116.xml
So it’s clear that the health system/health care will benefit hugely from the growing number of vegans.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I wonder what the comparative environmental benefits of going vegan versus simply concentrating on consuming more locally grown, organic food would be. Like you, I admire vegans and vegetarians, but I’m a caring carnivore and I do love my meat! I try to buy beef from grass-fed cows whenever possible.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 11:26 am
As a vegan, one of the most annoying misconceptions is that it requires on-going “willpower” or a lot of time spent on food- the first few months do take energy and will to change your current habits, but once you’ve changed them, you get into the same sort of food routine as anyone- buying the same sort of groceries, going to the same favorite restaurants. Also, once you’ve gone without animal products for awhile, they no longer seem like food, there’s no appeal to eating them, so there’s no willpower required to refrain from them. Having also done some distance running, and some attempts at reduced-calorie diets, going vegan is MUCH MUCH easier and doesn’t require nearly the same sort of ongoing commitment.