Vegan Hypocrisy

I thought today I'd post something a little different. Its a discussion on the benefits, or lack of, of being vegan.

Now, I've been known to try out a diet fad or two, gluten free, sugar free, vegetarian etc. However, there is one lifestyle that I've been debating in my mind for a few months now. Vegan-isim. Firstly, I wonder if it is better for you than meat and secondly, I wonder if it is even possible to fully embrace veganisim or is it a bit of an oxymoron.

vegan

ˈviːɡ(ə)n/

noun

1. a person who does not eat or use animal products.

Vegan-isim is usually praised as being the healthiest option, but is it?

Humans have evolved way faster than any other species of animal on earth and scientist equate that to us being meat eaters. Eating meat has caused our brains to grow, which also correlates to intelligence ( and more painful births, Ouch). Not only that but our bodies are designed to consume it, we have pointed teeth to rip meat apart ( Herbivores do not have teeth and if they do they are flat for digesting plants) and our body need the protein and iron to survive. All vegetarians and vegans should be on supplements to account for this.

So after taking the above into consideration its clear that it is not vegan-sim that is the healthiest option, it is more the way we consume our meat. That means grilling not frying our meat would be the ultimate diet. The less processed the better! I am not going too far into that, that would be the Paleo diet.

But a lot of vegan and vegetarian people 'Do it for the animals'. Lets look closer into that.

Now the science side of me says, its just nature, everything has a food chain. But the dog owner in me projects my puppy love on to all creatures and thinks that if I couldn't do the killing myself, I shouldn't eat it. You can see my inner turmoil.

I've rationalised this by looking at the world if everyone became vegan. Our brains would stop growing and we, are a species would stop evolving. That doesn't sound ideal, I am all for growth, so that is not something I'd support.

So far, we have looked at the consumption of meat, there is a lot more to do with vegan-sim that sets it apart from vegetarian-sim. Vegans look to stop polluting the planet, stop deforestation because thats where the animals live and not use any part of an animal in their daily life.

This is where, I think, vegan-sim become unattainable.

Firstly, many 'non meat eaters' substitute Tofu for meat. Sounds good? Wrong. Tofu is created by using the soy bean. Right now, there are huge concerns over the deforestation of South America over harvesting of the soy bean because it takes multiple hectors of land just to make one tofu dish. Thousands of animals are loosing their homes in the pursuit of animal free lifestyle.

See the irony?

You can't be vegan and support leather, but you also can't support plastic that will take thousands of years to break down.

You need furniture for your house, can't have wood, that is an animals homes but you can't have plastic either.

I could go on and on about how almost every natural resource we have will have a link to animals losing their habitat or life. If anything, supporting animal resources would have a more positive effect for the environment than trying to protect the animal. Life is Balance.

If anything, cows being brought up on a farm with constant food and security, to eventually be slaughtered for food, seems like a better life ( and longer lifespan) than those animals in nature.

Overall, You could probably live an animal free life, but it is in no way easy and involves lots of work and research on a daily basis. I believe there are many 'faux vegans' that pick and chose which parts of the lifestyle they like and do it for the attention. I see, in no way, is vegan-sim superior to carnivorous diets when considering health, animals life and the animals habitat. But if you are looking for the healthiest way to look after your body and humanity, meat is the way to go, within reason, and supporting free range animal meat and dairy is the most animal friendly way to give animals the best life possible and their habitats. Not to mention supporting our farmers and our GDP, but that is a topic for another time.

I think Simba said it best, its the circle of life.