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Anti-vegan ideas are rising together with the rise in veganism. However, these opposing ideas do not reflect the truth about the lifestyle but can create prejudices against them. If individuals learn more about facts rather than misconceptions, they can be more open to new beginnings this year.
For a more sustainable year, how about questioning what we hear, learning more, taking some steps, and challenging ourselves in the Veganuary month?
Veganuary is a campaign to encourage people to acquire a vegan lifestyle worldwide. The name of the campaign is formed by combining the words “vegan” and “January” by stressing a new start to the year with vegan alternatives. Although the campaign is based in the UK, exceeded the country limits. Many people and companies have taken part in the campaign and influenced each other and the world since 2014. If you want to join the vegan challenge this month and learn more about the campaign, here is what you need.
Veganism as an ethical lifestyle is somehow misinterpreted, intentionally or not, preventing some people from adopting it. When the subject of veganism comes up, the conversation is often followed by anti-vegan arguments and implicit comments that imply veganism is not a good lifestyle. Of course, not everybody does the same or has offensive thoughts about being vegan, but it still is not acknowledged as an ordinary or beneficial choice for many people. In this article, we want to talk about some common anti-vegan arguments.
Anti-Vegan Arguments
1. Vegans want to save animals but eat their food.
The response is easy to explain for those who know about the current commercialized system.
Livestock animals eat grains, plants, grass, legumes, etc, the same as vegans. However, since these animals are not naturally reproducing, instead artificially inseminated to meet excessive human consumption, they are a type of rapid production material. Therefore, many of the existing plant resources are used to serve people who consume meat.
This highlights the inefficiency of animal agriculture and the environmental and ethical benefits of a plant-based diet. Vegans, by choosing to consume plants directly, contribute to a more efficient and sustainable food system.
2. Plants are alive and have feelings.
This argument continues with a question. If you believe in “no harm”, why are you eating plants?
Plants and animals are both alive, but they have completely different mechanisms. The key focus for this difference is the nervous system. The nervous system is a common control centre in animals, consisting of different parts such as the brain, spinal cord, and neurons. They allow animals to receive information from outside their bodies and process them inside. Many of their behaviours are determined thanks to their nervous system. For instance, when there is a threat outside, they sense and act accordingly. They move, escape, fight, and try to protect themselves. The existence of the nervous system is also the main reason why animals feel pain.
On the other hand, plants do not have a nervous system; instead, they have their own mechanism that produces some sort of signal. In recent years, although some argue that plants have awareness and feelings, opposed scientists have very reasonable justifications. According to them, perceiving and following stimuli such as sun and light only serve plants’ physiological needs, and they do not have a conscious system like animals, based on the current evidence.
There is a nature that renews itself. Leaves fall, plants wither, fruits rot but regenerate. In other words, consuming these does not mean harming a living system. Yet, we need to acknowledge how hard it is to be in a “no harm” position in the contemporary world and life conditions. Vegans try to minimize their harm to any other lives on the planet. So, a plant-based diet seems to be the best option for now.
3. If everyone goes vegan, our ecosystem cannot survive.
The world will not go vegan in one day, from today to tomorrow. So, it is a gradual process, and it will take time for every individual in the world to be vegan. Step by step, the demand will drop, and things will change. Animals that are bred to meet meat and dairy consumption will be lessened and then be stopped. The world will not be full of animals suddenly, and the ecosystem will not be disrupted. Just as the ecosystem survived for centuries before animal agriculture pervaded, it will do the same again. The problem is we already changed the natural order, we domesticated animals and made them dependent to us.
Do we really care about our planet and its ecosystem? If so, the best way is plant-based alternatives.
Bonus: Preventing the unnatural increase in the number of animals will primarily result in a significant decrease in methane gas released into the atmosphere, which is one of the major contributors to climate change. As a result of the end of the meat production process, water resources, both in quantity and quality, will be improved. Deforestation will be decreased, and the Earth will be more stable with less interference and disruption.
Things seem to be better.
4. Some vegan products like soy and avocado damage the environment.
Yes, it is true that soy and avocado have negative impacts on our environment due to the ways they are produced.
Firstly, we should approach this argument by asking why the consumption of these products reminds people of vegans. Regardless of one’s eating habits, anyone can purchase and consume them. Their being vegan does not make those products only for vegans. Additionally, more than 75 per cent of soy is produced for meat and dairy industries, not for human consumption. As we previously mentioned, animal agriculture is responsible for environmental degradation and biodiversity loss.
Deforestration is also common in avocado production, the amont of water required for producing avocados are high; however, still not higher than meat. More sustainable avocado farming is implemented in some regions. Consumers should seek out and turn to ethical and sustainable alternatives.
5. You cannot change the world and the whole system.
This argument is not only for vegans. It is a type of comment that environmental activists receive as well. If everyone believes that one person has no impact on solving a problem or changing something, we would feel hopeless when facing problems. One person is one person and can reduce a certain amount of carbon footprint, protect the environment, and save lives. Also, big movements like women’s rights, civil rights, etc, started with small groups, in the same way that a small spark creates a fire.
One can influence another and can grow together. We should keep our hope alive and believe in our power to change, for us and for the planet. Being vegan may seem a small act for the world, however, believe us it is not. Yes, we need a large group of individuals for quicker results, but if I say what I do is nothing, and the others say the same and give up. How would we become larger?
Media Impact
There is also anti-vegan media coverage that reinforces negative thoughts about veganism. There was some news published which highlighted that a vegan person or a baby died because of malnutrition. This misdirecting news does not provide the whole picture. They solely pick biased information and disregard the fact that any individual can harm themselves with a bad eating pattern. Vegan or non-vegan people who include only certain foods without balancing their diet can experience negative health consequences. What the media sometimes shows us is not about these people being vegan; it is about their having a bad eating habit. There is scientific evidence indicating that animal-derived food causes specific diseases and leads to mortality.
How frequently have we read certain news about these occasions on mainstream media?
We should question which of these lifestyles actually causes more deaths in the general population.
There are several other anti-vegan arguments. What we should do is question these arguments and try to understand the vegan perspective. Is what we are taught or what we hear actually real? The world has changed; medicine has started to talk about the harms of meat, which it used to praise, and has already turned to alternative protein sources. As everything changes, we can change too.
For peace, love, and beauty.
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