Philosophical Vegan Forum

There are so many reasons to be vegan it gets a little overwhelming. I've tried to list as many of them as I could in a list that is both comprehensive and organized. I've limited it to secular non-bullshit reasons. Once I feel the list is complete I'll add citations and additional information. This is what I've got so far:

1. Ethics
- Well-being/interests of sentient animals
- Feeling of compassion for animals
- Current practices, most importantly factory farming

2. Sustainability & Food insecurity
- Climate change & air pollution
- Water depletion and pollution
- Land degradation
- Other impacts on biodiversity

• - Destruction of rainforests
  - Overfishing

- Inefficient use of water and fertile land

3. Health
- Personal health, prevention of:

• - Weight gain/obesity
  - Diabetes
  - Cardiovascular diseases
  - Cancer
  - Alzheimer's

- Public health

• - Antibiotic use in animal agriculture
  - Diseases caused by proximity to livestock

What have I missed? What can be improved? Is there a better list to be found elsewhere?

How humans are impacted. For instance the plight of slaughterhouse workers. They have to do a mind numbing job noften with abject pay without any defined contract and in institutions with no job security and a high turnover rate, often of more than 100% per year. And with among the highest body injury rates, psychological problems, violence, suicide etc among occupations.

Poverty, economy etc is another issue.

garrethdsouza wrote:How humans are impacted. For instance the plight of slaughterhouse workers. They have to do a mind numbing job noften with abject pay without any defined contract and in institutions with no job security and a high turnover rate, often of more than 100% per year. And with among the highest body injury rates, psychological problems, violence, suicide etc among occupations.

That's a very good point. Do you have any sources about these problems?

Poverty, economy etc is another issue.

What are you referring to here other than food insecurity of the poor?

Side Note: You can be vegan for any of these reasons, o all of these reasons. You don't HAVE to be an ethical vegan to be vegan, nor do you need to be ethical vegan FIRST AND FOREMOST to be vegan.

Remember, the animals don't care why you're vegan.

miniboes wrote:

garrethdsouza wrote:Poverty, economy etc is another issue.

What are you referring to here other than food insecurity of the poor?

Hopefully not even talking about the poor, as veganism is pretty easy to accomplish even if you are poor. The main issue is if you get food handouts, which can alter veganism because you can't simply refuse a handout because morals, trust me, I was in that situation most of my life. Another issue is if you are a single parent who works full time and also works more than one job in order to make ends meet, unless you have a relative or someone who cooks your meals for you.

But shopping? You can be vegan at the dollar store, buying really healthy vegan foods for cheap. You can buy healthy vegan foods at many gas stations. And that is if you ignore supermarkets, ma-and-pa stores, smaller owned stores, and asian and hispanic food marts, which are often ignored when it comes to labeling a place as a "food desert"

In fact, since meat and dairy is often more expensive, poverty and economic issues might actually HURT your chances of buying these, thus making it more prudent to buy less, or none of these products. Being vegan is simply cheaper.

miniboes wrote: 2. Sustainability & Food insecurity
- Climate change & air pollution

Are you talking about Global Warming, and greenhouse gases? I'm not sure if that qualifies as a pollutant. It's not air pollution at least in the conventional sense.

Also, keep in mind that environmental concerns are ethical concerns too. If Global Warming isn't slowed or averted, billions of people may die (mostly in the third world). This will affect us too, but not as much.

brimstoneSalad wrote:Also, keep in mind that environmental concerns are ethical concerns too. If Global Warming isn't slowed or averted, billions of people may die (mostly in the third world). This will affect us too, but not as much.

Of course! Everything, perhaps excluding the personal health stuff, on this list is an ethical concern in some way. Perhaps category one should be "treatment of animals" or something.

brimstoneSalad wrote:

miniboes wrote: 2. Sustainability & Food insecurity
- Climate change & air pollution

Are you talking about Global Warming, and greenhouse gases? I'm not sure if that qualifies as a pollutant. It's not air pollution at least in the conventional sense.

See: http://www.sustainabletable.org/266/air-quality

I'm pretty sure greenhouse gas emissions count as air pollution. As I understand it, air pollution simply means the release of gases into the air that have harmful effects.

miniboes wrote:Perhaps category one should be "treatment of animals" or something.

Good idea. That will help people understand that the environmental argument is an ethical one.

miniboes wrote: See: http://www.sustainabletable.org/266/air-quality

I'm pretty sure greenhouse gas emissions count as air pollution. As I understand it, air pollution simply means the release of gases into the air that have harmful effects.

It seemed like sketchy word usage.
Nitrogen can be harmful if it's contained in a small area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution#Sources

That does list it in natural sources, though, so I suppose that's fair. Just make sure it's clear that the harm is from global warming, not so much the CO2 and CH4 directly.