The kind of cruelty animals are subjected to in order to produce food and products for humans is unfathomable. Apart from the ethical factors, the benefits of veganism for the environment are tremendous

The degrading and devastating impact of mankind on the environment, that influences the lives of many, be it through  floods, droughts and earthquakes; has become a harsh reality of our times. Regrettably, many lives are lost daily due to the effects of climate change on the planet. This is primarily because of the current pattern of indiscriminate use of limited resources to support infinite consumption. One of the crucial causes behind it is the diet composition, that is aggravating environmental issues even more. Undoubtedly, our lifestyles, diet intake, attitudes towards the environment and many other habits need to be revisited in order to protect the Earth and slow the effects of climate change. An alternate and sustainable prospective solution to the problem could be reliance on vegan products.

What are vegan products and how is vegetarianism different from veganism, is a question that pops up very often. The answer to this question is that though vegetarians avoid meat and meat products but drink milk, eat cheese, curd and some even eat eggs, vegans don’t eat meat, eggs, cheese, mayonnaise, honey, whey, gelatin or drink milk. In short, they avoid anything that comes from or involves an animal in any way. More extreme vegans don’t use any clothing, accessory or object made from an animal like leather, wool, pearls, ivory-keyed pianos and so on. Veganism is an extreme form of vegetarianism and though the term was coined in 1944, the concept of flesh-avoidance can be traced back to ancient Indian and eastern Mediterranean societies.

Mahatma Gandhi was a vegan and despite the fact that he was required to eat meat products to bolster his failing health (during the satyagraha of 1918) he refused to do. According to him, the harm done to cattle even to increase milk generation could not be overlooked. The elementary ideology of Mahatma Gandhi towards the true welfare of animals and protecting them from slaughtering and ill-treatment by humans lays the foundation of the concept. Veganism also considers the way vegetarian products are produced or procured. For instance, cow and buffalo milk is obtained by depriving calves of their mother’s milk. Similarly, hens are caged for egg production through brutal artificial insemination instead of being  allowed to produce eggs naturally, in a free environment. The same is true for cows and buffaloes in dairy farms.

The kind of cruelty animals are subjected to in order to produce food and products for humans is unfathomable. As per a recent report, to ensure a sustainable future, every vegan could do his/her bit by saving approximately 200 animals per year.

Apart from the ethical factors, the benefits of veganism for the environment are tremendous. Researchers at the University of Oxford found that cutting meat and dairy products from diet could reduce a person’s carbon footprint from food by up to 73 per cent. If everyone stopped eating meat, eggs and dairy products, global farmland use could be reduced by 75 per cent, an area equivalent to the size of the US, China, Australia and the EU combined. Not only would this result in a significant drop in greenhouse gas emissions, it would also free up wild land lost to agriculture, one of the primary causes for mass wildlife extinction. Plus the savings in terms of water would also be immense as there would not be any need to grow more grain to feed the cattle, they could just be grass-fed. A recent study conducted in the Netherlands has indicated that substituting animal-protein with plant-based protein could help minimise the greenhouse effects. The conversion of vegetable protein to animal protein has two important environmental implications: The soil’s mineral exhaustion due to pasture land and the intense pressure on local natural resources due to the accumulation of minerals in animal production fields.

According to the American Dietetic Association and Dieticians of Canada, the usage of vegan products plays a pertinent role in lowering cholesterol levels and reducing saturated fats. Besides, it could exert a sizeable impact on the body mass index that further lowers the risk of cancer and heart attack.

However, even vegan products are not free from debate due to the varying faulty architecture adopted in the combination of food products. It has been witnessed that vegan products may not be a healthy option since they don’t protect the human body from various diseases like anaemia, rickets, cretinism and so on, primarily because most of the vegan products lack protein, calcium, iodine, vitamin B12 & D and omega-3 fatty acids.

Additionally, if we wholly switch to plant-based supplements, it might lead to enhanced consumption of grocery products, displacing natural resources in order to fulfil the growing demand that may alternatively change the land use patterns to completely eradicate the rainforests.

Various studies have confirmed the increasing environmental burden due to our consumption patterns that are expected to surpass 90 per cent as against the current burden by 2050 if we continue to consume non-vegetarian products as usual.

Traditional ways like organic farming could be a possible way forward to ensure a sustainable lifestyle and a healthier planet. It may be difficult to turn into a pure vegan but baby steps towards veganism can help in creating a sustainable lifestyle over a period of time.

  We should all remember that climate change is a mere obvious consequence of human activities and way of life. This might outdo the surmounting planetary boundaries which today define a safe operating space for humanity beyond which Earth’s vital ecosystems could become unstable.

(Kanojia is in DU and Jain is Assistant Professor and Senior Research Scholar, DU)