Essay Sample on Becoming Vegan

A vegan refers to any individual who excludes dairy products, meat and other animal-derived ingredients from their diet. In some instances, most vegans do not consume foods processed using animal products such as certain types of wines. Therefore, a particular category of vegans stretches the exclusion of the use of animal products not only in their diets but also for personal use. Additionally, vegans refrain from wearing products made from animals such as leather belts or shoes. However, different vegans decide the extent to which they exclude animal products from their lives, and there is no universal scale of Veganism. The purpose of this paper is to present a vivid discussion on the concept of Veganism and how to become a vegan.

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Discussion

The term "Veganism" was coined back in 1944 as an extreme form of vegetarianism. The vegan celebration is marked for 1st November of every year (Wright, 2017). Equally, the concept of vegetarianism was first mentioned by Pythagoras of Samos (a Greek philosopher), in 500 BC. Pythagoras believed that vegetarianism promoted benevolence among all species including animals. The first vegetarian society was formed in England in the year 1847(Wright, 2017). However, in 1850, Sylvester Graham formed the American Vegetarian Society (Griffin, 2017). Similarly, in 1944, a British philosopher, Donald Watson introduced the term "vegan" to refer to anyone who did not eat meat products as well as dairy and eggs. Therefore, strict Veganism would refer to the abstinence from the use of animal products, even if it were not food (Griffin, 2017). According to Wright (2017), most vegans liken animal suffering to human suffering and view the misinformed human superiority as being the same as racism.

One of the reasons one should become a vegan is to protect animals from abuse, extreme confinement, pain, neglect, mutilations, and merciless slaughter. Therefore, most animals are mercilessly slaughtered before they are cooked or their body parts used in the manufacture of various products (Griffin, 2017). Also, becoming vegan allows one to join the global movement that advocates for the protection of animal rights in the same scale as human rights. Thus, one of the ways an individual can join animal rights lobby groups is by creating awareness of such rights and their dignity as species within their various social circles. In other words, becoming vegan allows one the chance to protect the animals that require sensitive care or face extinction. Most animals are usually confined before being slaughtered, and sometimes such confinement is done in a cruel manner (Wright, 2017). Therefore, it is essential for people to become vegans to advocate for the rights of such animals.

Additionally, an individual becomes a vegan live a healthy lifestyle. Living a healthy lifestyle will keep one away from all the numerous lifestyle-related diseases that result from unhealthy dieting. Research conducted by Radnitz et al. in 2015, indicates that diets that contain high in meat, eggs, and dairy products could be as harmful to one's health just as smoking (Radnitz et al., 2015). Thus, becoming vegan allows an individual to explore through the various vegetarian diets and avoid beef, eggs or dairy products. Plant protein is as good as animal protein, but it carries lesser risks of causing lifestyle diseases. Moreover, Veganism allows one to eat healthy food which in turn will enable them to live a healthy lifestyle that is free diet-related diseases. In other words, lifestyle diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, among others are partly caused by unhealthy dieting (Radnitz et al., 2015). In addition, most of the food eaten by vegans such as vegetables and animal protein is highly nutritious and enable one to get higher nutritional content compared to animal and dairy products.

Similarly, becoming a vegan will help individuals to support the fight against climate change. In other words, as a vegan, one will be able to reduce their carbon footprint significantly. Carbon footprint refers to the levels of carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere as a result of the activities of a particular or community. The carbon footprint available in the diet of a vegan is half that available in the diet of a person who consumes beef, dairy, and their products. Advocates for the conservation of the environment have in the past suggested that Veganism is the single most significant way to reduce the environmental impact on the earth. Research conducted by Stoll-Kleemann and Schmidt in 2017, indicates that cutting dairy and meat products off one's diet could reduce their carbon footprint by about 70 percent (Stoll-Kleemann & Schmidt, 2017). Meat and dairy production or farming also contributes mainly to the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Equally, becoming a vegan significantly reduces the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted because the animal and dairy production will substantially be reduced (Stoll-Kleemann & Schmidt, 2017).

Finally, becoming a vegan will also help in the conservation of endangered species of animals. A large number of endangered species that face the threat of being hunted will significantly reduce thus lowering their extinction rates. Such animals are usually hunted both for food and animal products, thus becoming vegan will save a large number of them. Additionally, several species of animals, birds and even marine life are endangered due to the significant demand for their products from humans (wright, 2017). Examples of endangered species hunted for their products include coyotes and black bears. In as much as most people might not eat these animals, their body parts are used in the manufacture of products which are highly in demand among humans. Therefore, overhunting one type of animal for food in a specific ecosystem may also pose a challenged to the rest of the animals living in the same ecosystem by creating imbalances.

Conclusion

In conclusion, becoming a vegan is crucial in accepting a lifestyle change where an individual refrain from the use or eating of animals and animal products. Veganism stretches long back in history and is majorly based on the requirement of benevolence to animals. Vegans believe that animals have the same rights and humans and should not be subjected to ill-treatment because of the selfish needs of humans. One of the reasons for one to become vegan is to enable them to live and maintain healthy lifestyles. This is because most lifestyle diseases are caused by eating unhealthy foods majorly from animal products thus restraining from animal products would lead one to live a healthy lifestyle. The other reason for one to become vegan is for environmental and climate conservation. The conservation of the environment will result from the reduced carbon footprint when one becomes vegan. Also, becoming vegan protects animals from merciless killing, neglect, pain, and confinement. In addition, becoming vegan allows one to respect and protect the dignity of animals with the same weight they do protect and safeguard human dignity. However, it is important to note that for one to become vegan, he or she has to make the decision, take the necessary action and believe in the ideology behind Veganism.

References

Griffin, N. S. (2017). Understanding Veganism: Biography and Identity. Springer.

Radnitz, C., Beezhold, B., & DiMatteo, J. (2015). Investigation of lifestyle choices of individuals following a vegan diet for health and ethical reasons. Appetite, 90, 31-36.

Stoll-Kleemann, S., & Schmidt, U. J. (2017). Reducing meat consumption in developed and transition countries to counter climate change and biodiversity loss: a review of influence factors. Regional Environmental Change, 17(5), 1261-1277.

Wright, L. (2017). Introducing Vegan Studies. ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, 24(4), 727-736.