Compassion for Animals

No matter how nicely you could raise an animal, there is no way to nicely slaughter them. Raising animals for food (whether their flesh, or for products such as dairy or eggs) is a for profit business based on raising animals in captivity, and taking their life in the end. Animals are raised in crowded and unnatural conditions, and many cruel procedures are done to the animals, ensuring their lives are miserable. Undercover operations regularly expose horrifying conditions. Claims of humane conditions and slaughter (truly an oxymoron) don’t prove to be true. You can learn more about this at www.humanemyth.org. Animals slaughtered are killed while they are still babies, because the animal industry has modified animals raised for food to grow very quickly. The vast majority of animals raised for food would not exist at all if it wasn’t for the animal food industry – these animals are purposely bred to become food for humans or companion animals.

Concern for the Environment

Animal agriculture is the #1 cause of global warming, pollution, and resource usage that consumers have direct control over. At least three times a day, we can choose to eat plant foods instead of animal foods, thus decreasing our environmental footprint on the planet. You can learn more here:

Livestock and Climate Change: What if the Key Actors in Climate Change are Cows, Pigs, and Chickens?

Livestock’s Long Shadow

Health

The major causes of death and disease are caused by a diet that is focused around animal and processed foods and beverages. The number one killer of Americans is heart disease, and most heart disease (the type attributable to diet) is reversible. The same is true for type 2 diabetes. Several cancers are also caused by diet and a healthy plant-based diet can extend survival time. Several auto-immune diseases are also impacted by diet, and many people with arthritis and other auto-immune conditions have also seen remarkable results after changing their diets to a whole food, plant-based diet. Finally, loss of memory (Alzheimer’s and Vascular Dementia, for example) seem also to be related to diet. The more saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet, the more memory loss. The more fruits, veggies, and other whole plant foods, the less memory loss. Learn more:

Nutrition Facts – this website is our favorite! Look up any nutrition topic and see what the medical literature says!

How Not to Die – this one plus hour video by Michael Greger, MD, was videotaped in Ithaca, NY, when Club Veg hosted Dr. Greger at the Tompkins County Library. You can also watch this video on the Nutrition Facts website.

T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies – this is the website of T. Colin Campbell, PhD, author of “The China Study”, a book we highly recommend (it’s not just about China!). Through this website, you can also sign up to take a certificate course in plant-based nutrition through e-Cornell.

Forks Over Knives – stream the video on Netflix or rent it from this website. This video follows a number of people who experienced life changing results from changing to a whole food, plant-based diet.