Why aren’t more climate activists vegan?
Back to Topic
Click to Print
Useful Websites
Glossary Term Selection
By Chris Lang
This week I decided to go vegan. The decision came after many years of being a (sometimes meat-eating) vegetarian, or a (sometimes vegetarian) meat-eater.
There are many reasons behind my decision. I recently read Jonathan Safran Foer’s book, Eating Animals, which I picked up almost by accident. Having read it, I can’t justify eating animals on moral grounds, given the current way animals are farmed.
Then there’s the impact of cattle ranching on the Amazon, with vast areas of forest destroyed. And the deforestation caused by soy plantations, grown to provide animal feed.
And then there’s impact of livestock on the climate. In 2014, Professor Tim Benton, at the University of Leeds, told The Guardian, ‘The biggest intervention people could make towards reducing their carbon footprints would not be to abandon cars, but to eat significantly less red meat.’
I do try to reduce my carbon footprint. I cycle or take public transport most of the time. I don’t own a car. I’ve t...
Want to see the rest of this article?
Would you like to see the rest of this article and all the other benefits that Issues Online can provide with?
- Useful related articles
- Video and multimedia references
- Statistical information and reference material
- Glossary of terms
- Key Facts and figures
- Related assignments
- Resource material and websites
