Why I don’t eat meat and diary products in the western world
Health reasons
The human body is evolutionary omnivore and digest animal protein as well as vegetables and fiber. Just think of the ancient roots of mankind as hunters and gatherers. The Modern concept of the paleo diet reflects that nutrition pattern. In western world the consumption of meat has drastically increased over the last 50 to 70 years. A Report states that over the last half century the meat consumption rose by factor 5. Still the generation of our grandparents had a meat dish just once a week, the famous Sunday roast. The diet has shifted to an unhealthy misbalance towards meat and processed convenient food. The body can not cope with that misbalance so quickly, in terms of evolutionary time span. The reaction are health problems, like rheumatism and inflammatory diseases. Similar is the situation with Dairy products. We need to differentiate products which are processed with fermentation such as jogourt and certain cheese sorts and dairy not processed with fermentation, milk, raw milk cheese. The milk protein needs a specific enzyme lactase that splits the protein into sugar which can be digested. In infant age the enzyme allows the baby to digest the milk. At the age of five to seven the body stops the production of the enzyme lactase. But some people, depending on the genetically roots are more tolerant to lactose. Without the enzyme the milk protein lactose can not digested anymore and ends up as metabolic slag. The lymphatic system needs to ensure the evacuation of those metabolic slags. If it is overloaded the body poisoned itself by the slag.
I do not want to poison my body
Ethical reasons
Modern meat production is an industry that treats an animal as a product and not as a creature with a soul. The methods to kill the animals are just unspeakable cruel. But not only the slaughterhouses, also the milk or egg production treats animals like things. Veterinary from Foodwatch.org estimates that as a rule of thumb every 4th animal in the food production is suffering health problems such as inflamed joints and utter or broken bones. The cages are so small that a pig can not move or lay down. Hens sit on metal mesh with crippled feet. During the fattening of life stock and it’s medical treatment several dugs such as antibiotics and hormone are used.
I do not want to support such cruelty in mass food production.
Environmental reasons
The meat mass production consumes much more water than the production of vegetable food. Statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations are impressive. Producing 1,000 calories of food in the form of cereals takes about half a cubic metre of water. Producing the same number of calories as meat takes four cubic metres; for dairy products, 6 cubic metres. And these are average figures.
The cattle is feed with soybeans that is shipped from South American to Europe, China or North America where the mass meat production is located. Hectares of rainforest are cut down every year to plant soybeans for animal nutrition. With the disappearance of rainforest our plant looses more and more the ability to convert CO2 into oxygen. Monoculture replaces a glrown diverse ecosystem. The soil quality worsens due to the use of chemical fertilizers and pest controls.
I do not want to support the destruction of our ecosystem.
Economical reasons
Modern day mass production of food such as meat is in the hands of a few huge international multi corporate enterprises. The local farmers has no chance to compete with the Big ones. The locally divers food production is replaced by an international oligarchy. The former independed farmers loose their income and needs to seek jobs in different industries if they are lucky to get one. Not only the food production is in the hands of a few but also the agricultural property. States loosing their ability to feed their people from own resources and need to import food, usually from a wealthy western country. Developing countries loosing the ability to ensure the fundamental supply on food to their people from own resources. Instead they depend for those fundamental services on the supply of multi national corporations.
I do not want to support the mass production of food.
That’s why I decided to go vegan and grow my own vegetables. Just for health reasons I could reduce the meat and dairy consumption up to a healthy balance, but there are other reasons to withdraw my money and support for industrial food production.
I as an individual can only express my will with my buying power, because…
…I want to live a healthy live
…I want to eat clean food
…I want to live in a clean and divers environment
…I want to to live in a society that supports the wellbeing of all people
