Veganism or vegetarianism - are they really sustainable?

Hello everyone

Does veganism come with health issues? Is it sustainable? And does vegetarianism change anything? - We're going to be comparing three different diet types: veganism, vegetarianism, and a mixed diet, in multiple categories. This post is structured into the following sections:

Warning: There are no graphic images in this post. However, in the 'human rights' and 'animal rights' sections, there are descriptions of physical and mental abuse towards both humans and animals. Skip those sections, if you know you can't deal with that.

Human rights

This may seem like an unrelated topic at first, but in many industries, the rights of people in poorer countries are abused because it's cheaper for the company to have workers in a country with a low min. wage than to have workers in a country with a high min. wage. However, this means that the workers are paid very little and this will often come hand in hand with child labour. So this is a very important subject to discuss.
So the industry that we need to look at first is the meat industry.

Meat industry

There have been allegations of human rights abuse in the U.S. meat industry in a report Blood, Sweat, and Fear: Workers' Rights in U.S. Meat and Poultry Plants from Human's rights watch. Other reports also describe terrible work environments, being convinced to not report injuries, no proper training, and additional injuries due to performing the same motions over and over again. As the human rights watch said in this article:

Workers often do not receive compensation for workplace injuries because companies fail to report injuries, delay and deny claims, and take reprisals against workers who file them.

The meat packaging industry also seems to be a big problem, with reports of undocumented workers from other countries being exploited. There are no unions to protect the workers.

Fish industry

There have been reports of fishing industries in Thailand getting immigrant workers from poorer countries to work for them instead of raising the pay for their already existing workers. This industry has become known for human trafficking, child labour, and forced labour. Again this comes with the problem of violence and injuries not being reported. Workers can even be deprived of basic human needs like showers and meals. Over 94% of the crew has no contract according to this Greenpeace graphic, with workers being beaten if they did not do as told.

Crop industry

There are multiple allegations of human rights abuse in the crop industry. Here are a couple:

An anonymous farm worker reported trafficking set up over borders and was promised a different job to the one they received, with bad living and working conditions.
We've already talked about this one in our palm oil post. Workers in Indonesia undergo false promises of high wages, getting caught in dept, trafficking, being beaten, having their passports taken, no maternity leave, unsafe equipment, no sick days & child labour.
Reports of bad working conditions and exploitation in the wheat industry.

Summary

In this section, there is no real winner. The dairy industry seems to be the only one where there are very few reports however we may never truly know what goes on behind closed doors. It is important to mention that although there are more allegations in the crop industry, the meat and dairy industry both, at least partially, rely on the crop industry to feed their animals. In conclusion, in the area of human rights, almost every industry does have some major problems that need addressing.

Health

This is a big topic. When it comes to vegetarianism and veganism, many people worry about the impact that these diets could have on your health.

Red meat

Red meat is an important source of multiple different vitamins and minerals and is a source of protein. However multiple studies have shown that eating red meat seems to increase the risk of heart disease, chest cancer, and type 2 diabetes. Although this seems to be more like when it comes to processed meats.

White meat

Studies have very different opinions on this matter. Some claim that white meat is just as bad or even worse than red meat, while others say that white meat is far better than red meat. When it comes to claims that it is bad for your health, normally the same things are said about red meat and that eating white meat can lead to early death.

Dairy

The standard sentence of 'more milk gives you stronger bones' is now very controversial and scientists are having a hard time working out whether dairy is good for you or not. Diary contains calcium and protein, which are both good for you. However, there are other sources for this and alarming studies have shown that dairy intake might contribute to breast and prostate cancer. At the same time, some studies show the exact opposite, so it is quite hard to work out what's true and what isn't.

Summary

Again it is quite hard to tell which is the best. However, the general understanding is that too much meat/dairy is bad for you and that most people eat too much. There are some things that you can only get from meat, for instance, B12. However, there are some vegan sources for these and if you don't have any other options then there are supplements for pretty much everything. It is also worth mentioning that if it weren't for the animal industry, we wouldn't be dealing with COVID-19 and many other viruses.

Area needed

This is an important topic. With the world population growing at alarming rates, we need food sources that take up as little space as possible.

70% of the world's agricultural land is used for meat, dairy, and other animal products. This is because cattle require a lot of land for grazing and land is also required to grow animal feed. However, when looking at how much protein we get from animal products, although different sources vary massively, most seem to agree that we only get about one-third of our protein from animal products. So basically we use 70% of our agricultural land but only get about 33% of our protein from it. The meat industry is also responsible for the majority of the deforestation in the amazon rainforest.

Animal rights

This is where veganism and vegetarianism become a lot more appealing than an omnivore diet.

Beef, Pork & Chicken

There are multiple reports of the mistreatment of animals in the meat industry including:

branding
being left to die of starvation
being left to freeze to death
being beaten
implanted with hormones
stunned
being strung upside down while still conscious
being boiled alive
not enough space to lie down or move
testicles being ripped out while conscious without painkillers
tails cut off while conscious
no vets for the sick or injured
females being constantly forced to give birth and then being separated from their young
piglets being thrown across the room
spread of diseases

Dairy

Dairy cows are treated appallingly and live in terrible conditions. There are 2.5 million dairy cows in the UK alone and far too many of them have spent their entire lives in a barn or factory. The milk adverts with happy cows walking across a massive open pasture with enough grass and enough shade are just not true. Some cows have never even seen daylight.

To produce milk, a cow must be pregnant. So the cows are impregnated. After months of pregnancy (during which she will be kept in an enclosure so small that it's hard to lie down), she gives birth to her calf. The calf will be separated from her within the first few hours. If it is a female, it may survive, but only to be raised for the same fate as her mother. If it's a male, it will most likely be shot in the head and/or left to die.

The mother will be attached to a machine that will take her milk. Once she stops producing milk, the whole cycle starts again. Of course, at some point she will be too old, then she will be killed and used for cheap meat or leather.

Summary

It is quite clear, that when it comes to animal abuse veganism and vegetarianism are the way forward.

Greenhouse gas emissions

In our last section, we are going to be comparing the greenhouse gas emissions in the agricultural industry. More than a third of all emissions come from food production and according to a guardian article, 57% of all greenhouse gases in the food sector come from the meat industry, whereas only 29% of the food sector comes from plant-based food production. Beef is the biggest producer followed by cow milk. It is also worth mentioning that many of the emissions due to beef and cow milk are methane, which is much worse than CO2.

So which diet is the best?

More factors play into this and in some cultures, it is much harder to be vegetarian or vegan, unfortunately, it is often more expensive. However, from what we've looked at today, we need to cut down on meat and dairy, especially looking at the animal abuse section.

Your Green World Blog Team💚

Images:

Title image: This image is owned by a blog editor.

Workers on fishing boat: This image, owned by ILO Asia-Pacific (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Palm oil worker: This image, owned by ILO Asia-Pacific (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Amazon rainforest: This image, owned by Stephen Bové (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Cows in barn: This image, owned by J. Nisly (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC.SA 2.0.

Text sources:

Human rights - meat industry

https://www.hrw.org/news/2005/01/24/abuses-against-workers-taint-us-meat-and-poultry

https://grist.org/industrial-agriculture/2011-06-29-how-the-meat-industry-turned-abuse-into-a-business-model/

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/06/hormel-spam-pig-brains-disease/

Human rights - fish industry

https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/oceans/sustainable-seafood/abused-workers-tuna-infographic/

https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/supply-chained-human-rights-abuse-in-the-global-tuna-industry/

https://thefishsite.com/articles/greenpeace-investigation-reveals-unsolved-forced-labour-in-thai-tuna-industry

Human rights - crop industry