Veganism

"It CAN'T be healthy!"

"Plants have feelings too!"

"It's my personal choice to eat meat/dairy."

"What would you do if you and a cow were on a desert island?"

These are some of many questions I am asked whenever veganism is brought up in a discussion. I hear these questions (and many more) so frequently, so I thought it would be a good idea to create a space where these issues could be addressed.

1. It CAN'T be healthy.

Health often comes into scrutiny when veganism is involved. I'm a pretty healthy dude—I go to the gym, I enjoy running, and am healthier than the average meat eater, for sure. However, I personally would even go as far as saying that I'd let my health suffer if it meant that animals weren't harmed, but let's stay on point, Rishi! I'd like to add a caveat to say that you can seek medical advice if you're after advice for sustaining a healthy vegan diet. I'm only showing that it is easy enough to do.

There are probably 3 main nutrients that people are concerned about with veganism: B12, iron, and protein.

• B12 - most alternative kinds of milk have them, fortified cereals have them, and even energy drinks do! When I have cereal with milk and a latte in the morning, I've already hit my B12 recommended daily allowance, never mind the foods I eat for the rest of the day. If you're not hitting them, then supplements are available. Animals are often fed B12 supplements anyway, so it seems like a redundant concern.
• Iron - I have been vegetarian since birth and have never really had any issues with iron (slightly low at one point but then rectified) and no issues at all since turning vegan. I can imagine it would be more of an issue with women, but it's certainly not to say that a vegan diet won't allow sufficient iron intake.
• Protein - Again, perfectly possible to maintain an adequate protein intake. You will just need to get it from different sources. As mentioned above, I've been vegetarian since birth and never had any issues with protein.

2. Plants have feelings, too!

Firstly... no, they don't. People always mention an article they've read where plants feel pain but it's never a conclusive report and it's still not widely accepted to be a fact. Plants don't have a nervous system and they don't aim to escape danger.

Secondly, let's assume they did feel pain. Even if this was the case, it would STILL be beneficial to be vegan! Livestock account for 70 percent of crop utilisation. Cows are freaking huge and need a HUGE amount of food to grow. If they weren't reared for our consumption, we wouldn't be farming crops anywhere near as much, so fewer plants would be "harmed."

3. It's my personal choice to eat meat/dairy.

Well, this is true on its own. If you buy a box of eggs from the supermarket, you're not breaking any laws, you make the choice to buy it, cook it and eat it... so what's the problem?

Just because something is a personal choice doesn't mean it is morally justifiable. If I was on the side of the road and put baby chicks into a blender, would you be ok with that? Probably not. You'd probably stop me, get help, call the police, etc., because morally you don't agree with my actions. However, that is exactly what happens in the egg industry—male chicks are deemed "useless" and are either thrown into containers and suffocated or thrown into a blender. So why is my cruelty to animals on the street not ok? It's my personal choice, isn't it?

The other point to note is that YOU may have a personal choice, but what about the animals? Why aren't they given that right? By being vegan, we are giving the animals the choice to live.

Morality is subjective, but people in general don't want to see cruelty. We are just conditioned to not think about it/think it's ok because it happens away from us where we can't see it.

4. What would you do if you and a cow were on a desert island?

I often find this is a bit of a last resort when it comes to accusations against vegans. I'd say the answer is pretty simple and I'd take action in the following order:

1. Find a way off the island.
2. Acknowledge the cow's existence and see if there are any edible sources of vegan food.
3. Eat the cow. Doing something out of necessity and survival is not remotely similar to how we live right now where we have the choice and freedom to make compassionate choices with respects to our food.

I hope this was useful and informative to both vegans and non-vegans and has made a few people think and question their choices. I hope to do a few of these, so watch this space!