Essay on Why People Go Vegan

Global

The 21st century has witnessed a downward trend in air quality around the globe. To solve this major and urgent issue, the idea of everyone becoming veganism was generated. There have been numerous controversies surrounding this suggestion. Besides the variety of advantages to people’s health, the effect of veganism on the world economy is undeniable. According to the World Economic Forum, there is a proportional trend between the number of vegan individuals and the number of tax revenues for governments (WorldEconomicForum, 2018). The globe will engender plant-based economies for nations as the figure of a vegan diet increases. This plant-based economic trend will save an enormous amount of money that governments can use later on. This amount of money can be spent on improving the environment. Money can be used to build incineration plants, where waste is being burned down by 90 percent (TheStraitsTimes, 2018). These incineration plants have already existed in Singapore and are useful when taking Singapore to one of the world's cleanest countries. By following a vegan diet, individuals are helping their own countries in the journey of cleaning and consuming rubbish including plastic and food waste. Together, veganism can bring an exclusive benefit to the environment according to economists’ views. However, on the other hand, veganism is threatening Mother Earth by increasing the level of soil erosion and degradation. There are three typical kinds of soil in agricultural which are grazing land, perennial cropland, and cultivated cropland (PBS, 2016). These types of soil are detached based on their function in farming. According to the research conducted by PSB - The Public Broadcasting Service in America, a vegan diet does not utilize perennial cropland it owns the biggest area of all three categories (PBS, 2016). This action leads to the consequence of wasting useful land while the two consumed types of land do not provide nutrients at the beginning of the season’s crops. Non–perennial crops which are grazing land and cultivated cropland are usually frozen in springtime. Consequently, these crops will flow down into the river, taking the nutrients with them. Moreover, as time goes by, without being used by humans, corn earworms or corn rootworms can appear and reproduce in perennial crops. These insects are not only destroying farming yield but also taking all the nutrients and vitamins away (Guardians, 2018). Therefore, after some time, this type of cropland might never be able to be used for farming anymore as there will be no vitamin left. This is an alarming problem that the vegan diet is facing. As a result, veganism can lead to a lack of nutrients in vegetables as well as land waste around the world. In conclusion, the trend of individuals becoming veganism can exert an essential advantage to the world economy as countries will earn larger amounts of tax revenue. Besides that, people following a vegan diet can create harmfulness to crops as well as wasting helpful land.

National

In this day and age, some people are changing their meat-based diet to a vegan diet to live a healthier lifestyle. Environmentally, veganism is a possible solution to reducing air pollution while economically, becoming vegan might exert detrimental influences. Alongside health benefits, veganism helps to reduce harmfulness to the environment in the United States in particular and the world in general. Going vegan plays an important role in solving air pollution. According to a paper published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), if every American becomes vegan, agricultural greenhouse gases will decrease by 28 percent (Chow, 2017). Animal agriculture appears to provide resources for humans to survive and as the rapid population growth happens, farmers need to raise a large amount of livestock to fulfill citizen requirements. As a result, animal agriculture is responsible for 51 percent of greenhouse gas emissions as they release multiple amounts of waste (Angle-Traegner, 2018). As the US population ranks number three on the list of countries in the world that depend on population, the need for food is enormous (Worldometers, n.d.). Consequently, pollution levels will expand, especially air pollution. Air pollution is considered the worst pollution because it releases carbon monoxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, etc. These elements can cause diseases related to the heart and lungs. Farmers use plenty of grain and water for farm animals, and after that, farmers will sell to markets around the world. 50 percent of animals were produced in factory farms across the USA for food. This process requires an extremely high energy source. In the end, animals that are being killed release plenty of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere as cows, pig or chickens produce 16,000 lbs. of waste per second (Angle-Traegner, 2018). Greenhouse gases contain powerful elements like carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrous oxide which will cause the majority of air pollution which leads to climate change (Reporters, n.d.). Moreover, farm animal is the leading cause of water waste in the USA. 55 percent of the consumption of water in the US is being used for animal agribusiness (Angle-Traegner, 2018). Freshwater is essential in our life and only a small amount of water on the earth is fresh but raising billions of livestock will require a significant amount of freshwater. Even though 71 percent of the earth is water only 2.5 percent is freshwater and the majority of them are being used to raise farm animals (USGS, n.d.). To feed farm animals, freshwater is being used every day, consequently, it is a waste of water because a vegan diet uses five times less water than a meat-based diet which saves more water (Wills, 2018). To sum up, animal agriculture has negative impacts on the environment.

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While veganism is beneficial for the environment, animal agriculture may be advantageous for the economy. As one-half of the US agricultural economy came from livestock and poultry, eliminating animal agriculture means hurting the US economy (EPA, 2017). Replacing animal agriculture is dangerous as it is important in contributing to the economic activities in the US. Following a vegan diet means you won’t consume any meat and if every American doesn’t eat meat, $375.3 Billion in economic output annually will be gone (THE NATIONWIDE IMPACT OF ANIMAL AGRICULTURE, n.d.). Moreover, the livestock industry creates nearly two million jobs for American citizens (iGrow, 2014). This means eliminating the poultry industry might create unemployment across the country. Unemployment can lead to reducing GDP rate or lack of incoming taxes which are disadvantageous for the US economy (Stephen D. Simpson, 2017). As a result, it is dangerous to eradicate the poultry industry. To conclude, from an economic perspective, the livestock industry is crucial.

Various methods can support the US in promoting veganism and solving pollution. Firstly, agencies, individuals, and the government should organize and propagandize campaigns for people to eat vegan diets together. For example, the Green Monday organization, they are creating a campaign weekly named “Green Monday” for people around the world to follow a plant-based diet on Monday which has good influences (Green Monday, n.d.). Campaigns like this can help countries to reduce negative effects on the environment. As people only have to eat a vegan diet one day per week, it’s easier for them to follow and it will receive more attention from the citizens. However, this is not a perfect solution as people can forget to follow the campaign because it is optional. Besides creating events, the government can add taxes on livestock. As the government increases poultry taxes, the meat price will be higher and not everybody can pay for meat (The Guardian, 2016). According to a study from Oxford University, higher taxes on livestock mean fewer people will consume poultry, consequently, it can save the planet (The Guardian, 2016). However, higher tax means new laws and it is not easy to create new laws in the US as members of the House or Senate have to vote (USA GOV, n.d.). Let’s take cigarettes as an example. The US government has raised taxes on cigarettes and there is a significant decrease in cigarette consumption, but it took a great deal of time for the law to pass (Wan, 2107). Higher tax laws on livestock might pass but it is going to be a long process and our planet might not have enough time to wait as the pollution level is increasing rapidly. To conclude, the US government should encourage campaigns on veganism and tax poultry more.

Local

Veganism can be promoted in Hanoi. While the main cause of pollution in Hanoi is manufacturing actions, becoming vegan does not fully contribute to reducing the pollution level in the capital of Vietnam. As the main factor contributing to air pollution is motorbikes or cars and most farms in Vietnam are not located in Hanoi, becoming vegan will not solve this problem completely (export.gov, 2017). If people become vegan but don’t use fewer private vehicles, veganism doesn’t have significant impacts on helping the environment in Hanoi. However, the Mayor of Hanoi should encourage its citizens to be vegan for their good. Becoming vegan helps individuals to be healthier as there are various nutrients and vitamins in a plant-based diet. Consequently, this will have huge impacts on reducing diseases across the city and making people's lives healthier and better (Richarson, n.d.). Fewer diseases mean a decrease in the number of patients in hospitals and stopping overload in public hospitals (Lam, 2011). As a result, this will help to improve the clinical qualities around Hanoi (Nhan Dan, 2014). To summarize, even though, veganism might not help protect the environment in Hanoi, the authority still should motivate residents to be vegan to protect their health.

Personal

From my perspective, veganism is beneficial to human beings. Being vegan helps individuals to enhance their health. Vegan diets contain nutrients and vitamins that meat-based diets cannot provide, for example, vitamin C or fiber (Team, 2014). As veganism means eating dishes from plants, we can receive nutrients and vitamins that are good for our health and upgrade our body resistance. Personally, eating more vegetables can help to improve my skin and make it look more beautiful, lighter, and tighter. In addition, veganism helps to stop numerous diseases. Being vegan means a lower possibility of getting diseases than eating meat instead. Vegetarians have better digestive systems or a smaller potential of getting diabetes than other individuals as eating meat can lead to high heart pressure, hypotension, or cancer (Huong, 2018). I believe also that declining will help becoming vegan easier as the veganism process is hard to follow. As our bodies cannot adapt to big changes immediately, individuals should go at their own pace. According to Victoria Moran, the author of a book named “Main Street Vegan”, it is crucial that vegetarians can go at their own pace to help their bodies fit with the process (Blumberg, 2018). Going at your speed gives numerous merits to humans. In reality, it is hard to change from a meat-based diet to a vegan diet in a short amount of time, consequently, making small changes every day, and not forcing yourself to change immediately will help the process become more successful. Taking the process slowly will help your body adapt new diet more easily. As everything requires time to fit and people usually say that “small changes have big impacts”, having your pace on becoming vegan is important. Making small changes in your daily meals is the easiest way to gain several plant-based foods in your diet (Society, n.d.). However, having your own pace can create negative impacts on individuals. The deceleration in changing diets can lead to giving up as the process might take more time. Taking it slow means a higher possibility of people being lazier as there is more time to change. In conclusion, I believe that becoming vegan will decrease the ability to get diseases, and secure your health, and slowing down is necessary.

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