Why Vegan?: A simple guide to the right choice for us and our planet [Kindle ed.]

Citation preview

Why Vegan? A simple guide to the right choice for us and our planet Introduction – The future is Vegan It may seem a slightly presumptuous and unrealistic statement, but there is no doubt than more and more people are choosing a vegan lifestyle. Just look at how many vegan alternatives have cropped up in every aisle of all major supermarkets. Why are so many people turning vegan? Some may have vegan friends and feel inspired to try new food, some may want to improve their own health and wellbeing, others may be dictated by their own feelings of compassion for farm animals or a strong concern for the environment. Some people might even be inspired by sports celebrities, actors, models, or influencers who are vegan. The Coronavirus pandemic we are facing has had such a dramatic impact on our lives that it has made us rethink our priorities and pay greater attention to our health and the environment. According to London-based market research firm Mintel, approximately 400,000 people in the UK alone have taken part in Veganuary 2020. 25% of Britons aged between 21 to 30 say that the pandemic has made a vegan diet more appealing. And it’s not only Millennials. Overall, 23% of British consumers are eating more fruit and vegetables since the start of the pandemic, and almost one in five say that since the outbreak they have added more nutrients to their diet to help support the immune system. But is veganism for everyone? We are all different human beings with different needs, different beliefs, different interests, and different aspirations but one thing is certain: we all share the same planet. And we need to look after it. For ourselves and the

future generations. It may seem a distant future to some but looking at the speed with which the global temperature is rising, the glaciers are melting, the forests are disappearing, there really isn’t much time to waste. Children, more than adults, are aware of the environmental emergency we are facing. Ask any 12-year-old if they have heard of Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future movement she has inspired, ask a teenager if while browsing through the programmes available on Netflix, they have come across Seaspiracy. How many households have at least one book or DVD by David Attenborough on a shelf? Chances are that you or someone in your family have one, too. So why is the current health of our planet so important and what does it mean that vegans can have a positive impact on its future? Are we not designed to eat meat? Can a child grow up healthy on a vegan diet? If we stopped eating meat, will animals become too numerous and invade the cities? Can I just become vegetarian instead? Does eating eggs and dairy harm animals? Does eating meat increase the chances of getting cancer? These are just a few questions I have come across on a number of occasions. This book aims to try and answer them and help you make a considerate choice.

Chapter 1: What is Veganism? There has been a lot of confusion about vegetarianism and veganism. Is vegan the same as vegetarian? Do vegetarians eat fish? Do vegans eat eggs? Vegetarians are not the same as vegans. Whereas vegetarians follow a diet that includes dairy and eggs, vegans do not. Vegetarians may wear leather, silk and wool, vegans generally do not. The concept of vegan is in fact rather simple: vegans adopt a plant-based diet. This means they do not eat meat, fish, or any animal-derived products such as eggs, milk, or cheese. They do not “give up” meat, they simply choose to eat something else. Vegans have often been wrongly portrayed and often even ridiculed, as some tree-hugging hippies, animal-rights activists who go round organising marches and causing trouble. Many of of them may well be environmental activists and animal lovers but, as with everything else, one cannot generalise. In my experience there are three main factors that lead an individual to embrace a vegan diet and lifestyle: an ethical reason, a health reason, an environmental reason.

Chapter 2: The ethical reason This seems to be the most popular reason, especially amongst young people who decide to become vegan. Over the past 40 or 50 years, there has been an increased awareness and sensitivity when it comes to topics like animal testing, the use of fur in the fashion industry, intensive farming, fishing, and the use of animals for entertainment. The greatest concern is whether animals have feelings like us, whether they suffer pain, whether their killing for food and clothing can be at all justified and how it can be carried out in the most humane possible way. Of course animals have feelings. Any scientist, any veterinary surgeon, any ethologist would be able to confirm that animals, and by animals we mean any multicellular organism, have a nervous system, and therefore can experience pain. The only multicellular organisms without a nervous system are sponges and a few microscopic organisms called placozoans and mesozones. What varies is the complexity of the nervous system. Some organisms lack a central nervous system but still possess nervous cells and receptors. An example of such animals are members of the hydrozoa class, like jellyfish, often called medusae. They are made for 95% of water and possess a rudimental network of neurons that help them detect the environment around them, but they lack a brain, a heart, bones, and a respiratory system and therefore do not experience pain like we do. We can comfortably state that any animal with a brain and a heart, from the smallest fish to the majestic elephant, is able to feel pain. Animals have primordial instincts that help them survive, but they also have feelings, they bond, they communicate with each other and sometimes with other species too. With social media platforms such as Tik-Tok, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube so widespread these days, it is very easy to come across videos of animals helping animals of other species. So the question is, do they act by instinct or are they able to feel empathy? Animal behaviour experts, or ethologists, are still studying the subject in detail but it is wildly agreed that the more complex the brain, the more developed feelings such as self-awareness and compassion are. This is particularly evident in mammals.

One just needs to look in the eyes of a dog or a cat to see that they do have feelings, they understand our moods, share our pain. They understand us, comfort us, keep us company, even contribute to our mental health and wellbeing. Pet therapy has proved so efficient in rehabilitation and in relieving health conditions such as depression, anxiety, obesity, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Animals have been exploited by humans for thousands of years, not just for the meat and skin, but also for their role in medical research, in farming, working in the fields, pulling the plough and carriages, transporting goods and people and in the case of dogs in particular, aiding police and rescue teams as search dogs, as guide dogs for the blind, just to name a few. Following the Great Depression and the two World Wars, a regained prosperity in first world countries and an increased demand for meat led to the creation of intensive farming. Animals treated like meat-producing machines, born, dragged away from their mother, caged, raised quickly with the aid of growth hormones and antibiotics, killed systematically to meet our demand for meat. The shorter the life of an animal, the smaller the cost of raising it, the bigger the profit. Since ancient times, animals have been hunted and killed for meat. With the advent of farming and animal farming, animals were bred, raised, sold, and killed for food. Yet the question of whether this was necessary or at all ethical is not new. The first roots of Vegetarianism date back to the 6th century B.C. Amongst the great thinkers of the past, there were people like Leonardo da Vinci who questioned whether the killing of animals for food was justified. Equally, there were others like Cartesio, who saw animals purely as meat-producing machines, unable to think, feel or interact like humans. Many cultures and religions, especially in India and other Asian countries, rejected the consumption of meat, seeing it as unhealthy and, as the animal had suffered a painful death, this would jeopardize the person’s inner spiritual balance. By the end of the 20th century, the Indian philosophy of nonviolence toward humans and animals alike, promoted by Mahatma Gandhi amongst others, had helped the diffusion of vegetarianism in the West. 1908 saw the birth of the first International Vegetarian Union, which included several Western national societies. Vegetarianism continued to grow in the 20th century as a reflection of nutritional and ethical concerns. However, vegetarians were still a minority

and vegans were even more uncommon. Up to a hundred years ago, animals were typically sold and slaughtered in the town’s market square. With the advent of intensive farming, slaughterhouses were moved farther and farther away from towns, so that people did not see the conditions in which animals were raised, abused, and killed, in the most barbaric and inhumane way. The great Italian Astrophysicist Margherita Hack, a vegetarian from birth, suggested in an interview in 2011 that secondary school children and their families should be exposed to the reality of the lagers in which animals are kept, in the most horrific conditions, and shown around slaughterhouses where animals are systematically killed, often still conscious, and hung, left to bleed, awaiting to be quartered. Perhaps this would be the most efficient way to make people realise the horrors behind the neat packet of meat, wrapped in cellophane, that we find in supermarkets. It is easy to dig the head in sand and pretend not to know where that packet of meat comes from. People often say, “I don’t want to think about”. It is easy to ignore that, to produce the 6 eggs in the punnet a customer just bought, hundreds of male newly born chicks were killed, gassed, or minced alive, discarded, killed, turned into pellets, and often fed back to hens. Their only fault? Being born male. This is not only the case of caged or barn hens but often applies to free range too. The dairy industry is not cruelty-free either. One just needs to remember that, in order to produce milk, a cow needs to have recently given birth. This means that dairy cows are constantly kept pregnant through artificial insemination, they are forced to produce more milk and in a shorter period of time than they would in the wild, only to be sent to the slaughterhouse when the milk production drops below a set target. The reality of male calves is not dissimilar to the one of male chicks. A baby cow, if male, is likely to be slaughtered before it reaches adult age. People often think that fish are primitive creatures that don’t think, don’t interact much, don’t feel pain and therefore their killing for food can be more justified than the one of mammals. This could not be more wrong. Fish have a brain and a heart, they do interact, they communicate, they feel pain. Whether they are fished from the sea or farmed, they are still killed in the same way, stabbed, suffocated, beheaded, quartered.

Another, often overlooked, ethical issue at the basis of a vegan choice, is the one of animal testing. Between 550 and 100 million vertebrate animals are used every year for medical research, genetic experimentation, testing of medicine and cosmetics. Most animals are euthanised after use, whilst often already agonising. The topic of animal testing is very complex and can lead to fierce debate due to its sensitive nature. Supporters of animal testing claim that virtually every achievement in medical research during the 20th century was made possible thank to the use of lab animals. Animal rights activists, however, argue that animals and humans have more differences than similarities, and what may work on an animal may not have the same results on humans, leading to potential catastrophic mistakes. They also see animal testing as an extremely cruel practice, causing the animal prolonged sufferings and an untimely, agonising death. The practice of animal testing is often differently regulated in different countries. Whereas the use of animals for medical research can be somewhat justified by some, the experimenting of cosmetics on animals is now widely rejected by most Western countries. The Body Shop, founded by Anita Roddick in 1976, was amongst the first brands of cosmetics to add “against animal testing” on its products label. Many other brands followed and now the “leaping bunny” symbol can commonly be found on the label of most products that have not been tested on animals. One has to be careful, though. Products sold in Europe, America, Australia, and other countries may state they have not been tested on animals; however, the same products may be sold in China, where animal testing is required by law. In such case, tests may not be performed by the company itself but by an independent Chinese firm. For example, French-based “L’Occitane” despite stating they do not test their products on animals, they do sell in mainland China. In other words, they have their products tested on animals for them. The same can be said of companies such as L’Oreal, Lacome, Clarins, Rimmel, Revlon, Clinique, Chanel, Chloe, Armani, Dior, Burberry, Avon, Max Factor and many more. A company, therefore, to be fully cruelty free must not be selling their products in countries where testing is required. Several websites such as Peta, Crueltyfreekitty and ethicalelephant offer lists of brands that are either already cruelty-free, looking at reducing their animal testing or still fully testing their products on animals. It is always a good idea

to check before buying. Animal cruelty, sadly, spreads beyond the meat industry and medical research. For centuries animals have been used for entertainment in circuses, bullfights, zoos, and religious festivals in the name of “tradition”. Things are changing fast, though, and animal welfare societies and much more involved in the monitoring and often banning of cruel practices. There is a new sensitivity, especially among the younger generation, which rejects the use of animals for entertainment and animal products in the fashion industry. Real animal fur, which has been used since ancient times and still is by indigenous societies in cold climate countries, was seen as very fashionable in the 1950’s but its popularity is now in rapid decline. The recent discovery of a Covid-19 variant in humans, SARS-CoV-2, linked to mink farms, has brought the issue of fur farms to the attention of media worldwide and with it, a new awareness. Animals farmed for their fur are normally kept in overcrowded, small cages. Great attention must be put not to spoil the fur during the slaughtering process. Therefore, methods such as gassing, and head to tail electrocution are commonly used. Foxes and raccoons are typically electrocuted through the mouth and rectum, a method which can inflict severe pain and distress to the animal. The use of incandescent rods inserted in the rectum was also common practice – and still is in some Asian countries - for the killing of minks, chinchillas, foxes, ferrets, rabbits, raccoons, and in some countries, cats, and dogs too. Many models have campaigned against the use of fur in fashion and have refused to wear it, notoriously Stella McCartney, Pamela Anderson, Kim Basinger to name a few. Sadly, many others still wear fur to this day, often unaware of the cruelty involved in the process of fur clothes production. Since the beginning of the 20th century, fur alternatives such as faux fur have increased in popularity. It is sometimes not easy to distinguish real from imitation fur. The price tag is not always a reliable indicator, as woolly hats with a fur pom-pom made in China, for example, may cost considerably less than a synthetic thermal hat made in the US. This is because the pom-pom, usually made of raccoon fur, is unbelievably cheap to produce in Asian countries. People are often not aware of this and assume that, because the hat is cheap, the pom-pom cannot be made of real fur. We often wonder whether animals have a conscience, perhaps we should

wonder whether we have a conscience. The moment we eat meat, fish, wear leather or buy cosmetics sold in China, we must accept our share of responsibility for all the suffering animals have endured. Animals are killed because people want to eat meat and wear leather goods. It is quite simple, demand generates offer. Animals do feel pain and there is no humane killing, no painless death. The sooner we accept this the sooner we can come to terms with it and make a responsible choice when it comes to eat meat. Why would a cow or a pig or a goat be considered any different from a pet dog or cat? People are different and have different needs and different degrees of sensitivity. Some people genuinely struggle to eliminate meat from their diet, others choose alternatives and soon forget what meat tasted like. In my experience, there is little point in trying to convince others to stop eating meat. Very often the opposite result is obtained. It must be a personal choice. What is essential, however, is information, education, people must be aware of where the meat they consume comes from, what has gone into it before and after the animal was killed and how it was slaughtered, the health risks involved in eating meat and the consequences of animal farming and fishing on the environment. Only then, can we make a responsible choice whether to eat meat or look for alternatives.

Chapter 3: The health reason “You must eat a little bit of everything”. “We are designed to eat meat”. “Fish is good for the brain”. These are just a few of the things I was told by family and friends during my teenage years. Growing up in North-East Italy in the 1980’s was an aspiring vegetarian’s nightmare. Restaurants did not offer vegetarian menus, the usual meat-free options were cheese and bread, omelette, beans salad, mushroom risotto, tomato pasta and margherita pizza. There were no vegan options. Asking for something meat-free, dairy-free, and egg-free was often met with a raised eyebrow or a joke by the waiter. “Water?” was often the cheeky suggestion. Since then, things have moved on considerably. There are now countless vegetarian and vegan food brands available in supermarkets from the pioneer Quorn and Linda McCartney to the more recent The Vegetarian Butcher and Beyond Meat, offering countless options from pizzas to burgers and sausages to fishless fingers and steaks in addition to the hundreds of grains and fresh ingredients already available, like rice, pasta, tofu, pulses, fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and spices for the cookery enthusiast. Cafes and restaurants often have a vegan menu or vegetarian and vegan options clearly marked with the green v symbol for vegetarian and v symbol with a leaf for vegan. Vegetarian and vegan foods and growing in popularity among all age groups. It is no longer a young adult trend, many middle-aged and senior citizen choose to eat meat-free alternatives, often dictated by health concerns. More and more dieticians and general practitioners advise their patients to cut down on or eliminate completely red meat from their diet, often in the presence of high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels. Do we need to eat meat? Not at all. Can a healthy diet be meat-free? Absolutely. What about the “we are designed to eat meat” belief, then? In my brief experience as a veterinary student back in the 1990’s, I had the opportunity to learn amongst many other things, that humans are not “designed” to eat meat, they are designed to evolve. Contrary to other animals who hunt for food, we can choose to eat or not to eat meat. Our teeth

include incisors for cutting, canines for tearing and molars for munching. In fact, our teeth are more similar to the ones of herbivores than the ones of carnivores. Herbivores lack big canines and carnivores lack large incisors. Some primates have large canines though they are mainly vegetarian. In such case, canines are used to crack open the shell of nuts. They are also shown to communicate with other primates. The health risks associated with the consumption of meat, particularly red meat, are now well-documented. There are two problems with eating meat: the meat itself and what is added to it before and after the animal is slaughtered. Some meats are high in saturated fat, which can lead to increased levels of cholesterol in the blood and to a high risk of heart disease. Chemicals found in processed meat, such as haem, used to give meat that fresh red colour, nitrates and nitrites, aimed at delaying the natural decomposing of the carcass, heterocyclic amines, and polycyclic amines, produced when meat is cooked, can increase dramatically the risk of damage to human cells and therefore the risk of cancer, particularly bowel cancer. Because it is in the meat industry’s interest to keep the life span on an animal as short as possible to minimise the cost of raising it and maximise profits, animals are given growth hormones and antibiotics, which inevitably end up in the animal’s blood and meat before they land on the plate. Chickens, for example, can live for 6 or more years in a natural environment and under natural conditions. The average age of a chicken in intensive farming at slaughter, however, is a merely 6 weeks. What to us looks like a chicken is, in fact, still a chick that has been blown with growth hormones. In the case of free-range the average age at slaughter is 8 weeks and 12 weeks in the case of organic free-range. Pigs are slaughtered at different ages, from piglets of 1 -3 months of age to fully grown pigs of 6-12 months of age. The slaughtering of a pig – usually with a knife - is still a traditional, autumnal activity in some European countries and often involves the gathering of family and friends to help out with the butchering. My late mother used to recall hearing, as a young child, the screams of a pig being dragged out of its pen to be slaughtered, only a few houses away. The screams were unbearable, and my mother used to hide in her bed with a pillow over her head. Beef cattle are typically killed at 1-2 years of age, later in the case of dairy cows. However, a cow could live up to 20 years in natural conditions.

The age of lambs and sheep at slaughter varies between 10 weeks and 12 months, the average being 6 months. There are few happier things to see than a baby lamb moving its first steps and a young kid skipping around, their joy in so infectious! From experience, I can firmly say there are few things more traumatic than witnessing the slaughtering of lambs. Even more so when done in the name of tradition or religion. The process is simply inhuman and barbaric, and it is not my wish to share the details here. Perhaps it is not surprising that psychologists have recorded an increased risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in slaughterhouse workers as well as increased incidents of domestic abuse, violence, drug, and alcohol abuse. We do not need to eat meat, fish, eggs, or dairy. However, we do need to follow a healthy and well-balanced diet which includes the right amount of protein, carbohydrates, fats, sugars, vitamins, and minerals, as per the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). This is particularly important in the case of children, young adults, and pregnant women. The RDA can be found on all pre-packed foods, as well as on the NHS website and other health websites. There is no lack of books dedicated to healthy living, vegetarian, and vegan cuisine. It can be great fun to experiment with ingredients. Protein is an important nutrient found in muscles, skin, tendons, bones, and other tissues in the body. Our digestive system constantly dismantles proteins from the food we eat and rebuilds proteins to make us what we are. Proteins play an essential role not only in the building and repairing of cells and tissues, but also in coordinating bodily functions such as maintaining PH levels, fluid balance and oxygen levels. It has often been wrongly assumed that ready proteins such as those found in meat, fish, eggs, and dairy are essential to a healthy diet. What people often seem to be unaware of, is that proteins are also found in oats, beans, peas, nuts, seeds, broccoli, spinach, tofu (bean curd), seitan and many more “clean” foods, free from additives and pathogens and therefore posing a much lower health risk for us and for the environment. Many world-famous bodybuilders and athletes follow a vegan diet, Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton, surfer Tia Blanco, tennis champion Venus Williams, cyclist Dotsie Bausch, runner Scott Jurek, skater Meagan Duhamel, weightlifter Kendrick Farris, NBA star Deandre Jordan are just a few vegan

advocates. The list of vegan actors, actresses, singers, models, and directors is also long: Natalie Portman, Ellen Pompeo, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zac Efron, Beyonce, Jason Mraz, Madonna, Daryl Hannah, Ariana Grande, Alicia Silverstone, Woody Harrelson, Miley Cyrus, Ellen Page, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Pfeiffer, and James Cameron are just a few examples.

Chapter 4: The environmental reason Perhaps the lesser known and most recent reason why more people choose a vegan diet and lifestyle, the impact of animal farming and the fishing industry on the environment is having catastrophic consequences for our planet. Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, there has been an increased interest in topic such as climate change and global warming. For decades experts have been studying the effects of human activity on the environment, but it is only in recent years that people have become more aware of them. In the past 18 months, there has been an increased media coverage of events organised by environmental activists like Swedish teenage Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future movement she inspired. TV programmes such as David Attenborough’s testimonial documentary A Life on our Planet and Ali Tabrizi’s Seaspiracy were both released while most countries were still in Covid lockdown. Information related to global warming and climate change was, and still is, shared daily on social media and discussed online, in the classroom, in the workplace and at home. What is the difference between climate change and global warming? The two are often used interchangeably. Global warming, as the name suggests, is the gradual warming of the Earth caused by human activity. Climate change may refer to changes in the condition of the Earth and its atmosphere, caused by either human activity, natural changes, or a combination of both. Increased levels of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases such as those found in spray cans and refrigerants have been responsible for the thinning of the ozone layer that covers the Earth, protecting it from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays which come from the sun. Another well-known gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), the most important greenhouse gas in the Earth’s atmosphere, is naturally present in volcanoes, hot springs and geysers and released from carbonate rocks through dissolution before reaching rivers and oceans where it is absorbed. CO2 is also naturally produced by all living organisms, through photosynthesis in the case of plants and respiration in the case of animals. Since the industrial revolution, levels of CO2 have dramatically increased due to human activities such as deforestation and fossil fuels emissions, leading to global warming and the acidification of oceans, which

is having a negative effect on marine life and ecosystems. The main cause of global warming is not, as some may think, gas emissions from motor vehicles or factories. Methane, though not as long lasting, has more than 80 times the warming effect of carbon dioxide over the first 2 decades since it reaches the atmosphere. The oil and gas industry are one of the main sources of methane. Methane is also naturally produced in the stomachs of cattle. Animal agriculture, which includes deforestation for the cultivation of soya to feed cattle and the use of large quantities of water, is responsible for up to 51% of greenhouse gas emissions. Motor vehicles, on the other hand, are responsible for 13% of gas emissions and air travel 3%. To give an idea of the impact of animal farming on the environment, let’s take into consideration the production of one beef burger. It takes approximately 3000 litres of water to produce a burger, the equivalent of two months of running shower water. It takes 90% less water to produce a meatfree vegan burgher. Freshwater used to grow livestock feed accounts for 23% of the global water supply. The livestock systems occupy around 45% of global land. The Amazon forest, often regarded as the “lungs of Earth” is being destroyed to grow livestock feed. 20 % of it is already gone. More than 200.000 acres of rainforest are lost every day, that is more than 150 acres per minute or 78 million of acres a year. In addition to this, we are seeing an increased level of CO2 in oceans, which are responsible for the absorption of 31% of CO2 produced by humans. This increase in CO2 level is causing the acidification of oceans, which can affect the breathing process of fish and dissolve the calcium carbonate which make up the shells of mussels and coral skeletons. As if this wasn’t enough, the fishing industry is destroying entire marine ecosystems. Fishing has wiped out 90% of the world’s big fish. Longline boats set enough fishing line every day to wrap the earth 500 times. Environmentalists have campaigned for decades to raise awareness about the plastic waste that litters our beaches and oceans, yet it is still little known that 70% of macro plastic that lands at sea comes from fishing gear. I will never forget watching a YouTube video of a sea turtle having a plastic straw removed from her nostril. It was heart-breaking. Yet plastic straws only account for 0.03% of plastic found in the oceans. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimates that 38 million tonnes of sea

creatures are caught as bycatch and discarded every year. This accounts for 40% of fish caught worldwide. Of the remaining 60%, only 1 in 5 fish will be considered suitable for human consumption. Despite the “dolphin friendly” seal found of many labels of tuna cans, there is no guarantee that dolphins are not killed as bycatch. In fact, in some counties such as Japan, dolphins and whales are systematically chased, rounded up and brutally killed by fishermen as they are seen as “competitors”. An estimated 300,000 dolphins and whales are killed in fishing gear and approximately 500,000 sea turtles are caught as bycatch every year. Sharks suffer a similar fate as they are killed for their fins, considered a delicacy in Chinese cuisine. As apex predators in the ocean food chain, sharks play a fundamental role in marine ecosystems. They limit the number of their prey which, in turn, limits the number of the prey below them and so on. Around 10 people are killed by sharks every year, yet round 300,000 sharks are killed in fishing nets every hour! This is very damaging to oceans ecosystems and it is not sustainable. What can be done to save our oceans, then? The answer is simpler than one may think: leave them alone. Unfortunately, this is not happening, and the reason is money. Over $30 billion dollars in subsidies is given to the fishing industry every year, forced labour in the seafood industry is reported in more than 40 countries, approximately 24,000 fisheries workers die on the job every year. Rainforests are being burnt in order to grow cattle feed, the oceans are being scraped and precious marine life is being lost, gas emissions are continuing to rise in level despite the race to find alternative, cleaner energy, glaciers are melting, the sea level is rising, cities are being lost. Time is not on our side; we need to act now. Everyone has a part to play, big or small. Reducing the amount of water we use, turning lights off when we don’t need them, limiting the use of car and buses in favour of alternative, cleaner means of transport, supporting Fairtrade, buying wisely and recycling are all going to help reduce our carbon footprint. For me, the transition between vegetarian and vegan was a natural and relatively easy one. Choosing a vegan diet and lifestyle means minimising our impact in the destruction of our planet, allowing for it to rebalance and rewild itself. It means adopting the ancient philosophy of “live and let live”, respecting nature and protecting animal species instead of exploiting them, feeling compassion for other creatures and being at peace

with ourselves knowing that we have contributed to leave the planet a better place than we found. But it must be a responsible and personal choice.