In a world where eating habits are often handed down through generations, we rarely question the foods we consume daily. But what if we told you that much of what we consider 'normal' might actually be pretty weird?
Let’s take a moment to explore why certain foods may not be as ordinary as they seem.
Every year, the world loses around 5 million hectares of forest, and 95% of this occurs in the tropics.
The expansion of animal farming is responsible for around 41% of tropical deforestation. That’s 2.1 million hectares every year – about half the size of the Netherlands.
Soya and palm production together drive a further 18% of tropical deforestation, with more than three-quarters of soya and a large proportion of palm being used in animal feed, primarily for chickens and pigs.
According to researchers from Oxford University, meat, farmed fish, eggs and dairy use around 83% of the world’s farmland and contribute 56-58% of food’s different emissions, despite providing only 37% of our protein and 18% of our calories.
They calculated that the impacts of the lowest-impact animal products exceed average impacts of substitute vegetable proteins across greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), eutrophication and acidification of waterways, and land use.
They concluded that moving from current animal-based diets to a diet that excludes animal products has transformative potential, reducing food’s land use by 3.1 billion ha (a 76% reduction); food’s GHG emissions by 6.6 billion metric tons of CO2eq (a 49% reduction); acidification by 50% and eutrophication by 49%.
In addition to the reduction in food’s annual GHG emissions, the land no longer required for food production could remove around 8.1 billion metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere each year over 100 years as natural vegetation reestablishes, and soil carbon re-accumulates.
Salmon and trout are carnivorous fish and on farms they’re fed a diet containing wild-caught fish. It takes much more than 1kg of wild fish to produce 1kg of farmed fish.
90% of these wild fish, such as anchovies, mackerel and sardines, could be eaten by people directly. This means a net loss of edible human food when these fish are fed to farmed fish.
Additionally, many of these wild fish are sourced from low-income countries, contributing to food insecurity and the industry’s carbon footprint.
Antibiotic resistance is a major threat to human health and identified by the World Health Organization as one of the most important health challenges in the 21st century.
The overuse of antibiotics in animal farming is a contributor to the increase in antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics are routinely used in intensive farming systems to prevent and treat infections and can also be used in animal feed to increase growth.
Studies have estimated that 73% of all antibiotics sold globally are used in animals raised for food.
When you start questioning these food norms, it becomes clear that what we’ve been conditioned to accept as normal is, in fact, pretty weird. By choosing to eat vegan, you’re not only opting out of these strange practices, but you’re also making a powerful statement for compassion, sustainability and health.
Veganuary inspires and supports people all over the world to try vegan for January and beyond. Millions of people have already taken part.
Will you join them?
