The Vegan Untruth
The Vegan Untruth
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Killing animals and eating them is immoral.
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Animal breeding is more enviro damaging than crops.
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Vegan diet does not kill animals and protects the environment.
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Organic vegan is fully sustainable.
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Vegan is moral.
The Truth
Vegan diet kills animals and has the same enviro impact than omnivorous diet.
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Organic vegan contaminates less but can not feed the world.
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Grass-fed and other extensive animal breeding kill less animals and have lower enviro impact than agriculture crops.
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The minimal animal killing and enviro impact are obtained by an omnivorous diet with grass-fed meat.
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Vegans are deceived by mistaken pity and blind ideology without factual basis.
Part I - Crops - the truth
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Most animal killings and species extinction are due to habitat destruction.
Typical procedure to cultivate any crop (maize, lentils, nuts, soja, vegetables)
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1st step - plowing / tillage
The soil and the whole habitat are physically destroyed and most animals in the area are directly or indirectly killed.
All natural vegetation is erased.
Forests are previously set to fire or cut down to liberate land for cultivation.
2nd step - Pesticides (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides...)
Pesticides are then applied to kill any seeds, bacteria, fungi and micro-animals that may disturb the future crop.
All meso and micro organisms are exterminated.
3rd step - Seeding
Most used seeds are not natural but artificial, obtained by centuries of selection.
Many crops are artificially introduced from other continents; e.g. soybean in South America, maize and potatoes in Europe.
4th step - Fertilizers are heavily applied
Fertilizers leach much beyond the agriculture area; in spite of rules and controls most water bodies are heavily contaminated with fertilizers (Selman and Greenhalgh 2010, Dodds and Smith 2016). Fertilizers also release N2O to atmosphere.
5th step - Then pesticides are applied again and again killing everything
Almost nothing remains alive. Pesticides disperse much beyond the agriculture area; in spite of rules and controls most soil and water bodies are heavily contaminated with multiple pesticides (Silva et al., 2018, p.143).
6th step - crops are yielded and sold to the public
Most vegans eat these products really believing that a vegan diet does not kill any animal and protects the environment.
Animals killed by common crops
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Rice cultivation and habitat destruction of swamps and flood plains
Many rice fields occupy swamps, wetlands and flood plains whose fauna has been erased.
The pictures below show a few examples of the numerous macro-animals killed by rice cultivation. Meso and micro-fauna -even more numerous- are also killed (Sanchez & Wyckhuis, 2019 ).
Crops and habitat destruction of grasslands - meadows
Cultivation of wheat, soybeans, lentils, nuts, maize and many vegetables occupy grasslands - meadows after tillage.
The pictures below show a few examples of the numerous macro-animals directly or indirectly killed by tillage. Meso and micro-fauna -even more numerous- are also killed (Sanchez & Wyckhuis, 2019 ).
Part II - Organic agriculture - the truth
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Organic agriculture also needs enormous areas of land to grow vegetables.
It needs to destroy the existing ecosystems the same way than conventional agriculture: swamps, meadows, grasslands, forests... killing the animals by habitat destruction.
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Organic agriculture uses only "organic" fertilizers and "natural" pesticides and then it should contribute less to pollution.
But, as a consequence, it produces less food per area of land and can NOT feed the world (Connor 2008; Reganold and Wachter 2016; Smith et al. 2019). It would eventually feed only an elite of wealthy vegans, it is NOT sustainable (nor "moral").
Organic farm in Vietnam
Part III - Breeding cattle - the truth
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The enviro impact of growing crops is enormous with heavy contributions to climate change (Kritee et al., 2018) and the contamination of soil and water bodies (FAO, 2018a, 2018b).
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And the impact of breeding cattle ?
Depends.
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Feedlots
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cattle is fed with crops (the same habitat destruction and animal killing than vegan diet)
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it is less efficient as a food than eating directly the crops
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it has a large contribution to climate change (gases)
Grass-fed cattle (most main beef export countries grow grass-fed cattle)
A much lower enviro impact:
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the same contribution of methane gas than feedlots ... BUT
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no burning much diesel by tractors (less CO2)
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ecosystems are NOT destroyed, biodiversity is maintained
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a diet with grass-fed meat kills MUCH LESS animals than a vegan diet
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besides, many grasslands used for breeding grass-fed cattle are those not suitable for crops (this link for more info)
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The studies that indicate that cattle breeding has a very high enviro impact have wrongly limited the analysis to gas emissions and production efficiency, while ignoring the different grass-fed breeding alternatives (see Cardozo et al., 2016) and destruction/non-destruction of ecosystems and biodiversity.
Some further selected reading
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A scientific paper published in 2003 by Prof. Steven L. Davis from Oregon State University, definitively dismantles the argument that a vegan diet does not kill animals and is more "moral" than an omnivorous diet. Several intents to rebut the arguments by Prof. Davis have been all unsuccessful, a review can be seen at the Farming Truth blog.
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If you want to save the world, veganism isn’t the answer - Isabella Tree
A milestone article by farmer and conservationist Isabella Tree from UK, showing that pasture-fed farming has much less enviro impact than only-crops farming.
"...if your concerns as a vegan are the environment, animal welfare and your own health, then it’s no longer possible to pretend that these are all met simply by giving up meat and dairy. Counterintuitive as it may seem, adding the occasional organic, pasture-fed steak to your diet could be the right way to square the circle." The book by Isabella Tree is a deep analysis most recommended: Wilding - The Return of Nature to an English Farm
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Bad news: Eating local, organic won't shrink your carbon footprint
Organic farming has as much greenhouse gas emissions as traditional agriculture.
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The biodiversity that is crucial for our food and agriculture is disappearing by the day - FAO 2019
An alarm on the disappearing biodiversity in our farming systems.
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Water pollution from agriculture affects billions of people - FAO 2018
An updated report on the massive pollution of water resources by agriculture.
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Soil Pollution: A Hidden Reality - FAO 2018
An updated report on the massive pollution of soils by agriculture.
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Can Responsible Grazing Make Beef Climate-Neutral ?
A scientific study by Michigan State University that shows that if cattle are managed in a certain way during the finishing phase, grassfed beef can be carbon-negative in the short term and carbon-neutral in the long term.
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Also Brazil developed a way to grow climate-neutral cattle.
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A milestone paper by Wynes and Nicholas from the Centre for Sustainability Studies - Sweden, comparing the savings in CO2 obtained by different individual actions. The contribution of a vegan diet is negligible.
