The term ‘Vegan’ was created in 1944, but only meant what it means today from 1951. Today Veganism is a massive worldwide phenomena. Here are some facts that display the rapid growth of Veganism.
1. In 2016 google searches for 'vegan' increased by 90%.
2. Plant milk sales increased by 155% in the UK between 2011 an 2013.
3. The number of vegans quadrupled in the Uk between 2014 and 2018 to 600,000 (1.16% of the population).
4. There was a 600% increase in people identifying themselves as vegan in the USA between 2014 and 2017.
5. The number of vegan food products launched in Australia increased by 92% between 2014 and 2016.
Veganism is fashionable and as with all mainstream trends, it pays dividends to take a closer look.
The main purpose of Veganism is undeniably to refrain from eating and using animal-based products.
The problem is that in most cases, when you order a vegan meal in a restaurant, or you buy normal vegetables and fruit in a supermarket, you are also indirectly contributing to the worlds greatest mass extinction of animals in recent history!
Why?
Because the vast majority of fruit, vegetables etc are treated with pesticides. Organic isn’t always a safe bet either, as there are different levels of organic…
My previous conservation blog post was about the disappearance of insects across planet earth mainly due to pesticides used in crop farming. Here are some of the facts I posted in that article:
1. Flying insect populations in nature protection areas around Germany declined by up to 82 per cent in the past 27 years.
2. 98 per cent of ground insects disappeared in the last 35 years in the Puerto Rican rainforest.
3. worldwide insect numbers appear to be falling by 2.5 per cent a year, with 40 per cent of insect species in decline and a third now endangered.
Therefore supporting mass non-organic crop farming directly supports the decimation of insects across the world. As insects are the cornerstone of the food chain. That also means (and has been proven) the disappearance of the animals that feed on the insects (it actually effects the whole food chain. Massive crashes in bird populations is an obvious example).
Using that logical and observational way of thinking. It would actually be better for the environment and animals to eat meat from a proper organic farm than to eat normal fruit and veg. Real organic farms have been proven to dramatically increase biodiversity and animal life, compared with the destruction of nearly all life at mass scale crop farms.
I’m not at all saying that Veganism is wrong, I’m just saying that people need to think before running away with the latest trend. If the goal is to protect animals, then Veganism should always mean organic non-animal products only and only from farms that have been proven to promote biodiversity and to not cause damage to local animal populations.
This article is not to oppose Veganism or to support eating meat. I myself don't eat any farmed meat (organic or non-organic) and many of my Vegan friends are doing fantastic things for conservation and animal wellfare. I'm just pointing out one factor that a lot of people don't think about!
I'm sure that most vegans out there have also already thought all of this through and that many of them already buy their food from 'happy farms'. Of course, when the term Vegan was coined in the first place, pretty much all food was organic anyway!
Please feel free to write any questions or comments you have about this article in the comment section below!