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Someone Explained Why Veganism Is Not Cruelty Free, And It Might Make You Think Twice Before Going Vegan
There are many reasons why people decide to lead a vegan lifestyle, but according to these meat-eaters, this style of living shouldn’t be adopted because it’s “Cruelty-Free.” They argue that even Cruelty-Free International certified products aren’t entirely innocent if one was to look at the vegan food industry as a whole. The discussion picked up serious heat after some vegans joined it, and it will surely draw you in, as well.
Forced labor, exploitation of workers, hazardous and extreme working conditions, lack of labor rights protecting agricultural workers and extremely low wage are still very common problems in the food supply chains, even the eco-friendly ones. Agriculture is even responsible for 70% of child labor. Since 2012, the amount of kids working in the industry has increased by 10 million, reaching 108 million in total. And what about the Bolivians who can no longer afford their staple grain, quinoa? The dramatic increase in its demand in the Western world made its price triple since 2006.
These were only a few arguments used in the attempt to make people rethink eating vegan. It turns out, however, that many do. According to the findings by faunalytics, 84% of vegetarians/vegans abandon their diet. 34% of lapsed vegetarians/vegans do so in three months or less. Scroll down to read the exchange on this supposedly healthy lifestyle and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
(h/t cheezburger)
RELATED:
Vegan campaigns such as the one below are encouraging people to choose a cruelty free lifestyle
Image source: americanvegan.org (not an actual photo)
However, not everyone agrees that being a vegan means being cruelty free
People instantly started sharing their own opinions
And while some were questioning the logic behind some of the arguments
Others agreed completely
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What do you think ?
Alusair Alustriel 7 years ago
Like someone said in the comments - it is pretty much impossible to live acruelty-free life. There are always two sides of each story. I don;t get the point of people trying to enforce their way of life/thinking over other people. Mind your own business, plate and life and everyone will be happier.
athornedrose 7 years ago
"Mind your own business, plate and life and everyone will be happier." *louder for the people in the back!*
Load More Replies...
Biljana Malesevic 7 years ago
Nothing is cruelty free. This is not a paradise, this is real world. While I don't judge people eating meat (I also eat it though not often),. I do judge massive production of meat, slaughter houses where animals are brought up in cages just to be killed, horrible chicken slaughter factories where animals are kept in abnormally cruel conditions etc. Farms are ok, hunting, if done well, is ok, animals kept in any sane and normal conditions, even if they are going to be used as food is, well, let's say ok. Keeping animals slummed up in tiny dirty cages and then chopping their heads off on some moving machine is not and never ok. Torturing any animal for food is not and never ok. We are meat eaters but we don't need to have concentration camps for chickens, pigs and cows. It could be humane.
Random Panda 7 years ago
I completely agree. It's even worse when one considers that we produce more meat than we actually eat.
Load More Replies...
Sarah Sharpe 7 years ago
I'm a little disappointed in this article. Veganism does not equate to 100% cruelty free, nor does it stand for being perfect. Before I get any further into this, I think it needs to be addressed that me being vegan doesn't make me better than anybody else, and stating that I am vegan is not a personal attack towards someome that isn't. That being said, this whole idea of "there will never be a cruelty free way to live so might as well not eat vegan" is ridiculous and albeit lazy. Not every vegan you meet is a quinoa, whole foods loving, preachy vegan (that is only in it for the aesthetic). That is a gross stereotype and is only a small percent, so please don't brush off real issues. The mest and dairy industries are the number one source of greenhouse gases, the number one motive behind deforestation. All the grain we are producing to breed (inseminate) more livestock to keep the cattle alive could feed most of the world. To reiterate, I said meat and dairy industries, not small farms which is a different argument. Veganism = doing the best you can to protect not only fellow inhabitants of the earth but our earth itself. It is not a fairytale ideology. People are self destructive creatures and it's important to weigh out the pros and cons of all the choices available to you.
Ola Bartosz 4 years ago
I think that the worst thing that happened to humans was basing their diet on product that not local, that needs chemicals to go to you, that exploit the land, the people and the enviorenment you don't see and don't understand. I don't say that eating e.g. few exotic fruit a month is a crime, but if everyone just generally focused on local products, including meat, we would not have the problems with carbon, with plastic, with unjustice expoitment. Why? Because you would care that in your area children wouldn't work on farm. You would care that farm are killing forests because you want to go for a weekend somewhere. You would care that animals would be treated respectfully, because you don't want mass production nearby your home. As simple as that. :(
Load More Replies...
Dara 7 years ago
Despite all opnions given. I think we can all agree that the problem is the humans. we kill, we destroy and blame each other for it. we have no respect for the place we live in and we intend to move to another planet, like a disease, and do it all over again.
Troux 7 years ago
Veganism is a step in the right direction. That doesn't mean the direction is paved with gold. Eating quinoa is not fundamentally endorsing child labor - the fact that child labor is used has nothing to do with the environmental impact of the diet itself, it's a separate injustice to correct. However, eating meat fundamentally requires more land and resource to produce, and fundamentally produces more waste (methane, most of all), however there could just as well be children working the farms, particularly in Brazil's notorious meat industry which is taking down the rainforest faster than any paper mill. If you want 100% in control of the cruelty in your diet, have your own farm where you grow all of your food your own way. If you're going to be a vegan, it just means you have a LOT less work to do on the farm, and a LOT less space needed for it.
Max Blancke 7 years ago
That runs both ways. Both meat and veg production can be done in sustainable ways. Grazing animals are not inherently bad for the environment. In fact, large herds of grazing animals are a critical part of grassland ecosystems. My family raises beef in reasonable quantities on pristine land in Colorado. The cows share a beautiful valley with a large herd of wild elk, and lots of other wild animals. We have been able to reintroduce native grass species. I would say that holistic grazing practices like we are using are better for the environment than any sort of plant production could be, because we do not need to displace any of the animals or insects that would eat vegetable crops. Of course, it is a relatively small-scale operation, but you should not write of livestock production as inherently bad for the environment.
Load More Replies...
Tor Rolf Strøm 7 years ago
Oh my god this is so incredibly stupid. Of course veganism isn't 100% cruely free, we all know. But it's a whole lot less cruel than partaking in the killing of 150+ billion animals each year. Or does vegan food kill 150 billion workers each year? How fantastically stupid many people are never ceases to amaze and depress me.
Teddy O'Malley 7 years ago
I wonder how many of these people who are judging vegans for affecting the cruelty of "brown people" have no problem shopping in their favorite stores where the products are also made by "brown people" for slave wages.
Load More Replies...
Sill Marien 7 years ago
a + for the bees. I do think not eating honey is alright if you don't like the taste or you have diabetes or something, but because of "animal cruelty"? Dumb
Aunt Messy 7 years ago
Apparently it’s “bee slavery”. Clearly it was coined by someone who had not the vaguest notion of the social life of bees.
Load More Replies...
Pavel Nekoranec 7 years ago
Let's not forget how much of food is wasted every day, every year. Plus consumption of meat is getting crazy, my grandparents ate meat once per week, my parents grew up having meat few time per week, now people in my country having meat everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
wolfensburg2 7 years ago
This article does not address that non-vegans are eating from the same crops as vegans! It makes it sound like vegans are contributing more to human cruelty that non-vegans, which is not true. Veganism is a fight against animal cruelty- human cruelty is a separate issue that needs to be adressed by all people. Vegans have little to no bearing on it. The foods people labor to make are bought by vegans and non-vegans alike.
Lydia Smith 4 years ago
at last - you'd think non-vegans never eat a single solitary vegetable, grain or piece of fruit ever
Load More Replies... Alusair Alustriel 7 years ago
Like someone said in the comments - it is pretty much impossible to live acruelty-free life. There are always two sides of each story. I don;t get the point of people trying to enforce their way of life/thinking over other people. Mind your own business, plate and life and everyone will be happier.
athornedrose 7 years ago
"Mind your own business, plate and life and everyone will be happier." *louder for the people in the back!*
Load More Replies... Biljana Malesevic 7 years ago
Nothing is cruelty free. This is not a paradise, this is real world. While I don't judge people eating meat (I also eat it though not often),. I do judge massive production of meat, slaughter houses where animals are brought up in cages just to be killed, horrible chicken slaughter factories where animals are kept in abnormally cruel conditions etc. Farms are ok, hunting, if done well, is ok, animals kept in any sane and normal conditions, even if they are going to be used as food is, well, let's say ok. Keeping animals slummed up in tiny dirty cages and then chopping their heads off on some moving machine is not and never ok. Torturing any animal for food is not and never ok. We are meat eaters but we don't need to have concentration camps for chickens, pigs and cows. It could be humane.
Random Panda 7 years ago
I completely agree. It's even worse when one considers that we produce more meat than we actually eat.
Load More Replies... Sarah Sharpe 7 years ago
I'm a little disappointed in this article. Veganism does not equate to 100% cruelty free, nor does it stand for being perfect. Before I get any further into this, I think it needs to be addressed that me being vegan doesn't make me better than anybody else, and stating that I am vegan is not a personal attack towards someome that isn't. That being said, this whole idea of "there will never be a cruelty free way to live so might as well not eat vegan" is ridiculous and albeit lazy. Not every vegan you meet is a quinoa, whole foods loving, preachy vegan (that is only in it for the aesthetic). That is a gross stereotype and is only a small percent, so please don't brush off real issues. The mest and dairy industries are the number one source of greenhouse gases, the number one motive behind deforestation. All the grain we are producing to breed (inseminate) more livestock to keep the cattle alive could feed most of the world. To reiterate, I said meat and dairy industries, not small farms which is a different argument. Veganism = doing the best you can to protect not only fellow inhabitants of the earth but our earth itself. It is not a fairytale ideology. People are self destructive creatures and it's important to weigh out the pros and cons of all the choices available to you.
Ola Bartosz 4 years ago
I think that the worst thing that happened to humans was basing their diet on product that not local, that needs chemicals to go to you, that exploit the land, the people and the enviorenment you don't see and don't understand. I don't say that eating e.g. few exotic fruit a month is a crime, but if everyone just generally focused on local products, including meat, we would not have the problems with carbon, with plastic, with unjustice expoitment. Why? Because you would care that in your area children wouldn't work on farm. You would care that farm are killing forests because you want to go for a weekend somewhere. You would care that animals would be treated respectfully, because you don't want mass production nearby your home. As simple as that. :(
Load More Replies... Dara 7 years ago
Despite all opnions given. I think we can all agree that the problem is the humans. we kill, we destroy and blame each other for it. we have no respect for the place we live in and we intend to move to another planet, like a disease, and do it all over again.
Troux 7 years ago
Veganism is a step in the right direction. That doesn't mean the direction is paved with gold. Eating quinoa is not fundamentally endorsing child labor - the fact that child labor is used has nothing to do with the environmental impact of the diet itself, it's a separate injustice to correct. However, eating meat fundamentally requires more land and resource to produce, and fundamentally produces more waste (methane, most of all), however there could just as well be children working the farms, particularly in Brazil's notorious meat industry which is taking down the rainforest faster than any paper mill. If you want 100% in control of the cruelty in your diet, have your own farm where you grow all of your food your own way. If you're going to be a vegan, it just means you have a LOT less work to do on the farm, and a LOT less space needed for it.
Max Blancke 7 years ago
That runs both ways. Both meat and veg production can be done in sustainable ways. Grazing animals are not inherently bad for the environment. In fact, large herds of grazing animals are a critical part of grassland ecosystems. My family raises beef in reasonable quantities on pristine land in Colorado. The cows share a beautiful valley with a large herd of wild elk, and lots of other wild animals. We have been able to reintroduce native grass species. I would say that holistic grazing practices like we are using are better for the environment than any sort of plant production could be, because we do not need to displace any of the animals or insects that would eat vegetable crops. Of course, it is a relatively small-scale operation, but you should not write of livestock production as inherently bad for the environment.
Load More Replies... Tor Rolf Strøm 7 years ago
Oh my god this is so incredibly stupid. Of course veganism isn't 100% cruely free, we all know. But it's a whole lot less cruel than partaking in the killing of 150+ billion animals each year. Or does vegan food kill 150 billion workers each year? How fantastically stupid many people are never ceases to amaze and depress me.
Teddy O'Malley 7 years ago
I wonder how many of these people who are judging vegans for affecting the cruelty of "brown people" have no problem shopping in their favorite stores where the products are also made by "brown people" for slave wages.
Load More Replies... Sill Marien 7 years ago
a + for the bees. I do think not eating honey is alright if you don't like the taste or you have diabetes or something, but because of "animal cruelty"? Dumb
Aunt Messy 7 years ago
Apparently it’s “bee slavery”. Clearly it was coined by someone who had not the vaguest notion of the social life of bees.
Load More Replies... Pavel Nekoranec 7 years ago
Let's not forget how much of food is wasted every day, every year. Plus consumption of meat is getting crazy, my grandparents ate meat once per week, my parents grew up having meat few time per week, now people in my country having meat everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
wolfensburg2 7 years ago
This article does not address that non-vegans are eating from the same crops as vegans! It makes it sound like vegans are contributing more to human cruelty that non-vegans, which is not true. Veganism is a fight against animal cruelty- human cruelty is a separate issue that needs to be adressed by all people. Vegans have little to no bearing on it. The foods people labor to make are bought by vegans and non-vegans alike.
Lydia Smith 4 years ago
at last - you'd think non-vegans never eat a single solitary vegetable, grain or piece of fruit ever
Load More Replies...
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