At this point in time it’s been about a year and a half since I last ate any animal / animal product. The reason for doing so wasn’t because it was the latest fad diet, because it was trendy or even because I think a plant based diet is healthier.
The reason I went vegan or “plant based” is for two reasons: Environmental impact and compassion for all living creatures.
Environmental impact has been reviewed hundreds of times, and there are people way more knowledgeable on the subject than me out there. I will leave some snippets from climatenexus.org:
1: 2013 report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), estimates about 14.5 percent of global GHG emissions, or 7.1 gigatons of CO2 equivalent, can be attributed to the livestock sector annually. This is broadly equivalent to the emissions from all the fuel burned by all the world’s transport vehicles, including cars, trucks, trains, boats and airplanes.
2: The livestock sector is also one of the leading drivers of global deforestation, and is linked to 75 percent of historic deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. Nearly a third of biodiversity loss to date has been linked to animal agriculture. Further amplifying water and air pollution, global livestock produce seven to nine times more sewage than humans, most of which is left untreated. They also discharge pesticides, antibiotics, and heavy metals into water systems.
3. Animal agriculture is linked to:
- 55 percent of erosion;
- 60 percent of nitrogen pollution; and
- 70 percent of the global dietary phosphorus footprint.
Do I, as a nutritionist, encourage my clients to go vegan? No, people have the choice to decide what they want to eat and I am here to coach clients through bad eating habits and or weight loss. I do encourage eating more fruits and veggies, but that’s a bit of a no brainer! 😉