Veganism is something I think of a lot because of the different social media accounts I follow related to this topic and also because many of my contacts have this really strange anti-vegan obsession that seems to pop up in some people, as if they were terribly wounded by the fact that people are becoming an animal friendly society.
Just yesterday a friend posted on how veganism is something the upper-classes do because of how expensive it is to eat a soy burger. There was just too much ignorance in his comment to even answer to it, but I did it nonetheless because I needed for him to at least understand that veganism isn’t a diet and has no direct relation with eating soy burgers (many vegans avoid soy because it’s impact on the planet).
People associate vegan food with fancy looking dishes that have quinoa, avocado, cherry tomatoes, tofu and other goodies that are not so friendly to the pocket. Did you lentils and rice is also a vegan dish? And that's as cheap and nutritious as it gets for anyone, vegan or not.
It is very important to note that veganism isn’t a diet and it has absolutely nothing to do with having a healthy lifestyle. Veganism is a philosophy which seeks to eliminate speciesism or the idea that humans are a superior species to other animals. The consequence of this would eventually be the end of animal exploitation and their use as products for the market.
Though it is true that a balanced and diverse plant-based diet can be very healthy, you can be vegan and eat french fries all day. In fact many do this and are unhealthy vegans. Veganism is really about considering the rest of the animal species as valuable and worthy of freedom as humans.
But this isn’t a post to promote veganism. When someone says their body asks for meat I believe them. I respect their desire to eat meat. What I don’t respect is that they pay others to butcher animals that have been raised in limited space and treated like objects.
Would you want to live like that? Source
I believe hunting is the way to go for those whose ancestral genetics demand for the taste of flesh in their mouths. Even more, I want to debate the possibility that hunting might be even friendlier with animals than the way veganism is practiced by the masses today.
One of the most valid arguments used against vegans is that agricultural activity destroys the habitats of many animals, which is cruelty as well. Of course I’m aware that the larger part of the crops raised are destined to feed cattle so ultimately it is the meat industry the bigger player behind the destruction of ecosystems, as well as climate change.
The thing is, despite the meat industry is more harmful to animals (both directly and indirectly), vegetable growing is not a harmless activity, and it’s impact is considerable when mass produced with monoculture and agrochemicals.
For example, the actual water demand to produce one kilo of avocado in Chile is 2000 litres. One hectare requieres 100,000 thousand litres of water per day, equivalent to what 1,000 people use in a day. Source
Strict vegetarians who buy most of their food from supermarkets are still paying (though indirectly) for the killing of birds, rodents, foxes, rabbits and a large variety of wild animals as their homes and forests are destroyed in the process of making a place apt for agriculture, as well as drying up their water supply.
Yo, there used to be more trees and stuff to eat around here. Source
This is not a reason to stop being or becoming vegan, but one to go even deeper into where food comes from and eventually producing it ourselves. It is also a reason to consider hunters less harmful to animals than strict vegetarians that get all their food from unsustainable sources.
Those who hunt in the wilderness to feed themselves are, in my opinion, “worthy” of eating the flesh of their kill. Let me be clear that I am thinking of true wilderness, not those places where they introduce deer or boars to do some easy hunting in a closed perimeter as they are upsetting the balance and depriving those animals of true freedom which equals exploitation (still has a lesser impact than raising cattle though). I am also not thinking of hunting for sport which is just outright cruelty.
A respectful hunter that goes into the forest and kills only what he/she needs to eat didn’t cut trees, didn’t destroy nests or burrows, didn’t use pesticides, herbicides or artificial fertilizers. He/she didn’t pay a truck to carry his food to the city, store it in artificial temperatures so that it wouldn’t decay until it was bought and consumed or spend a shit ton of water to sustain genetically modified species of plants that consume way more water and nutrients than supposed to.
Yes, it is sad to see a noble deer be brought down by a bullet or arrow. I don’t think I would have it in me to do it even if I was starving. But I would really like to see those who say they need to consume flesh in order to be healthy doing it in the most responsible manner. And no, “free range organic cattle” is not a solution:
"Grass-fed cattle occupy much more land. More than a quarter of the entire United States is used as pasture and grazing land for livestock. Globally, 45 percent of all land on earth is used for livestock and feed production, with the majority of this allocated for grass-fed livestock. This means much less forest and much more carbon in the atmosphere that otherwise would be absorbed by trees. With 70 billion land animals raised for food each year globally, the carbon footprint is enormous". Source
You can also watch the documentary “Cowspiracy” for more information on this. It is well produced and backed up by serious sources. You can find it on Netflix, Youtube or on the official website if you want to financially support their work.
I feel that if we consider veganism as the path to minimizing the damage we do to other animal species, respectful hunters are even more vegan than the strict vegetarians that wear the vegan sign all over them. Because let’s face it, most vegans live in the big cities and feed off almost exclusively out of what they buy in the market. I'm sure many will disagree, but I don't care about strictness as much as I care about effectiveness.
I’m not saying it’s irrelevant to become vegan if you can’t get out of capitalism just yet. I was once an exclusively market-fed vegan and there are still some things I buy such as legumes and grains which I haven’t been able to grow in large amounts. What I’m saying is that the discussion on veganism should go beyond whether we eat animals or not.
Predators exist and they are part of every ecosystem’s balance. But the thing is, they hunt for their preys. They don’t rape the prey to impregnate them, they don’t keep them in limited space until the day of their death and they don’t destroy entire forests to make the place suitable for the reproduction the prey in amounts that the land cannot sustain in the long run.
So it’s fine if you feel you are the predator type. I respect that. But go do your work, get out there and get your hands dirty. Pull the trigger, loosen the arrow, cut of the bloody limbs and look into that dead animal’s eyes. If you can do that, you definitely deserve that juicy steak.
On the other hand if you, from the comfort of the supermarket, pay for the chopped up tendons and guts of a lifelong mistreated animal who wanted love and freedom as much as any of us, then you don’t deserve a steak, you deserve a stro...
Nah, I don’t wish bad on anyone and I certainly don’t wish you a stroke. I wish you a change of consciousness and newfound consideration for you share the planet with. I wish you empathy and responsibility towards the process of that activity called feeding that we do almost every day of the year, several times a day. How you do this determines a huge part of your life and the lives of others.
Go vegan, go hunter, go self-sustainable... but don't keep comfortably throwing money into the slaughter machine.