Argumentative Essay 6v3v6f

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Michelle Perez Professor Jackie English 101 10 November 2015 Vegan Is Better Although most of the population believes that meat is necessary to human health and survival, it is not. Since childhood, most people are raised eating large quantities of animal flesh and animal products, focusing less on healthier foods like grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. It is burned into their minds that they need meat for nutrients, they need milk to grow and maintain strong bones, and that plant-based foods just are not enough to keep them alive and healthy. All they know is what they are taught by society, and since society s an omnivorous diet, most are afraid of deviating from the norm. For years, research has shown that the standard American diet, focusing on large quantities of meat as well as meat products and less so on plant-based foods has negative effects on health and other aspects. A better option than the standard American diet is the vegan diet. Opting for a vegan diet is not only better for human health, but is also better for the environment and sustainability, and is more ethical. The article “Vegetarian Foods: Powerful for Health” lists and describes the many different health benefits of following a vegan or at least vegetarian

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diet. The article states that “Scientific research shows that health benefits increase as the amount of food from animal sources in the diet decreases, so vegan diets are the healthiest overall” (Vegetarian Foods). Uneducated or mislead people can argue all day long that eating meat is necessary and healthy for humans to eat, but the proof is in the research. One of the most incredible findings is that following a vegan diet reduces the chances of getting many types of cancer. For example, when women eat meat and dairy products, they are putting more saturated fat into their bodies as well as causing difficulties in digestion, which makes them more likely to develop breast and ovarian cancer (Vegetarian Foods). Animal products cannot possibly be necessary or healthy if they are cancer causing. There are many more health benefits of being vegan. Whereas animal products contain high levels of saturated fat and cholesterol, vegetables have less fat if any and do not contain any cholesterol; as an added benefit, vegetables have fiber in them that helps fight cholesterol (Vegetarian foods). For these reasons, following a plant-based diet over a meat dependent diet prevents heart disease and lowers blood pressure. A classic and untrue, argument is that vegans do not get adequate amounts of protein in their diets. The irony here is that meat eaters generally have too much protein in their diets, which makes their bodies produce an excess of bad chemicals, which then form stones in the kidney (Vegetarian Foods). All food contains protein, and a balanced vegan diet is definitely capable of providing enough protein and a healthier, more appropriate amount of it as well. These are just a few health

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benefits that come with excluding animal products. With these offered benefits and the many more that veganism offers, humans can live longer and healthier lives. If humans are leading healthier and longer lives, then there will be more humans populating the planet at once. In the article “Vegetarianism and Sustainability” Alexis Clarke discusses the ways in which switching diets can help to better sustain the environment for the nine billion people who will be living on Earth by 2050. With so many people living, the world is producing more food than ever, yet there are still notable amounts of malnourished and starving people around the world (Clarke); this is because food is being made and used in the wrong ways. As everyone has heard and been warned for years and years now, the world is running out of resources, including land and water. As time goes by, humans keep adding more and more meat to their diets and this increase in the use of meat and dairy products is one of the big factors contributing to loss of resources and harm to the environment. This is proven by the fact that eighty percent of the total agricultural land, seventy percent of the water supply, and seventy percent of the world’s grains are currently being used for producing meat and animal products (Clarke). The world is using most of its supplies to feed and raise animals who are just going to end up being slaughtered and eaten. “The [Food and Agriculture Organization] has suggested that adopting a vegetarian diet is one option to increase the amount of water available to grow more food in an increasingly climate-erratic world” (Clarke). Instead of

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using excessive amounts of water and land to grow grains and crops for feeding animals who are only being fed to then be killed and eaten, people should use those resources to feed themselves a plant-based diet. This will cause less harm to the environment as well as causing less harm to the animals themselves. One of the most important reasons to adopt a vegan diet, is to stop causing unnecessary harm to animals. There is so much information out there about how animals raised for eating are mistreated, kept in unpleasant habitats, and killed in inhumane ways. It is highly confusing how people choose to ignore what’s going on or simply don’t care and continue to eat the animals. In “The Politics of Veganism” Emma McGrath discusses the many different ways that people have argued as to why we should not eat animals or animal products. While some people argue that an animal’s life has a purpose and meaning of its own, other than being here for humans to kill and eat them, others argue we simply should not cause harm to animals because they can feel pain and they can suffer (McGrath). Although these are two very different viewpoints, animals should not be killed or eaten for both of these reasons. McGrath talks about how humans hold an attitude where they only hold the best interest of their own species in mind, not considering the interest or rights of other species or animals. She compares this to the way that people saw other races or the female gender as having or deserving of less rights in the past. This also relates to how we believe that killing and eating dogs, cats, and other pet animals is wrong, but we

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don’t care or feel bad about eating a chicken or a cow (McGrath). This is wrong because humans choose to set rights for only certain groups and not for others whenever they see fitting or when it benefits them. Since humans can speak and have higher capabilities than animals, they think they have more rights than animals. The truth is humans are just a different type of animals, but they are still animals and all living, feeling, thinking animals should get equal respect. Meat producers and consumers killing newborn male cows, old ones, or disabled ones, arguing that they won’t be useful for anything other than food; some argue that that is wrong because in human society, it is not acceptable to kill off people with mental or physical disabilities, old people, or newborn babies who aren’t necessarily useful (McGrath). No one would feed a baby or an old person to say, a hungry lion who could use it. So why is okay to kill and eat a baby pig or an old cow who can’t walk anymore? Meat eaters can argue that animals cannot speak up for themselves, therefore they can’t have rights, well neither can some disabled people or babies, but they are still deserving of rights and don’t get mistreated for it in society. Even though animals can’t speak up about the wrong that is caused to them and fight for their rights, humans need to look at them as living creatures who are capable of thinking and feeling and realize that they don’t have the right to take away their lives just for their benefit. Out of selfishness and desire to eat something that tastes good, humans have stopped looking at animals as living things and instead see them as food and food-making things (McGrath). People have to

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go back to thinking about their actions and why they are wrong. They have to look past the taste and pleasure of eating meat, to realize that animals are alive and can feel and they deserve the right to live just as much as human animals do. There are those who can agree that the way we treat animals is wrong, but they continue to eat the animals because they think that one person cutting meat out won’t make a difference. These people need to realize that they do matter and that they can make a difference and that “veganism is an effective political boycott and is a practical expression of discontent at the current practices of the animal industry” (McGrath). Think about how many people out there who say “I won’t make a difference” or “Me eating meat doesn’t matter.” If you add all of these singular people into one group, you will see that their added power can work together to protest injustice and make a change. Every single person can contribute to saving the animals by transitioning to a vegan diet. There are many different reasons as to why more people should become vegan or at least try to cut more meat out of their diets. Abstaining from eating meat can reduce as well as prevent a variety of diseases and promote better health. Fully excluding or cutting down animal products from one’s diet can reduce environmental impact and help sustain a livable planet for future generations. Being vegan is better for the animals because if people stop buying and eating meat, the demand for meat can go down and it can reduce the amount of animal lives being taken for the unnecessary benefit of humans.

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Work Cited

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Clarke, Alexis. “Vegetarianism and Sustainability.” Journal or the Australian Traditional-Medicine Society 21.2 (2015): 106-110. Web. 3 Nov. 2015. McGrath, Emma. “The Politics of Veganism.” Social Alternatives 19.4 (2000): 50-59. Web. 4 Nov. 2015. “Vegetarian Foods: Powerful For Health.” PCRM.org. Web. 22 October 2015.