We can be more healthy AND end hunger by becoming vegan
because the meat industry harms more than just livestock
Currently, more than 925 million people are suffering the effects of world hunger — and most of these people come from underdeveloped countries of Asia and Africa. Similar to that, over 600 million people in the world are considered to be obese. Hunger and obesity do not seem like they would be two things that would be linked together because they seem to be polar opposites, but in reality, they have more in common than one thinks.
Raj Patel highlights these similarities in his book Stuffed and Starved. He says that “overweight and hungry people are linked through the chains of production that bring food from fields to our plate. Guided by the profit motive, the corporations that sell our food shape and constraint how we eat.” In short, what he is saying is that the main linkage of obese and hungry people is that of the food industry — when someone is poor, they cannot afford to eat fresh veggies or fruits most of the time, which leads them to opt out of buying those healthier alternatives and makes them want to buy something from a McDonald's. That leads to them becoming obese, and having health problems down the line.
This problem is very much prevalent to the world today — we can see it in almost every country in the world, even the United States. So what can we do to end world hunger and obesity? By becoming vegan.
As explained by Bite Size Vegan in her video, eating meat contributes to a lot of health issues and also contributes to why we still have world hunger. She stated that only 35 percent of the world population could be sustained by a meat based diet while 100 percent of the world population could be sustained on a plant based diet. She also goes on to say that feeding livestock takes up to 50 times more gallons of water to produce than producing fruits and vegetables.
Michael Chatham also talks about this issue in his article Could Veganism End World Hunger? There is a statistic that says 883 millions tons of corn and 260 million tons of soybeans were globally grown in 2011, but on average 40–50 percent of that corn and 80% of those soybeans were used to feed farm animals than were given to humans to consume. This statistic is further backed up by a study done by the Institute on the Environment and the University of Minnesota that concluded that “if all crops were fed directly to humans instead of animals, around 70 percent more food would be added to the world’s supply, which would be enough to feed 4 billion additional people.”
The solution here is to cut out the middle man in this feeding cycle we have — the livestock. We would not have to waste all this precious food on animals that are going to be slaughtered in less than 24 months when we can be using those resources on people who could live longer lives. As Evan Anderson, an environmental activist puts it, “the nutrients from the plants the animals eat is converted into meat for the omnivore.” The nutrients that was produced by the plant feeding the animal will never get to the person consuming the animal, which means not as much nutrients for us.
The crazy thing is that livestock, in specific cows, do not even need the amount of food that is given to them to have a good healthy diet for them! But because there is such a high demand for meat in the world, farmers are forced to overfeed these animals with all these grains and growth hormones. This high demand of meat comes indirectly from the growing epidemic of obesity, which can be solved by a vegan diet.
A vegan diet is more suitable for anyone who is having health problems related to being overweight or obese. Since most of the food you are eating as a vegan are beans, fruits and vegetables, people will tend to see a reduction in blood cholesterol levels and an increase in fiber and disease-preventing antioxidants. It is also important to note that on a vegan diet, you can get all the nutrients you can ever need/want than what you would get regularly on a meat based diet.
One main thing that stops people from becoming vegan is the fact that it is “too expensive.” This claim itself is false. The reason why a lot of people believe becoming vegan is expensive is because they think the only type of food they could buy are things that are “fake meats” — things made of soy to make it look and taste like certain meats. But in actuality, you do not have to buy that type of food. My sister is a vegan and she told me that she does not eat “fake meat” because it grosses her out and still goes against her beliefs of why she is a vegan in the first place (she is against animal cruelty). Most vegans have a very sustainable diet based on mostly beans, rice, pasta, fruits and vegetables, which are very, very cheap and affordable.
Based on these two factors, we can see why it would be best to switch to a plant based diet for the greater good of the people of the world. We live in a planet that overproduces food but we still throw away a ton of it instead of feeding those people who are hungry, and that needs to come to a stop. In all, becoming vegan and having a plant based diet will better not only your health, but can also stop world hunger.
