Imagine that you knew someone who was suffering in some of the most horrific of ways. Most of us would naturally extend some level of sympathy to and empathy for that being, and maybe even offer to extend some level of help if we could. Now imagine if you also knew that the reason this being is suffering is due to some of the choices you were making, and that by changing these choices you could help to remove that being’s suffering. Would you do it? Would you change your habits and choices to ease their suffering?

Each year over 56 billion farmed animals are killed by humans. Before their gruesome deaths, these animals are tortured in unspeakable ways to make them comply with the needs and ways of modern animal agriculture. But whether in factory farms or so called free range / grass-fed farms, it has become crystal clear that animals are not seen as individual, sentient beings with unique physical and psychological needs but simply as mere commodities that we equate with as meat, eggs, milk and many other products.

Needless to say, and especially in this advanced age, we can do better. We have come so far in our evolution and should by no means be acting in such barbaric ways or creating such colossal harm to humans, animals and our Earth. On top of all the animal welfare issues, today we also have more than enough research that animal agriculture is one of the biggest threats to the destruction of our environment and that by NOT consuming any or all animal products, we actually benefit our health, energy, weight and longevity.

This is why people are waking up and educating themselves, and why veganism is on the rise amongst people in most countries on Earth and various economic industries. For example, sales of plant-based foods topped $3.1 billion this year. And this shift in attitudes and habits is only set to continue, as more people realize that they can benefit their own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health, and help the wellbeing and welfare of all animals, and help sustainability on our Earth, and help to liberate the humans who work in slaughterhouses and animal packing plants, doing some of the most gruesome and soul destroying work, from some of the worst conditions. The power to become positive change in action is within each one of us.

The rise in veganism isn’t a niche trend, but rather part of a global dietary shift away from animal products.

Joe Loria

Books About Veganism