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Join Us for Veganuary
Join Jameson Humane in Celebrating and Experiencing “Veganuary”
by Jeffrey Richard, Jameson Humane Volunteer
Veganuary is a global campaign to spread awareness about our food system and to create a kinder, more compassionate world where animals are not bred for slaughter or for products that damage our environment and our health. Veganuary is a great chance to explore an alternative way of eating, and to experience first-hand how each of us can have a positive impact on the world around us simply by making small changes to the way we eat, what we wear, and our overall understanding and appreciation of animals as sentient beings.
Celebrating Veganuary is one way Jameson Humane advocates for “Veganic Living” or “Veganics.” Veganics is a holistic, plant-based way of living — one which excludes the consumption of all animal products including food, cosmetics, and clothing. Jameson recognizes that the transition to Veganic Living may not be easy for many people. Jameson encourages people to make the transition at their own pace. But the benefits of a vegan diet for humans, animals, and the world itself are well-established in climatological, dietary, and sociological studies and can be joyfully and directly experienced through culinary exploration.
Veganic Living Makes Sense for the Sake of the World’s Future and Our Quality of Life
A strong case for veganism is presented by Jeannie Hudkins, a guest blogger on the Jameson Humane website, in her post of January 10, 2022, which you can find here: https://www.jamesonanimalrescueranch.org/news-events/blog/11
Ms. Hudkins makes many powerful arguments in favor of veganism, including:
- “Animal agriculture alone creates the most climate-harming emissions, surpassing even the combined emissions of all cars, planes, trucks, buses, and trains. The meat industry (Cargill, Tyson, JBS) now produces more greenhouse emissions than the fossil fuel industry (Exxon, Shell, BP). A whopping 51% of our nation’s heat-trapping emissions come from animal agriculture, including all processes from the gestation and birth of a food animal to its slaughter, processing, and packaging as meat and dairy products.”
- Animal waste disposed in the world’s streams finds its way to large rivers like the Mississippi and ultimately to the ocean. This has resulted in creation of dead zones in the oceans, in which neither aquatic animals nor plants can survive. Ms. Hudkins reports that there are now 150 such dead zones in the world.
- The water used to raise 11 billion farmed animals, including the water used to grow the crops that feed those animals, accounts for nearly one-third of fresh water usage in the world, seriously depleting aquifers around the world.
- Animal farming has a direct and catastrophic impact in deforestation of the world’s rainforests. The loss of nearly 70 percent of the world’s rainforests just in the past few decades has contributed to the disruption of the carbon dioxide balance in the world and has greatly accelerated climate change.
- Fish-farming is a huge source of methane gas production.
- A plant-based diet would avoid all of those harmful consequences. Ms. Hudkins makes the following plea: “If you ate plant-based foods for one month, you would reduce over 600 pounds of harmful carbon emissions, save over 900 square feet of rainforest, conserve 300,000 gallons of fresh water, and spare the lives of 30 animals. Switching to a plant-based diet, you will single-handedly contribute to cleansing our waters, clearing our air, renourishing our soils, restoring our forests, and rewilding our oceans.”
Such conclusions are supported by authorities and scientific studies around the world. Research by the University of Oxford (UK) concludes that without meat and dairy consumption, global farmland could be reduced by more than 75% – an area equivalent to the US, China, European Union and Australia combined – while still providing enough food to feed the world. “A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use,” said Joseph Poore who led the research. “It is far bigger than cutting down on your flights or buying an electric car,” he said, as these only cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The World Animal Foundation echoes these findings: “Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, water consumption and pollution. It is responsible for more greenhouse gases than the transportation industry. Factory farms are a primary driver of topsoil erosion, rainforest destruction, species extinction, habitat loss and ocean dead zones. It takes 12 times as much land, 13 times more fuel and 15 times more water to make a pound of animal protein than to make a pound of plant protein.” (World Animal Foundation, https://www.worldanimalfoundation.com/wild-earth/save-the-earth/ )
Vegan Food is Delicious!!
People everywhere have discovered the pleasures and health benefits of vegan dining. Vegan and vegetarian restaurants and food options in our markets are flourishing. And even for those people who have been raised to enjoy the flavor and texture of meat, miraculous strides have been made in producing plant-based foods that satisfy their palates by mimicking those traits of a carnivorous diet.
The Jameson Humane team has been fully embracing the fun of trying out new recipes and products as well as myth-busting and learning all kinds of interesting and eye-opening facts about veganism. Click on the following link to sign up for Jameson's Veganuary, so that you will receive all the tips, recipes, and even special offers from vegan-based companies to get you started on your journey:
To see some of the fantastic vegan recipes, restaurant options, retail sources and delicious dishes Jameson Humane staff have found, as well as some fun facts and interesting myth-busting, explore the following posts: