Veganism is something that is so weaved into my daily life as I care so much about others (animals and humans, I am not someone who favors one over the other, I love all beings). But eating animals is something that when one wakes up and start to see through the web of lies we have been made believe since we were little, just does not make any sense and in particularly the intense suffering that animals endure in the production of meat and dairy.
Personally for me the reason for me adapting a vegan lifestyle is because I don’t wish to participate in the suffering of animals but the production of meat and dairy is also destroying our planet. The more I discover about this, the more I am convinced that this lifestyle is essential for the future of all. Animal agriculture is the leading cause of global warming, extinction of species and even world hunger.
Why?
Because raising animals for humans to consume, produces more greenhouse gasses than the entire transportation sector (so think about all cars, planes, trucks, trains and boats worldwide!!). This is because of the methane gasses coming from animal poo. Methane gasses are 25 to 100 times more destructive than carbon dioxide from vehicles.
Because so many animals need to be raised, we need a lot of land to fulfill all the so called hungry. Many rainforests in Central and South America have been burnt down to make way for cattle farming which supplies cheap beef to North America, China and Russia. It takes about 200square feet of rainforest to produce one pound of beef (and it takes about 2500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef due to the water intensive grains that animals are fed with). In the last 20 years Costa Rica has lost most of it’s forests to beef cattle ranching.
82% Of the children starving from hunger live in countries where food is produced to feed animals that are then killed and eaten by far more well off people.
What can you do?
Change the way you eat. I am talking to you. I know that there are many who live in survival mode and are not ready to make this change but I am talking to YOU, you who can.
You can create change, you have the power to be part of something better. You have to, for yourself, for the hungry, for the animals and for the planet which we are overexploiting. Leave a better world for your children.
Make the change. Now
For more information and encouragement watch: www.cowspiracy.com
About the author

Sharda ten Hove
Founder, Ethical Vegan, Yogi, Social Activist
Sharda was born and raised in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Descended from an Indian mother and Dutch father, she received a multi-cultural upbringing during which she gained a broad perspective on life.… Read full bio