Imagine living your entire life in a cage so small you couldn’t lift your arms or turn around. That is just one part of the hell that is life for approximately 65 billion animals killed to produce meat, eggs and dairy. Most of these animals are raised on factory farms, where they are confined in small cages or jam-packed sheds, mutilated and raised to grow so large, so quickly, that many of their limbs are crushed under the weight of their bodies. When they have finally grown large enough, animals raised for food are crowded onto trucks and transported over many miles through all weather extremes, typically without food or water, to the slaughterhouse. Those who survive this nightmarish journey will have their throats slit, often while they are still fully conscious.
On Oct. 2, World Farm Animals Day sought to expose this needless suffering. Held annually since 1983, the day celebrated the lives, exposed the abuses, and mourned the slaughter of billions of sentient animals raised for food.
Not only does factory farming hurt animals, but it is also harmful to human health. A study of more than 120,000 people by the Harvard School of Public Health confirmed once again that meat consumption raises the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Further, Director General of the World Health Organization Margaret Chan, warned that routine use of antibiotics to promote animal growth in factory farms is causing “the end of modern medicine.”
Additionally, factory farming causes devastating environmental consequences. Many leading environmental organizations, including the National Audubon Society, the Worldwatch Institute, the Sierra Club, and the Union of Concerned Scientists have recognized that raising animals for food damages the environment more than nearly anything else that we do. Whether it’s the overuse of resources, global warming, massive water or air pollution, or soil erosion, raising animals for food is wreaking havoc on the Earth. Luckily, there is an easy solution: adopting a vegan diet. Whether you go vegan for animals, your health or the environment, you have the power to change the world simply by changing what’s on your plate. On World Farm Animals Day, students across campus tried new vegan recipes and plant-based meals. But you can start reducing your consumption of animal products at any time.
When you add up the damage that the meat industry does to the environment, animals and human health, the question isn’t really “Why should I go vegan?” — it’s “Why wouldn’t I go vegan?”
Kate Brindle, first year College of Law student
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