1010:
My own interest concerning the importance of veganism is in
the protection of farm-animals, from being enslaved and treated cruelly and
being brutally killed in abattoirs. Not so for most people. They think that,
when it comes to animals, the main issue to be debated is about food. So, I’m
discussing food here.
Animal rights advocates who deal with matters of vegan
nutrition are challenging food traditions which almost everyone accepts as
gospel: that animal foods are essential for health. Vegans say the very
opposite. When we make a case for the safety and healthiness of a plant-based
diet we’re also saying that meat and animal products are actually bad for you.
Healthy young people may not agree since they’ve been eating meat all their
lives and they feel okay.
“Go tell it to your sixty year old friends, not us. Not me.
I’m not interested in your ‘health repercussions’ argument”. Their fear of
illness is still a lifetime away.
It’s easy to get bogged down in nutritional arguments
(although obviously vegans need to learn about nutrition) so we need to start
from here: that plant-based diets are safe and all nutritional needs are met
from plant food. This needs to be laid out in some detail, to satisfy genuine
questions.
Nutrition is based upon the fact that herbivorous eating is
healthy and satisfying for all of us. But since humans have become so hygienic
and our foods so ‘clean’ we’ve lost a vital element needed to keep us safe -
Vitamin B12. We plant-eaters (vegans) need to take an incredibly
small amount (ten micrograms - r.d.a) each day, unless blood tests show we
manufacture enough of it on our own - some bodies do, some don’t (Google
‘Vitamin B12’ for more information). Otherwise there’s no serious
disagreement these days, about vegan food being nutritious and adequate.
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