Reading Time: 4 minutes

A leading plant-based doctor has highlighted how human treatment of animals and their habitats is responsible for all recent major disease outbreaks.

Dr. Newman – also known as the Plant Powered Doctor – is a senior partner at a UK medical practice.

Dr. Newman has partnered with No Meat May this year, which provides free support to those who sign a meat-free or plant-based pledge.

‘Tampering with animals’

“Some politicians and commentators blame China for Covid-19, but they do not mention that all of the recent major disease outbreaks have been caused by tampering with animals and their habitats, or that our chicken salad and pepperoni pizza could be the next big health risk,” Dr. Newman said in a statement sent to Plant Based News.

“The inconvenient truth is that factory farms put a strain on animal health, which means we treat them with antibiotics and small doses end up in your meal. suggests an extra 10 million people may die by 2050 as a result of antibiotic resistance, and we can add viral pandemics to these figures too. This current crisis shows us that we are not prepared for the future we are creating.

“Our industrial-scale factory farms are like a ticking time bomb – yet I can guarantee that lentils will not spark a viral pandemic anytime soon. Many of us are sitting at home wondering what we can do to help this situation. Taking some time to reflect on what we eat, limiting the meat we put in our supermarket trolley and shifting to a more plant based diet will help us move towards a safer future. Signing up to the campaign is a lovely way to feel supported in reducing meat consumption moving forwards.”

No Meat May record sign-ups

No Meat May has seen a record number of sign-ups this year – with organizers believing the current pandemic may have played a part in this success.

Around 33,000 people have signed-up this year – a huge leap from 2019’s 10,000 participants, with No Meat May’s co-founder Ryan Alexander saying it is difficult to gauge the ‘COVID-19 effect’ but believes it is clear that people are drawing the connection between intensive factory farms and public health concerns.

“[This] has been demonstrated by the record number of sign-ups to this year’s campaign,” he said.

You can find out more about No Meat May here