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Leading newspaper the Guardian has published a list of 18 reasons why people should opt for a plant-based diet.
The article, titled Why you should go animal-free: 18 arguments for eating meat debunked, looked at some of the common myths about vegan diets.
It deduces that however ‘unpalatable’ it may be for ‘those wedded to producing and eating meat’, the ‘environmental and health evidence for a plant-based diet is clear’.
Meat-free is best
Environment editor Damian Carrington writes: “Whether you are concerned about your health, the environment or animal welfare, scientific evidence is piling up that meat-free diets are best. Millions of people in wealthy nations are already cutting back on animal products.
“Of course livestock farmers and meat lovers are unsurprisingly fighting back and it can get confusing. Are avocados really worse than beef? What about bee-massacring almond production?
“The coronavirus pandemic has added another ingredient to that mix. The rampant destruction of the natural world is seen as the root cause of diseases leaping into humans and is largely driven by farming expansion. The world’s top biodiversity scientists say even more deadly pandemics will follow unless the ecological devastation is rapidly halted.”
Myths
The myths the article debunks include claims from meat-advocates that grass-fed beef is low carbon, and that we need animals to convert feed into protein humans can eat.
It also tackles the myth that soy consumed by vegans is destroying the Amazon, and the quinoa consumption by herbivores is harming poor farmers in Peru and Bolivia among others.
