Why I still eat meat When Everyone is Vegan

Edit: An original version of this essay was written in 2019. Since arriving in Berlin this year 2022, I am once again surrounded by vegans and have decided to update the essay and post it here.

I often find myself in conversations with vegans, completely agreeing with everything they say. Yes, I don’t believe we should be causing harm. Yes, I too choose to eat with the environment in mind. Yes, I believe in healthy and clean eating for our minds and bodies. Yes, Yes, Yes. Then I move forward and say, “but in order to do that I eat meat.” The conversation usually comes to a roaring halt as it feels impossible to see eye to eye on the subject. I'd like to continue the conversation though and so, I'll attempt to explain my food choices here as I believe there is a way to move past the simple dichotomy of vegans versus meat eaters.

I'll start with the fact that I do not believe any form of agriculture as we know it is truly vegan. Whenever I see “cruelty free” vegan cupcakes packed with palm oil I think of destroyed rainforests and the death of the animals who lived in those rain forests. Whenever I see “cruelty free” nut cheese, I think of entire towns water resources being bought out to support massive nut orchards in California. The millions of bee hives shipped from all over the country each year to pollinate the orchards. The fuel used for this process alone, never mind the fuel used to process and ship these nuts world wide. I wonder if people remember that loss of habitat for the purpose of fuel, large mono cropped vegan alternatives, and food processing is not cruelty free at all. It is the complete destruction of habitat. Taking away someone’s home is such a disturbing way to take a life.

Alternative farming styles such as vertical farms, or hydroponics have gained a lot of popular traction in the discussion of sustainable agriculture, but at the end of the day, vertical microgreen farms are not currently sustainable options that provide genuine substance. If we want to move away from harmful farming practices, we have to remember that humans require fat, protein and calories, not just microgreens and hydroponic tomatoes. Where we source key nutrients is can not be forgotten in the conversation of "ethical" food practices.

At present, protein based agriculture relies on nutrients in the soil. Whether this is to produce meat, feed for animals, grains, or nuts, soil nutrients are key. In modern large scale operations there are a few options to fertilize your soil; animal based inputs such as manure, mined mineral based inputs, compost or synthetic fertilizers. Depending on how these inputs are sourced and implemented they can all contribute to environmental disaster in one way or another. Hardpacked, overworked soils and essentially dead soils, do not hold onto anything, as depicted in the photo below. This means large amounts of run off into nearby bodies of water, causing all sorts of issues such as algae blooms, and poisoning fish.

Grazing animals on the other hand, requires no soil disruption, proper distribution of manure, and has been hypothesized to increase soil health and potentially sequester carbon. Animals can be incorporated into a broad range of farming styles, such as sheep acting as pruners for wineries, chickens as compost convertors, and more. Digging up some earth for bean production is often more disruptive to the environment than consciously raised animals. That is not to say it can't be done sustainably, but it is important to remember, that just because someone is raising beans instead of cows, does not mean their environmental footprint is much better, or even void of animal involvement.

Accessing sustainably farmed proteins is a challenge for most people. There are many farmers working with their environment, but the scale of the operations tend to be quite small, relatively inefficient and therefore less accessible both physically and financially. While the Vegan food movement has huge financial backing from many large scale investors, complex regionally based agriculture systems are much less marketable and therefore do not have the some financial support from investors. For this reason, vegan food options tend to be available on a wider scale and in more conventional formats such as supermarkets than say, grass fed beef and raw sheep's milk yogurt sold out of a cooler at a Saturday farmers market.

As I see it today, the plant based options for replacing animal products are only slightly less bad than conventional animal products, yet vegans unfortunately believe that they have cracked the code of ethical consumption and in turn, large companies are profiting off of this falsehood.

Perhaps there is a way to eliminate meat from our diets but we need to open up the conversation to acknowledge that the majority of so called “vegan” agriculture are not as “cruelty free” as is advertised. If we really want to make an impact with our food choices, the conversation can not be meat eater versus vegan. If you have the option and desire to support sustainable food systems, get to know your farmers, get to know where your food is coming from and what impact it is having on you, our earth and the creatures we share it with. This I believe is more important than any hard lined dietary choice you can make.