(Opinion article)

Veganism… What’s that? This is not another “smart word”, not pseudoscience and not a diet. It’s a way of life. A life that does not harm others and those who cannot protect themselves. Life healthy and long. Life without furs and skin. Life without honey. Life without milk, cheese, curd, sour cream, condensed milk, and eggs. Life without meat, fish, and seafood. Free life — without violence and murder.

Nowadays, many people all over the planet refuse from products of animal origin. There are a lot of reasons for that. One of the first reasons is ethical. People can’t live in peace, knowing that every minute around the world tens of thousands of animals die and all for what? Just so that others can fill their bellies. So that restless modern children were able to look at the suffering of animals in zoos or circuses. So that the girl wore her new fur coat. So that a respectable man picked up leather shoes for a single meeting. Or so that the cosmetic company has tested her new line of cosmetics. Every death is in vain. Just for humanity to calm down its “restless” needs.

The second reason is health. Eating heavy food such as fried meat or eggs every day will not lead to anything good. A comprehensive study in 1999 (“Mortality in vegetarians and nonvegetarians: detailed findings from a collaborative analysis of 5 prospective studies”. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition) shows that deaths from coronary heart disease in people who follow a vegan diet are 26 % lower than in adherents of traditional nutrition, and meat consumption is associated with an increased risk of cancer, heart disease and death in general.

The third reason is the environment. The contamination of the environment and the depletion of natural resources have a strong impact from the side of livestock, meat production and other products of animal origin. John Robbins (author of books about the benefits of vegetarianism) states that “the number of” grains, beans, potatoes, vegetables etc, which can be grown on a plot of land, is in the tens or even hundreds of times greater than the “quantity” of meat that can be obtained with the use of this land for livestock. Have you noticed anything unusual? Humanity spends an immeasurable amount of cultivated plants to feed the animals and then brutally kill them, feeding the other people with the corpses, while 821 million around the world are starving. With the crops they spend on corpses, we could already beat hunger in Africa. In addition, according to official UN reports, livestock contributes more than 20 % of the emission of the greenhouse gas CO2.

In most countries, such as USA, Italy, Israel, India, etc., veganism made a splash. Over the past half century, many people have started to look at the world differently, realizing that humanity is making a huge mistake. But, unfortunately, not in Ukraine. In Ukraine, the culture of veganism began to actively develop around 2010. Then some vegan options, shops, peculiar catering where all vegans could have a snack or buy necessary products began to appear. But over the past 10 years, the situation has been gaining momentum and gives great hope. According to a sociological study of the animal welfare organization “Open cells” and the Kyiv International Institute of sociology, in 2017, 10% of Ukrainians surveyed called themselves vegetarians. How many of them are vegans is not known, unfortunately. Now in Ukraine, more and more people are beginning to ask themselves the questions, “Iis it right to kill the defenseless creatures for their own benefit? Are all of the sufferings of our smaller brothers worth it for us to just fill our stomachs? Will I stand with the killers?” Adriano Celentano, Bob Dylan, Jared Leto, Victoria Beckham, Marilyn Manson, Jackie Chan, Pamela Anderson, Joaquin Phoenix, Tobey Maguire, Samuel L Jackson, Bernard Shaw, Emile Zola, Franz Kafka, Leo Tolstoy, Friedrich Nietzsche, Mike Tyson, Albert Einstein, Sergei Yesenin — all of these famous people refused to murder animals. I became a vegetarian a year and a half ago. All I had to do was just to hear a retelling from my friend of the documentary “Earthlings” in order to think and reconsider the outlook on life. I immediately refused meat, milk, and eggs. After a week refused fish and seafood. Now I smoothly refuse all the rest. And from my experience, I can say with confidence that veganism has no disadvantages. Your health will improve if you make up the nutrition correctly. You can replace each product of your ration with a better option, and most importantly you can wake up with a calm soul because you are not a killer. I had to watch a lot of animals, their behavior and life. Look into their eyes and see their desire to live. Just live. To run among the green fields and inhale the bouquet of smells around. Enjoy the morning sun. Hanging out with friends. Start a family. Be happy. That’s what people also want, isn’t it?