With increasing concern for the world and plight of farmed animals, is the future vegan or not?
Buckle up, because in this article, I tackle the question from a few different angles with a fellow dietitian, Sapna Peruvemba, MS, RDN – who also happens to be vegan!
You can read the main points below, listen in on YouTube, or check out the episode on other podcast directories!
Disclaimer: This article and episode is not providing personal medical or dietary advice. Talk to your own doctor about your health or diet questions and before making major dietary changes. See our Disclaimers for more details.
Quick Summary:
- Generally speaking, research suggests vegan foods in their whole form (ex: fruits, veggies, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds), are more eco-friendly than animal products in high income countries(1).
- While the demand for plant based products is growing, it’s hard to access if that is for a shift to plant based vs vegan.
- It’s highly unlikely that the entire world will go vegan at once, especially since access to food and education varies widely amongst countries.
About my guest: Sapna Peruvemba, MS, RDN
Sapna is a vegan dietitian and the founder of Health by Sapna, her private nutrition practice where she helps ethically motivated individuals who want to transition to a vegan lifestyle learn how to do it with ease.
She is also a PhD student in plant-based nutrition, and passionate about spreading awareness of the potential environmental and health benefits of a healthy and well balanced vegan diet. As an ethical vegan of 10 years, Sapna’s goal is to make vegan nutrition knowledge and resources more widely accessible.
Currently – she’s launching a vegan nutrition program! To learn more, you can check out her link in bio of her Instagram page and book a free discovery call.
Reasons Why The Future is Vegan
Plants are More Eco Friendly
Human activity influences climate change which has bad consequences for the survival of many species (including our own)!
But there is something we can do about it! Hint: it has to do with some things we consume around 3 times a day!
The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) 2022 Mitigation of Climate Change report suggests eating patterns that include less meat and dairy, and instead, emphasize plant protein are associated with reduced green house gas emissions (2).
And local, grass fed animal products are hardly the answer. Many experts agree that transportation of food only makes up a tiny amount of an impact in comparison to what you actually eat(3).
Are there some exceptions? Yes! some vegan foods may require more resources than others, but generally speaking, they tend to be better for the environment.
If you are able to buy local, in season produce, or start your own garden, than that’s just icing on the plant powered cake!
Still, if you don’t have the resources, time, or space, focusing on vegan meals of foods more often does have environmental benefits. And the public seems to be recognizing that more and more with each year.
Nutrition and Food Experts Are Getting On Board
More and more experts are recognizing that we must keep our planet healthy in order to be healthy individuals. What is health without the world after all?
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) National Nutrition Month 2023 slogan was “fuel for the future.” Their first weekly message centered on sustainable eating. One pointer given was to take advantage of more plant based meals/snacks (4).
AND also has a position paper on vegetarian diets (these include vegan diets), that suggests healthy and well balanced vegetarian diets are appropriate for any life stage (5).
As more health professionals recognize the importance of a vegan diet both for the health and environmental benefits, the vegan diet is much more likely to grow in the future.
Animal Industry Demand is Declining
Several news headlines suggest that animal industries like fish stocks are declining, and milk consumption is down (6, 7).
There may be several reasons for this, include environmental decline and more awareness of the suffering animals endure in the animal industry.
Oh and perhaps dairy might be down because plant based milks taste better? (that’s 100% my opinion 😉)
Despite some declines, animal products are still very popular, and our demand has lead to factory farms that have unintended consequences, such as being vectors for disease that can spread to people. Examples include the avian flu and mad cows disease.
As this awareness becomes more mainstream, a vegan future becomes more and more attractive.
Reasons Why Universal Veganism Has a Long Way to Go
There are many barriers to vegan being the future including:
- Money: In the U.S., animal products are subsidized. So the price of milk is sometimes cheaper than the vegan options. It’s not enough to just make sales every now and then on vegan food! We need systematic change– so it’s more affordable and accessible for everyone. For some countries that’s just not feasible at the moment. One modeling study, published in the Lancet suggests that when compared to certain other diets, in high income countries, vegan and vegetarian diets that emphasize whole grains, may be cheaper. Check out the 2021 Lancet study here to learn more.
- Changing Belief Systems is Hard: Many of us have been taught that animals are food, or to be used as the fabric on shirts, or make thoughtful leather gifts. Most of us don’t think twice about where our products come from when we shop. Until we embrace that animals wish for freedom much like we do, it will be hard to change our actions.
- Extensive Planning Needs to be Done: We can’t just leave animal farmers without jobs right? If we are going to switch to a vegan world, it will need to be done gradually and with careful planning. For example, incentivizing animal farmers to switch to plant crops, giving butchers the same pay for a totally new job, etc.
Final Thoughts
Many factors point to the future being vegan or nearly vegan.
As more people recognize the potential environmental, health, and animal welfare benefits, the outlook looks brighter.
Barriers to a vegan world include funding, changing a belief system, and the work that must be done to achieve it.
It’s not impossible, but will take time. And people can make a stance one plant based meal at a time.
Did you enjoy this article? Share your thoughts in the comments!
If you want to keep learning about all things vegan, definitely check out these articles from the Vegan Nutrition Library:
How to Transition to Veganism in 5 Steps
What You Might Experience in the Transition
Plant Based Diet Book Suggestions from Registered Dietitians