Meat eating doesn't just harm the planet and animals, it is also detrimental to people's health and wellbeing. Increasing numbers of scientific studies link meat eating to numerous health problems including heart disease, cancer, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
Modern farming practices have been linked to diseases such as mad cow disease and bird flu and are implicated in increasing human resistance to antibiotics. Meat eating also contributes to poverty in developing countries.
These sites will tell you more...
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine PCRM is a non-profit US-based group of doctors and laypeople that promotes compassionate preventive medicine and ethical medical research. Their website contains vegan recipes; an online vegetarian starter kit; back issues of their quarterly magazine Good medicine; and information on preventive medicine and nutrition, vegetarian diets, eating to reduce the risk of cancer and alternatives to animal testing.
Vegetarian and Vegan Foundation VVF is a UK-based charity that aims to promote the scientific links between diet and health. VVF aims to provide unbiased and accurate information for the public, schools, health professionals and food manufacturers. The website contains guides, factsheets, reports and recipes.
Porphyry's People A site that contains information on vegan diet and lifestyle for New Zealanders. The ‘Vegan monthly’ section contains links to medical, scientific and philosophical articles that support the vegan lifestyle or encourage a reduction in the use of animal-based products. Other sections focus on the healthy eating pyramid, optimal diet, veganism for fighting obesity, and the health benefits of soy, nuts and chocolate.
Factory Farming and Human Health Intensive or factory farming has been linked to the development of chronic diseases, an increase in foodborne illnesses and antibiotic resistance.
Mad Cow Disease The feeding of rendered animal remains to other animals has been linked to the transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy between cows. Humans eating the meat of infected cows may develop vCJD, a neurological disease that leads to coma and death.
Poverty Although intensive farming has been promoting as a means to eliminate starvation and poverty, in reality it can increase both due to increased unemployment, by forcing small scale farmers out of business and the inefficient use of cereal protein for animal feed instead of feeding humans. The negative environmental impacts of industrial farming also contribute to starvation and poverty in developing countries.
