By Rachael Simm, Sports Editor
We all know about the supposed infinite benefits of veganism, however, is this movement having an adverse effect of us and our planet?
Over the past 6 years, the UK has seen a 200% increase in vegans from 200,000 in 2014 to over 600,000 this year according to the Vegan Society. But is this down to personal choice or something else?
2019 saw celebrities such as Miley Cyrus taking on the vegan diet. There are now over 220,000 vegan hashtags on Instagram. Veganism even featured in Vogue with millions reading the articles. So have people gone vegan just to be like their favourite celebrities by jumping onto the ‘bandwagon’?
2014 to 2020 has seen over half a million people take part in Veganuary across 178 different countries but is veganism really as good for the environment as it is made out to be? Most plant-based products are shipped thousands of miles from tropical countries to the UK. Kenya recently revealed that they were no longer exporting avocados due to their own supply being at risk. Europe was one of the main causes of this requiring 600 million kilos of avocado in 2018. With the UK’s rapidly increasing vegan population more and more fruit and vegetables are needed from tropical countries. This means more food needs to be exported daily to meet the ever increasing demand. With climate change becoming one of the biggest issues in our society, why are countries agreeing to export more goods further across the globe? Each export, whether it is shipped by plane or ship, releases tonnes of carbon dioxide into the Earth’s atmosphere.
Animal rights protestors known as PETA took to the streets of Sydney in February last year. They roasted an extremely life-like fake dog, covered it in graffiti and left it lying on the streets with the banner “if you wouldn’t eat a dog, why eat lamb?”. Not unexpectedly, the response to the protestors was hostile. The majority of locals were appalled at the dog with some children running away from the scene in tears. When it was discovered the dog was fake, news spread throughout the city sparking anger amongst thousands. Locals claimed to understand the issues with having a meat-based diet however, they did not want to be forced to witness such a horrific event and feel pressured to change their views.
April 2019 saw “the world’s biggest riot” in Australia. Vegans rioted on some of the busiest roads in Melbourne, fighting for animal rights. Whilst the protesters were trying to prove their point and make others aware of the issues surrounding a meat-based diet, they were badly received by non-vegans in the area. One Australian even claimed they would “eat a Big Mac for every minute they [were] delayed by the ongoing protests”. These protests were called “un-Australian” by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The protestors were once again subject to verbal abuse with some being called “terrorists” and “extremists” among other abusive comments.
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