Stupid Things Omnivores Say, “Veganism Is An Experiment”
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Some anti-vegans claim that veganism isn’t a good idea because they claim it’s an “experiment.” The criticism goes something like this:
Vegans haven’t existed for all that long in history so it’s really just an experiment, one that requires careful nutritional supplementation.
They have a point, but it’s limited. The term “vegan” was coined in 1944 and it’s true that self-identified vegans haven’t existed for all that long in history. However, people have been eating nearly vegan for centuries. The vast majority of people throughout history have eaten plant-based diets. They also have a point about supplementation: most strict vegans should take a vitamin B12 supplement because B12 is only available in animal products and animal feces (including human feces).*
Ironically, the standard American diet is also an “experiment” that “requires careful nutritional supplementation.”
Most animal products (meat, dairy, eggs) come from factory farms. Yet factory farms have only existed in the last 100 years and only became popular in the last 50 years or so. Before then, most meat was a luxury saved for holidays or rich people. In fact, factory farms were invented so that everyone could afford meat.
One of the the influential factors that began factory farming was the discovery and development of vitamin D, which allowed animals to be raised indoors without exposure to sunlight. That is, the vast majority of meat and dairy “requires careful nutritional supplementation.”
So the real question is, would you rather get your nutrients directly from the source: fruits, grains, and vegetables (plants) and supplement one thing (B12) or would you rather get your nutrients indirectly, filtered through animal flesh, with the additional feature of hormones and antibiotics?
See factory farming here: http://meat.org
Read about antibiotic overuse here: http://www.saveantibiotics.org/
Read about vegan nutrition here: http://www.veganhealth.org/
Read about factory farming’s damage to the environment here: http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.HTM
Read about social, economic, environmental and other damage from factory farming here: http://www.ncifap.org/_images/PCIFAPFin.pdf
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* I am not recommending the consumption of feces. I’m simply acknowledging a fact about B12 sources because many nonvegans assume B12 is only found in meat. And well, some of the B12-rich feces is in meat, too.
UPDATE:
Here are two great resources for learning about B12 and veganism:
VeganHealth.org’s “What Every Vegan Should Know About B12″
Dr. McDougall’s “Vitamin B12 Deficiency—the Meat-eaters’ Last Stand”
Good point. And certainly along with the additional hormones and antibiotics in animal products now, another “experiment” in this choice of food is cloning. Cloning is such an untested science – there’s no telling what consequences might ensue.
~ Recent blog post: Don’t be Fooled! All Meat = Harm * Deer, Dog or Cow * Go Vegan ~
From my reading B12 is from bacteria much of which comes through soil (and also yes grows on meat due to the decay). So not even really just on meat.
Excellent point, as always, Bea
B12 is bacteria from SOIL – where do the animals people eat get THEIR B12? (SOIL!) Actually most people are deficient in B12 – since so much of our soil is depleted, it is difficult to get it in a vegan diet – not because we don’t eat meat, but because of soil erosion. So any vegan can have a snappy comeback now when anyone ignorant claims you need meat. You can get EVERY nutrient from non-animal sources.
Hi! I am a brand-new vegan and love this website. I was vegetarian through the ’80′s, ate fish in the ’90′s then added chicken in the late ’00′s… always felt very guilty. I just read “Skinny Bitch” which is a wonderful book. I became vegan while reading it and am NEVER going back. Concerned about the B-12, though. Where do vegans get B-12 if it only comes from animal products or feces? HELP!!
Here is a good resource for information about vegan nutrition: http://www.veganhealth.org/
This is the part on B12:
http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/everyvegan/
which says:
Dr. McDougall has another great resource about B12:
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/nov/b12.htm
This is perfect. I love how vegans can look outside the box and find things wrong with the “meat-eating” nation we are! Good job!
Compassion, trying to refrain from avoidable harm – those are not experiments, they are fundamental morals that go back eons.
Besides factory farms, many other aspects of our modern diets could be called “experiments:” eating produce out of season, the newer plant hybrids, flash-freezing vegetables, manipulating hens to lay more than 10 times their normal amount of eggs, forcing cows to pump out up to 10 times their normal milk output, and so forth. Note that the last two items, which inflict pain and suffering on animals, extend to nearly all modern farms, not just large factory farms.
I suspect that the “experiment” argument is usually disingenuous and/or a reflexive means of avoding self-incrimination, and that the people putting forth this not-well-thought-out excuse to continue partaking in avoidable cruelty do not use the “experiment” criteria to dismiss other aspects of their their lives (e.g., modern medicine) or society (e.g., rights for women and minorities).
~ Recent blog post: Starting a New Group: Compassion for Animals ~