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Police use
Tranquilizer darts are not generally included in police less-than-lethal arsenals because a human can easily be wrestled to the ground, the pain induced by the dart may cause a suspect to pull out a weapon or panic and run until they are far away resulting in the officer having to track down the unconscious suspect, a human can have a deadly allergic reaction to a tranquilizer, and because effective use requires an estimate of the target's weight — too little tranquilizer will have no effect, and too much tranquilizer will result in death, which can lead to a lawsuit or being convicted of second-degree unintentional murder if the target is a human. "If you shot somebody that was small, it could kill them. If you shot somebody who was big or had drugs in their system, it might not do anything." says Newett, of the Justice Department. Harold C. Palmer said he only knew of one case of a tranquilizer dart being used against a criminal. This was in 1961 in a prison in Athens, Georgia. A 220-pound prisoner went berserk and the guard shot him with a tranquilizer dart. Six minutes later, the prisoner lost consciousness.

Criminal use
Tranquilizer darts are not used in kidnappings, rape, or identity theft because they would easily be detected in a public place such as a bar or restaurant. "Drugged beverages are so much easier to conceal," explains Dr. Theodore Davantzis. . The only person who has been suspected to have used one criminally is Barry Morphew, who is suspected to have chased his wife around the house after shooting her with a tranquilizer dart before murdering her to prevent her from calling the police.

Veganism merged with Abolitionism (animal rights)


Veganism or abolitionism is the opposition to all animal use by humans, as well as the exploitation of humans. Veganism intends to eliminate all forms of animal use by maintaining that all sentient beings, humans or nonhumans, share a basic right not to be treated as properties or objects. Vegans reject the commodity status of animals and oppose animal source foods, animal products, and places that use animals for entertainment such as zoos and aquariums.

Vegans generally oppose movements that seek to make animal use more humane or to abolish specific forms of animal use, since they believe this undermines the movement to abolish all forms of animal use. The objective is to secure a moral and legal paradigm shift, whereby animals are no longer regarded as things to be owned and used. The American philosopher Tom Regan writes that abolitionists want empty cages, not bigger ones. This is contrasted with animal welfare, which seeks incremental reform, and animal protectionism, which seeks to combine the first principles of veganism with an incremental approach, but which is regarded by some vegans as another form of welfarism or "New Welfarism".

Vegans disagree on the strategy that must be used to achieve their goal. While some vegans, like Gary Francione, professor of law, argue that vegans should create awareness about the benefits of veganism through creative and nonviolent education (by also pointing to health and environmental benefits) and inform people that veganism is a moral imperative, others such as Tom Regan believe that abolitionists should seek to stop animal exploitation in society, and fight for this goal through political advocacy, without using the environmental or health arguments. Abolitionists such as Steven Best and David Nibert argue, respectively, that embracing alliance politics and militant direct action for change (including civil disobedience, mass confrontation, etc), and transcending capitalism are integral to ending animal exploitation.

Diet
Vegan diets tend to be higher in dietary fiber, magnesium, folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, iron, and phytochemicals, and lower in dietary energy, saturated fat, cholesterol, omega-3 fatty acid, vitamin D, calcium, zinc, and vitamin B12. As a result of the elimination of all animal products, a poorly planned vegan diet can lead to nutritional deficiencies that counteract its beneficial effects and cause serious health issues, some of which can only be prevented with fortified foods or dietary supplements. Vitamin B12 supplementation is important because its deficiency can cause blood disorders and potentially irreversible neurological damage; this danger is also one of the most common in poorly planned non-vegan diets.

Concepts
The word vegan was coined by Donald Watson and his later wife Dorothy Morgan in 1944. Interest in veganism increased significantly in the 2010s.

Gary Francione, professor of law and philosophy at Rutgers School of Law–Newark, argues from the vegan perspective that self-described animal-rights groups who pursue welfare concerns, such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, risk making the public feel comfortable about its use of animals. He calls such groups the "new welfarists", arguing that, though their aim is an end to animal use, the reforms they pursue are indistinguishable from reforms agreeable to traditional welfarists, who he says have no interest in abolishing animal use. He argues that reform campaigns entrench the property status of animals, and validate the view that animals simply need to be treated better. Instead, he writes, the public's view that animals can be used and consumed ought to be challenged. His position is that this should be done by promoting ethical veganism. Others think that this should be done by creating a public debate in society.

Philosopher Steven Best of the University of Texas at El Paso has been critical of Francione for his denunciation of militant direct actions carried out by the underground animal liberation movement and organizations like the Animal Liberation Front, which Best compares favorably to the "nineteenth-century-abolitionist movement" to end slavery, and also for placing the onus on individual consumers rather than powerful institutions such as corporations, the state and the mass media along with ignoring the "constraints imposed by poverty, class, and social conditioning." In this, he says that Francione "exculpates capitalism" and fails to "articulate a structural theory of oppression." The "vague, elitist, asocial 'vegan education' approach," Best argues, is no substitute for "direct action, mass confrontation, civil disobedience, alliance politics, and struggle for radical change."

Sociologist David Nibert of Wittenberg University argues that attempting to create a vegan world under global capitalism is unrealistic given that "tens of millions of animals are tortured and brutally killed every year to produce profits for twenty-first century elites, who hold investments in the corporate equivalents of Genghis Khan" and that any real and meaningful change will only come by transcending capitalism. He writes that the contemporary entrenchment of capitalism and continued exploitation of animals by human civilization dovetail into the ongoing expansion of what he describes as the animal–industrial complex, with the number of CAFOs and the animals to fill them dramatically increasing, along with growing numbers of humans consuming animal products. He rhetorically asks, how can one hope to create some consumer base for this new vegan world when over a billion people live on less than a dollar a day? Nibert acknowledges that post-capitalism on its own will not automatically end animal exploitation or bring about a more just world, but that it is a "necessary precondition" for such changes.

New welfarists argue that there is no logical or practical contradiction between abolitionism and "welfarism". Welfarists think that they can be working toward abolition, but by gradual steps, pragmatically taking into account what most people can be realistically persuaded to do in the short as well as the long term, and reduce animal suffering as it is most urgent to relieve. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, for example, in addition to promoting local improvements in the treatment of animals, promote vegetarianism. Although some people believe that changing the legal status of nonhuman sentient beings is a first step in abolishing ownership or mistreatment, others argue that this will not succeed if the consuming public has not already begun to reduce or eliminate its exploitation of animals for food.

Personhood
In 1992, Switzerland amended its constitution to recognize animals as beings and not things. The dignity of animals is also protected in Switzerland.

New Zealand granted basic rights to five great ape species in 1999. Their use is now forbidden in research, testing or teaching.

Germany added animal welfare in a 2002 amendment to its constitution, becoming the first European Union member to do so.

In 2007, the parliament of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous province of Spain, passed the world's first legislation granting legal rights to all great apes.

In 2013, India officially recognized dolphins as non-human persons.

In 2014, France revised the legal status of animals from movable property to sentient beings.

In 2015, the province of Quebec in Canada adopted the Animal Welfare and Safety Act, which gave animals the legal status of "sentient beings with biological needs".

General
While vegans broadly abstain from animal products, there are many ways in which animal products are used, and different individuals and organizations that identify with the practice of veganism may use some limited animal products based on philosophy, means or other concerns. Philosopher Gary Steiner argues that it is not possible to be entirely vegan, because animal use and products are "deeply and imperceptibly woven into the fabric of human society".

Animal Ingredients A to Z (2004) and Veganissimo A to Z (2013) list which ingredients might be animal-derived. The British Vegan Society's sunflower logo and PETA's bunny logo mean the product is certified vegan, which includes no animal testing. The Leaping Bunny logo signals no animal testing, but it might not be vegan. The Vegan Society criteria for vegan certification are that the product contain no animal products, and that neither the finished item nor its ingredients have been tested on animals by, or on behalf of, the manufacturer or by anyone over whom the manufacturer has control. Its website contains a list of certified products, as does Australia's Choose Cruelty Free (CCF). The British Vegan Society will certify a product only if it is free of animal involvement as far as possible and practical, including animal testing, but "recognises that it is not always possible to make a choice that avoids the use of animals", an issue that was highlighted in 2016 when it became known that the UK's newly introduced £5 note contained tallow.

Meat, eggs and dairy


Like vegetarians, vegans do not eat meat (including beef, pork, poultry, fowl, and game). The main difference between a vegan and vegetarian diet is that vegans exclude dairy products and eggs. Vegan groups disagree over whether vegans can eat oysters.

Clothing
Many clothing products may be made of animal products such as silk, wool (including lambswool, shearling, cashmere, angora, mohair, and a number of other fine wools), fur, feathers, pearls, animal-derived dyes, leather, snakeskin, or other kinds of skin or animal product. While dietary vegans might use animal products in clothing, toiletries, and similar, ethical veganism extends not only to matters of food but also to the wearing or use of animal products, and rejects the commodification of animals altogether. Most leather clothing is made from cow skins. Unlike ethical vegans, dietary vegans do not oppose the use of leather and may continue to wear leather they bought before adopting the diet on the grounds that they are not financially supporting the meat industry. Ethical vegans may wear clothing items and accessories made of non-animal-derived materials such as hemp, linen, cotton, canvas, polyester, artificial leather (pleather), rubber, and vinyl. Leather alternatives can come from materials such as cork, piña (from pineapples), cactus, and mushroom leather. Some vegan clothes, in particular leather alternatives, are made of petroleum-based products, which has triggered criticism because of the environmental damage involved in their production.

Toiletries


Vegans replace personal care products and household cleaners containing animal products with vegan products. Animal ingredients are ubiquitous because they are relatively inexpensive. After animals are slaughtered for meat, the leftovers are put through a rendering process and some of that material, particularly the fat, is used in toiletries.

Common animal-derived ingredients include tallow in soap; collagen-derived glycerine, which used as a lubricant and humectant in many haircare products, moisturizers, shaving foams, soaps and toothpastes; lanolin from sheep's wool, often found in lip balm and moisturizers; stearic acid, a common ingredient in face creams, shaving foam and shampoos (like glycerine, it can be plant-based, but is usually animal-derived); lactic acid, an alpha-hydroxy acid derived from animal milk, used in moisturizers; allantoin—from the comfrey plant or cow urine—found in shampoos, moisturizers and toothpaste; and carmine from scale insects, such as the female cochineal, used in food and cosmetics to produce red and pink shades;

Beauty Without Cruelty, founded as a charity in 1959, was one of the earliest manufacturers and certifiers of animal-free personal care products.

Hair extensions
Hair extensions are generally avoided by ethical vegans since they are made from human hair, but ethical vegans may use synthetic alternatives. Environmental vegans avoid synthetic hair extensions due to their biodegradability.

Insect products
Vegan groups disagree about insect products. Neither the Vegan Society nor the American Vegan Society considers honey, silk, and other insect products suitable for vegans. Some vegans believe that exploiting the labor of bees and harvesting their energy source is immoral, and that commercial beekeeping operations can harm and even kill bees. Insect products can be defined much more widely, as commercial bees are used to pollinate about 100 different food crops.

Pet food
Some environmental vegans do not use meat-based pet food to feed their pets due to its environmental impact, and ethical vegans do not use meat-based pet food. This is particularly true for domesticated cats and dogs, for which vegan pet food is both available and nutritionally complete,  such as Vegepet.

This practice has been met with caution and criticism,  especially regarding vegan cat diets because, unlike omnivorous dogs, felids are obligate carnivores. Nutritionally complete vegan pet diets are comparable to meat-based ones for cats and dogs. A 2015 study found that 6 out of 24 commercial vegan pet food brands do not meet the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) labeling regulations for amino acid adequacy. A 2023 Systematic review concluded that pet dogs and cats can remain healthy on a vegan diet.

Other products and farming practices
A concern is the case of medications, which are routinely tested on animals to ensure they are effective and safe, and may also contain animal ingredients, such as lactose, gelatine, or stearates. There may be no alternatives to prescribed medication or these alternatives may be unsuitable, less effective, or have more adverse side effects. Experimentation with laboratory animals is also used for evaluating the safety of vaccines, food additives, cosmetics, household products, workplace chemicals, and many other substances. Vegans may avoid certain vaccines, such as the flu vaccine, which is commonly produced in chicken eggs. An effective alternative, Flublok, is widely available in the United States.

Farming of fruits and vegetables may include fertilizing the soil with animal manure – even on organic farms, possibly causing a concern to vegans for ethical or environmental reasons. "Vegan" (or "animal-free") farming uses plant compost only.

Research and guidance


A 2022 meta-analysis found moderate evidence that adhering to a vegan diet for at least 12 weeks may be effective in individuals with overweight or type 2 diabetes to induce a meaningful decrease in body weight and improve glycemia.

A 2021 Cochrane review of randomized controlled trials found that there is "currently insufficient information to draw conclusions about the effects of vegan dietary interventions on cardiovascular disease risk factors". A 2018 meta-analysis of observational studies concluded that "In most countries, a vegan diet is associated with a more favourable cardio-metabolic profile compared to an omnivorous diet". A 2022 meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies concluded that vegan diets are associated with reduced risk of Ischemic Heart Disease, but no clear association was found for cardiovascular disease and stroke.

A 2023 review found that vegetarian diets, including vegan diets, are associated with lower risk for vascular disease, obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes.

A 2022 review indicated that a vegan diet may be effective for reducing body weight, lowering the risk of cancer, and providing a lower risk of all-cause mortality. People on a vegan diet with diabetes or cardiovascular diseases may have lower levels of disease biomarkers.

A 2020 review of inflammation biomarkers found that a vegan diet was associated with lower levels of C-reactive protein compared to omnivores. There is inconsistent evidence for vegan diets providing an effect on metabolic syndrome. There is tentative evidence of an association between vegan diets and reduced risk of cancer. A vegan diet without caloric restriction may reduce high blood pressure, like diets recommended by medical societies and portion-controlled diets. Vegans may be at risk of low bone mineral density.

Positions of dietetic and government associations


The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Dietitians of Canada say that properly planned vegetarian or vegan diets are appropriate for all life stages, including pregnancy and lactation. The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council similarly recognizes a well-planned vegan diet as viable for any age, as does the British Dietetic Association, British National Health Service and the Canadian Pediatric Society.

The German Society for Nutrition does not recommend a vegan diet for babies, children and adolescents, or for pregnancy or breastfeeding.

As of 2022, 45% of government nutritional guidelines discuss vegan meat or milk alternatives (or both).

Pregnancy, infants and children
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics consider well-planned vegetarian and vegan diets "appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, adolescence, older adulthood, and for athletes. The German Society for Nutrition cautioned against a vegan diet for pregnant women, breastfeeding women, babies, children, and adolescents. The position of the Canadian Pediatric Society is that "well-planned vegetarian and vegan diets with appropriate attention to specific nutrient components can provide a healthy alternative lifestyle at all stages of fetal, infant, child and adolescent growth. It is recommended that attention should be given to nutrient intake, particularly protein, vitamins B12 and D, essential fatty acids, iron, zinc, and calcium.

Nutrients and potential deficiencies


Vegan diets tend to be high in dietary fiber, folate, vitamins C and E, potassium, magnesium, and unsaturated fats. But consuming no animal products increases the risk of deficiencies of vitamins B12 and D, calcium, iron, and omega-3 fatty acids.

The American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics states that special attention may be necessary to ensure that a vegan diet provides adequate amounts of vitamin B12, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, calcium, iodine, iron, and zinc. It also states that concern that vegans and vegan athletes may not consume an adequate amount and quality of protein is unsubstantiated.

These nutrients are available in plant foods, with the exception of vitamin B12, which can be obtained only from B12-fortified vegan foods or supplements. Iodine may also require supplementation, such as using iodized salt. Vitamin B12 deficiency occurs in up to 80% of all vegans in some Asian countries.

For information on the impact of meat on the diet, see this article.

Philosophy
Veganism is based on opposition to speciesism, the assignment of value to individuals based on (animal) species membership alone. Divisions within animal rights theory include the utilitarian, protectionist approach, which pursues improved conditions for animals. It also seeks to end human ownership of non-humans. Vegans argue that protectionism serves only to make the public feel that animal use can be morally unproblematic (the "happy meat" position).

Donald Watson, co-founder of The Vegan Society, asked why he was an ethical vegan, replied, "If an open-minded, honest person pursues a course long enough, and listens to all the criticisms, and in one's own mind can satisfactorily meet all the criticisms against that idea, sooner or later one's resistance against what one sees as evil tradition has to be discarded." Of bloodsports, he has said that "to kill creatures for fun must be the very dregs" and that vivisection and animal experimentation "is probably the cruelest of all Man's attack on the rest of Creation." He has also said, "vegetarianism, whilst being a necessary stepping-stone between meat eating and veganism, is only a stepping stone."

Alex Hershaft, co-founder of the Farm Animal Rights Movement and Holocaust survivor, says he "was always bothered by the idea of hitting a beautiful, living, innocent animal over the head, cutting him up into pieces, then shoving the pieces into [his] mouth" and that his experiences in the Nazi Holocaust allowed him "to empathize with the conditions of animals in factory farms, auction yards, and slaughterhouses" because he "knows firsthand what it's like to be treated like a worthless object." Several animal rights activists, including Isaac Bashevis Singer, Gary Yourofsky and Karen Davis, have compared the cruel treatment of animals in CAFOs and slaughterhouses to the Holocaust.

Law professor Gary Francione, an abolitionist, argues that all sentient beings should have the right not to be treated as property, and that veganism must be the baseline for anyone who believes that non-humans have intrinsic moral value. Philosopher Tom Regan, also a rights theorist, argues that animals possess value as "subjects-of-a-life", because they have beliefs, desires, memory and the ability to initiate action in pursuit of goals. The right of subjects-of-a-life not to be harmed can be overridden by other moral principles, but Regan argues that pleasure, convenience and the economic interests of farmers are not weighty enough. Philosopher Peter Singer, a protectionist and utilitarian, argues that there is no moral or logical justification for failing to count animal suffering as a consequence when making decisions, and that killing animals should be rejected unless necessary for survival. Despite this, he writes that "ethical thinking can be sensitive to circumstances" and that he is "not too concerned about trivial infractions".

An argument by Bruce Friedrich, also a protectionist, holds that strict veganism harms animals because it focuses on personal purity rather than encouraging people to give up whatever animal products they can. For Francione, this is similar to arguing that, because human-rights abuses can never be eliminated, we should not defend human rights in situations we control. By failing to ask a server whether something contains animal products, we reinforce that the moral rights of animals are a matter of convenience, he argues. He concludes from this that the protectionist position fails on its own consequentialist terms.

Philosopher Val Plumwood maintained that ethical veganism is "subtly human-centred", an example of what she called "human/nature dualism", because it views humanity as separate from the rest of nature. Ethical vegans want to admit non-humans into the category that deserves special protection rather than recognize the "ecological embeddedness" of all. Plumwood wrote that animal food may be an "unnecessary evil" from the perspective of the consumer who "draws on the whole planet for nutritional needs"—and she strongly opposed factory farming—but for anyone relying on a much smaller ecosystem, it is very difficult or impossible to be vegan.

Bioethicist Ben Mepham, in his review of Francione and Garner's book The Animal Rights Debate: Abolition or Regulation?, concludes, "if the aim of ethics is to choose the right, or best, course of action in specific circumstances 'all things considered', it is arguable that adherence to such an absolutist agenda is simplistic and open to serious self-contradictions. Or, as Farlie puts it, with characteristic panache: 'to conclude that veganism is the "only ethical response" is to take a big leap into a very muddy pond'." He cites as examples the adverse effects on animal wildlife derived from the agricultural practices necessary to sustain most vegan diets and the ethical contradiction of favoring the welfare of domesticated animals but not that of wild animals; the imbalance between the resources that are used to promote the welfare of animals as opposed to those destined to alleviate the suffering of the approximately one billion human beings who undergo malnutrition, abuse, and exploitation; the focus on attitudes and conditions in Western developed countries, leaving out the rights and interests of societies whose economy, culture and, in some cases, survival rely on a symbiotic relationship with animals.

David Pearce, a transhumanist philosopher, has argued that humanity has a "hedonistic imperative" not merely to avoid cruelty to animals caused by humans but also to redesign the global ecosystem such that wild animal suffering in nature ceases to exist. In pursuit of abolishing suffering, Pearce promotes predation elimination among animals and the "cross-species global analogue of the welfare state". Fertility regulation could maintain herbivore populations at sustainable levels, "a more civilised and compassionate policy option than famine, predation, and disease". The increasing number of vegans and vegetarians in the transhumanism movement has been attributed in part to Pearce's influence.

A growing political philosophy that incorporates veganism as part of its revolutionary praxis is veganarchism, which seeks "total abolition" or "total liberation" for all animals, including humans. Veganarchists identify the state as unnecessary and harmful to animals, both human and non-human, and advocate for the adoption of veganism in a stateless society. The term was popularized in 1995 by Brian A. Dominick's pamphlet Animal Liberation and Social Revolution, described as "a vegan perspective on anarchism or an anarchist perspective on veganism".

Direct action is a common practice among veganarchists (and anarchists generally) with groups like the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), the Animal Rights Militia (ARM), the Justice Department (JD) and Revolutionary Cells – Animal Liberation Brigade (RCALB) often engaging in such activities, sometimes criminally, to further their goals. Steven Best, animal rights activist and professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at El Paso, advocates this approach, and has been critical of vegan activists like Francione for supporting animal liberation but not total liberation, which would include not only opposition to "the property status of animals" but also "a serious critique of capitalism, the state, property relations, and commodification dynamics in general." In particular, he criticizes the focus on the simplistic and apolitical "Go Vegan" message directed mainly at wealthy Western audiences, while ignoring people of color, the working class and the poor, especially in the developing world, noting that "for every person who becomes vegan, a thousand flesh eaters arise in China, India and Indonesia." The "faith in the singular efficacy of conjectural education and moral persuasion," Best writes, is no substitute for "direct action, mass confrontation, civil disobedience, alliance politics, and struggle for radical change." Donald Watson has said he "respects the people enormously who do it, believing that it's the most direct and quick way to achieve their ends." Sociologist David Nibert of Wittenberg University posits that any movement towards global justice would necessitate not only the abolition of animal exploitation, particularly as a food source for humans, but also transitioning towards a socioeconomic alternative to the capitalist system, both of which dovetail into what he calls the animal–industrial complex.

Some vegans also embrace the philosophy of anti-natalism, as they see the two as complementary in terms of "harm reduction" to animals and the environment.

Vegan social psychologist Melanie Joy described the ideology in which people support the use and consumption of animal products as carnism, as a sort of opposite to veganism.

Exploitation concerns
The Vegan Society has written, "by extension, [veganism] promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans." Many ethical vegans and vegan organizations cite the poor working conditions of slaughterhouse workers as a reason to reject animal products. The first vegan activist, Donald Watson, has asked, "If these butchers and vivisectors weren't there, could we perform the acts that they are doing? And, if we couldn't, we have no right to expect them to do it on our behalf. Full stop! That simply compounds the issue. It means that we're not just exploiting animals; we're exploiting human beings."

Dietary veganism
Some people follow a vegan diet but not other aspects of veganism. Dietary veganism is limited to following a plant-based diet. Dietary veganism is in contrast to ethical veganism which is defined as a philosophical belief that is a protected characteristic under the UK's Equality Act 2010. Authors like Richard Twine and Breeze Harper argue that dietary veganism cannot be called veganism, as veganism is more than a diet. Gary L. Francione has argued that the promotion of "dietary veganism" lacks the moral imperative expressed by Leslie J. Cross, an early and influential vice-president of The Vegan Society, who said in 1949 that veganism was "the abolition of the exploitation of animals by man".

The Vegan Society of Canada have criticized dietary veganism stating, "since veganism is not a list of ingredients there is also no such thing as a dietary vegan. Veganism cannot be split into sub-components; this is a case where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts". Others have suggested that the arguments for dietary veganism can be extended to support ethical veganism.

Environmental veganism
Environmental vegans focus on conservation, rejecting the use of animal products on the premise that fishing, hunting, trapping and farming, particularly factory farming, are environmentally unsustainable.

According to a 2006 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization report, Livestock's Long Shadow, around 26% of the planet's terrestrial surface is devoted to livestock grazing. The report also concluded that livestock farming (mostly of cows, chickens and pigs) affects the air, land, soil, water, biodiversity and climate change. Livestock consumed 1,174 million tonnes of food in 2002—including 7.6 million tonnes of fishmeal and 670 million tonnes of cereals, one-third of the global cereal harvest. Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society called pigs and chicken "major aquatic predators", because livestock eat 40 percent of the fish that are caught.

A 2010 UN report, Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Consumption and Production, argued that animal products "in general require more resources and cause higher emissions than plant-based alternatives". It proposed a move away from animal products to reduce environmental damage. A 2015 study determined that significant biodiversity loss can be attributed to the growing demand for meat, a significant driver of deforestation and habitat destruction, with species-rich habitats converted to agriculture for livestock production. A 2017 World Wildlife Fund study found that 60% of biodiversity loss can be attributed to the vast scale of feed crop cultivation needed to rear tens of billions of farm animals, which puts enormous strain on natural resources, resulting in extensive loss of lands and species. In 2017, 15,364 world scientists signed a warning to humanity calling for, among other things, "promoting dietary shifts towards mostly plant-based foods".

A 2018 study found that global adoption of plant-based diets would reduce agricultural land use by 76% (3.1 billion hectares, an area the size of Africa) and cut total global greenhouse gas emissions by 28%. Half of this emissions reduction came from avoided emissions from animal production including methane and nitrous oxide, and half from trees re-growing on abandoned farmland that remove carbon dioxide from the air. The authors conclude that avoiding meat and dairy is the "single biggest way" to reduce one's impact on Earth.

The 2019 IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services found that industrial agriculture and overfishing are the primary drivers of the extinction crisis, with the meat and dairy industries having a substantial impact. On 8 August 2019, the IPCC released a summary of the 2019 special report which asserted that a shift towards plant-based diets would help to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

A 2022 study found that for high-income nations alone 100 billion tons of carbon dioxide could be removed from the air by the end of the century through a shift to plant-based diets and re-wilding of farmland. The researchers coined the term double climate dividend to describe the effect that re-wilding after a diet shift can have. But they note: "We don't have to be purist about this, even just cutting animal intake would be helpful. If half of the public in richer regions cut half the animal products in their diets, you're still talking about a massive opportunity in environmental outcomes and public health".

A 2023 study published in Nature Food found that a vegan diet vastly decreases the impact on the environment from food production, such as reducing emissions, water pollution and land use by 75%, reducing the destruction of wildlife by 66% and the usage of water by 54%.

Pioneers
One leading activist and scholar of feminist animal rights is Carol J. Adams. Her premier work, The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory (1990), noted the relationship between feminism and meat consumption. Since its release, Adams has published several other works, including essays, books, and keynote addresses. In one of her speeches, "Why feminist-vegan now?" —adapted from her original address at the "Minding Animals" conference in Newcastle, Australia (2009)—she said, "the idea that there was a connection between feminism and vegetarianism came to [her] in October 1974". Other authors have echoed Adams's ideas and expanded on them. Feminist scholar Angella Duvnjak wrote in "Joining the Dots: Some Reflections on Feminist-Vegan Political Practice and Choice" (2011) that she was met with opposition when she pointed out the connection between feminist and vegan ideals, even though the connection seemed more than obvious to her and other scholars.

Animal and human abuse parallels
One of the central concepts that animates feminist veganism is the idea that there is a connection between the oppression of women and the oppression of animals. For example, Marjorie Spiegal compared the consumption or servitude of animals for human gain to slavery. This connection is further mirrored by feminist vegan writers like Carrie Hamilton, who wrote that violent "rapists sometimes exhibit behavior that seems to be patterned on the mutilation of animals", suggesting there is a parallel between rape and animal cruelty.

Capitalism and feminist veganism
Feminist veganism also relates to feminist thought through the common critique of the capitalist means of production. In an interview, Carol J. Adams highlighted "meat eating as the ultimate capitalist product, because it takes so much to make the product, it uses up so many resources". This extensive use of resources for meat production is discouraged in favor of using that productive capacity for other food products that have a less detrimental impact on the environment.

Religious veganism
Streams within a number of religious traditions encourage veganism, sometimes on ethical or environmental grounds. Scholars have especially noted the growth in the 21st century of Jewish veganism and Jain veganism. Some interpretations of Christian vegetarianism, Hindu vegetarianism, and Buddhist vegetarianism also recommend or mandate a vegan diet.

Donald Watson argued, "If Jesus were alive today, he'd be an itinerant vegan propagandist instead of an itinerant preacher of those days, spreading the message of compassion, which, as I see it, is the only useful part of what religion has to offer and, sad as it seems, I doubt if we have to enroll our priest as a member of the Vegan Society."

Black veganism
In the U.S., Black veganism is a social and political philosophy as well as a diet. It connects the use of nonhuman animals with other social justice concerns such as racism, and with the lasting effects of slavery, such as the subsistence diets of enslaved people enduring as familial and cultural food traditions. Dietary changes caused by the Great Migration also meant former farmers, who had previously been able to grow or forage vegetables, became reliant on processed foods.

According to Oakland activist AshEL Eldridge, the movement is about the Black community reclaiming its food sovereignty and "decolonizing" Black Americans' diet. According to Shah, the area where most vegans of color feel the greatest rift with mainstream veganism is in its failure to recognize the intersectionality with other social justice issues, such as food access.

Politics and activism
In 2021, vegan climate activist Greta Thunberg called for more vegan food production and consumption worldwide. Parties like Tierschutzpartei in Germany and PACMA in Spain have pro-vegan agendas. They cooperate via Animal Politics EU. In the European Union, meat producers and vegans debate whether vegan food products should be allowed to use terms like "sausages" or "burgers". The EU bans labeling vegan products with dairy-related words like "almond milk", a rule instated in 2017. , six countries in Europe apply higher value-added tax (VAT) rates to vegan plant milk than to cow milk, which pro-vegan activists have called discrimination.

Demographics
One out of 10 Americans over 18 consider themselves vegan or vegetarian as of January 2022.

A study comparing personality traits of vegans, vegetarians and omnivores found that vegans were higher in openness and agreeableness than omnivores.

In the below chart, polls with larger sample sizes are preferred over those with smaller sample size.

Vegan rights
In some countries, vegans have some rights to meals and legal protections against discrimination.


 * The German police sometimes provides on-duty staff with food. After not being provided a vegan option in this context, a vegan employee has been granted an additional food allowance.
 * In Portugal, starting in 2017, public administration canteens and cafeterias such as schools, prisons and social services must offer at least one vegan option at every meal.
 * In Ontario, a province of Canada, there were reports that ethical veganism became protected under the Ontario Human Rights Code, following a 2015 update to legal guidance by the Ontario Human Rights Commission. However, said body later issued a statement that this question is for a judge or tribunal to decide on a case-by-case basis.
 * In the United Kingdom, an employment tribunal ruled in 2020 that the Equality Act 2010 protects "ethical veganism", a belief it defined as veganism that extends beyond diet to all areas of life and is motivated by a concern for animals.

Symbols


Multiple symbols have been developed to represent veganism. Several are used on consumer packaging, including the Vegan Society trademark and the Vegan Action logo, to indicate products without animal-derived ingredients. Various symbols may also be used by members of the vegan community to represent their identity and in the course of animal rights activism, such as a vegan flag.

Media depictions
Veganism is often misrepresented in media. Some argue that veganism has been dismissed in news media or that clickbait culture often portrays feminists and vegans as "irrational extremists." This is because in Western societies, "meat-based diets are the norm" with those who avoid meat still representing "a small minority," with more women than men as vegan and vegetarian, with women being "under-represented in the mass media," the latter influencing more to be vegetarians. Others have noted those who are vegetarian and vegan are met with "acceptance, tolerance, or hostility" after they divulge they are vegetarian or vegan. There are a number of vegan stereotypes, including claims they hate meat-eaters, are always hungry, weak, angry, or moralistic. The hatred of vegans has been termed as vegaphobia by some individuals. Farhad Manjoo, in 2019, stated that "preachy vegans are something of a myth," and argued that in pop culture, and generally, it is "still widely acceptable to make fun of vegans."

Literature
Often vegan or vegetarian characters are portrayed as fringe characters, although other novels cast them as protagonists or encourage people to become vegetarians or vegans. Some have argued that there are more vegan cookbooks than "vegan literature" There are also books that introduce "vegan identity to children" or encourage people to "write for" animals. Also, Bruce Banner in Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk and Karolina Dean in Runaways, who is also known as Lucy in the Sky or L.S.D., are vegans. The latter is a lesbian, a vegan, and "an ardent animal lover...committed to a life completely free of meat and dairy."

TV shows
Jessica Cruz / Green Lantern, a lead character in the animated series, DC Super Hero Girls is not only pacifist, but also a vegan and environmentalist, resulting in her becoming friends with Pam Isley. She often professes her commitment to the environment and plant-based meals.

The series City of Ghosts featured a chef, Sonya, who runs a vegan cafe in Leimert Park, Los Angeles. Draculaura in Monster High has also been called "one of the very few outspoken vegan cartoon characters out there".

Social media
By the 2010s, social media sites like Instagram became prominent in the promotion of veganism, more than a fad, with people trying to "change the world by being vegan" as stated by various media outlets.

Economics of veganism
According to a 2016 study, if everyone in the U.S. switched to a vegan diet, the country would save $208.2 billion in direct health-care savings, $40.5 billion in indirect health-care savings, $40.5 billion in environmental savings, and $289.1 billion in total savings by 2050. The study also found that if everybody in the world switched to a vegan diet, the global economy would save $684.4 billion in direct health-care savings, $382.6 billion in indirect health-care savings, $569.5 billion in environmental savings, and $1.63 trillion in total savings by 2050.

Thandi (rhino)
Thandi is a female white rhino living in Kariega Game Reserve. She is the first known rhino to have survived being poached.

Poaching incident
On the second of March, 2012, three rhinos were poached in Kariega Game Reserve. One died overnight, but Thandi and another were found dehorned, bleeding, and stumbling around. The wildlife conservationists managed to save Thandi, although they considered euthanizing her. It is suspected that the poachers tranquilized the rhinos.

Vegan mothers may consume their own placentas, but vegans do not consume the placentas of other humans or animals. The main difference between a vegan and vegetarian diet is that vegans exclude dairy products and eggs. Vegans may consume breastmilk with the consent of the female significant other or mother.