Veganuary

Emily Shaw

Research

The Vegan Society

https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/dairy-industry

Summary: This article focus’ on the facts from within the dairy industry and states a lot of facts and figures about the process that happens on a dairy farm and what the cattle go through in order to produce the milk. An example of this is the fact that over a third of British dairy cows suffer from painful udder infections. The article also states that the calves are taken away from their mothers around a day after birth which therefore causes a lot of distress for both the mother and calf. This article also highlights some of the illnesses British cows generally suffer from with the dairy industry.

Tags: The Vegan Society, Dairy farming.

‘Farms exist for profit, not to make sure the wants and needs of cattle are met.’ –The Vegan Society.

‘Dairy cows are considered spent between 7 -8 years at which age they are slaughtered.’ – The Vegan Society

Quotes:

Veganism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veganism

Summary: The opening of this article gives a clear definition for veganism and also breaks down the different types of vegans there are. The opening few paragraphs also introduce Donald Watson who was the co-founder of The Vegan Society in 1944. this article also features the health benefits from going going vegan such as a vegan diet generally consists of more dietary fibre, magnesium, folic acid, vitamin C and many more. This article also contains an depth view of the history of veganism and who started it, and when it became more popular to become vegan or vegetarian. There is also mentions of the philosophical side of veganism and what peoples beliefs are.

Quotes: ‘Veganism is both the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, and an associated abolitionist philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals.’‘The term vegan was coined in 1944 by Donald Watson when he co-founded the Vegan Society in England.’‘Well-planned vegan diets can reduce the risk of some types of chronic disease including heart disease.’

Tags: Wikipedia, Veganism, Donald Watson.

Animals (Veganuary)-

https://veganuary.com/why/animals/

Summary: This article highlights the fact that animals are a lot like humans and are capable of feeling similar emotions like pain, stress and happiness. As the food and fashion industry uses a lot of mass-production the well-being off the animals is looked over, the worst for this is the dairy industry as eggs are needed in very large quantities. This article also states the animals most effected by these industries are chickens, cows, ducks, fish, pigs, rabbits, sheep and lambs and turkeys.

Quotes:‘The mass production of animals for food and clothing has resulted in an industry that cares little for their well-being’‘Research tells us that chickens probably suffer the most miserable existence of all factory farmed animals’‘Dairy cows have their calves removed from them only hours after giving birth’

Validating sources: The information from this website is most likely to be fact as the Veganuary website ensure all they post is truthful at the time of posting. Some similar facts are also stated on the PETA website.

Tags: Veganuary, Fashion industry, animals, emotions.

Animals used for clothing (PETA)

http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/

Summary: This article is very concise and states how millions of animals are killed each year just to produce clothes for the fashion industry. Also in this article there are links to a website which instructs people on ‘How to dress vegan’ and this gives tips and advice on how to avoid products that have been made from animal produce, there is also a segment on that page which tells people where to buy vegan clothing. There are also many different more specific industries which use animals for clothing such as fur, leather and wool.

Quotes: ‘An immeasurable amount of suffering goes into every fur-trimmed jacket, leather belt, and wool sweater.’

Validating sources: This source is fairly reliable and factual as it comes from the PETA website which is a very well known and factual company.

Tags: animals, clothing, PETA

The Fur Industry (PETA)

http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/fur/

Summary: This article highlights the fact that animal fur is everywhere in the fashion industry even if its just the trim of a coat. Within this industry animals are treated horrendously on ‘fur farms’ where they live in cramped wire cages, as well as this the methods used to kill the animals are usually the cheapest and most aggressive. The article also draws attention towards the fact that in china dogs and cats are also killed for their fur and can be mislabeled. At the end of this article PETA state that there are other options like faux fur and cruelty free fabrics.

Quotes: ‘More than half the fur in the U.S. comes from China, where millions of dogs and cats are bludgeoned, hanged, bled to death, and often skinned alive for their fur.’‘Cruelty-free fabrics and faux furs are available in stores everywhere, and PETA continues to work with designers and clothing retailers to encourage them to use and sell only animal-friendly fabrics.’

Validating sources: As all this information came from the PETA website it is most likely to be reliable as it’s a trusted site.

Tags: Fur, animals, PETA, cruelty free.

The Leather Industry (PETA)

http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/leather-industry/

Summary: This article focus’ on the harsh reality of the leather industry and how you never really where the leather you're wearing has come from as leather can be made from cows, pigs, goats, sheep, alligators, ostriches, kangaroos and even dogs and cats which are used in china for their skin and meat and the leather produced there is never labeled so you will never truly know where the leather you're wearing has come from. Also the article states how in developing countries where most leather comes from there are limited animal welfare laws therefore the animals there are treated even worse. Leather is also destroying the environment much like the meat industry is, this is because of the toxins used in tanning.

Quotes: ‘In the U.S., many of the millions of cows and other animals who are killed for their skin endure the horrors of factory farming—extreme crowding and deprivation as well as castration, branding, tail-docking, and dehorning—all without any painkillers.’‘Buying leather directly contributes to factory farms and slaughterhouses because skin is the most economically important byproduct of the meat industry.’‘With every pair of leather shoes that you buy, you sentence an animal to a lifetime of suffering.’

Validating sources: Again all this information comes from the website PETA and they are one of the words largest animal rights organizations.

Tags: Leather, PETA, animals

‘This Is What a Vegan Looks Like’ (The guardian) Sunday 11 September.

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2016/sep/11/why-so-many-people-are-converting-to-veganism

Summary: This articles main aim is to introduce vegans and state the fact that anyone can be vegan there isn't a specific type of vegan. Celebrities are also used in this article to try entice and convert people as names such as Beyoncé and Brad Pitt are used. Then lower down in the article there's small interviews with bloggers and everyday vegans, where you find out why hey became a vegan and what their thoughts are about the vegan lifestyle which is very helpful for anyone who's aiming to be vegan r on the fence about being vegan.

Quotes: ‘The number of vegans has been rising in the UK – up by 360% over the past decade.’‘At the moment there are more than half a million in this country’‘There is the stereotype of the granola-eating hippie. That’s not me. I became vegan for environmental reasons which really resonated with me.’ –Diana Picnkett, 44, London.

Validating sources: As this is taken from a national newspapers website the facts at the top of the article will have had to have been checked multiple times to ensure they're corrects.

Tags: normal people, vegan people, the guardian.

‘The Easy Way To Go Cruelty-Free’

http://www.peta.org.uk/living/easy-way-go-cruelty-free/

Summary: The article highlights the fact that testing on animals for cosmetics and other toiletry products has been banned across the UK for around 3 years now, since then testing on animals was also banned across the European Union. However there are countries like China where testing on animals is compulsory and the company has to pay for the products to be tested on animals. Although there is a law against animal testing for cosmetics, there is still no law against animal testing for household cleaning products although one is being considered, but generally the testing doesn’t take place in this country so wouldn’t be very effective. There are certain high street companies such as LUSH and The Body Shop and many more which is on the PETA cruelty free list. There are a variety of cosmetics and household products that contain animal ingredients and aren't completely vegan, an example of a company of a company which has range of products which are vegan is LUSH.

Quotes: ‘The testing of cosmetics and toiletry products on animals has long been banned in the UK, and as of March 2013’‘In some countries – China, for example – it is compulsory for any company that sells cosmetics to pay for the products to be tested on animals.’‘Unless a company has a policy in place about the ingredients it uses, it is very likely that the ingredients it buys have been tested on animals.’‘LUSH has its own range of entirely vegan cosmetics’‘Thousands of animals suffer and are killed for cosmetics testing around the world every year – and billions are also killed for food.’

Validating Sources: As this article is from the PETA website itself means its fairly reliable due to the fact that they are a well established, well known company that promote animal welfare and animal rights groups.

Tags: PETA, Animal testing, LUSH, Cruelty free.

‘Cosmetics and Animal Testing’

http://www.peta.org.uk/issues/animals-not-experiment-on/cosmetics/

Summary: This article focus’ in more on the cosmetics and toiletries side of animal testing. Although it was made illegal in 2013 among the EU to sell animal tested cosmetics within Europe. Also there are ways around this law as animal tested products cant be sold in Europe, however outside of Europe the cosmetics can be tested on animals and sell them in other markets. Although animal testing for cosmetics is banned, animal testing on household products is still to be banned in Europe, meaning that hundreds of rats, mice, rabbits and guinea pigs are in toxicity tests for chemicals that are used in household products, to test these the products are injected into the animals skin and forced down their throats doing this can cause, vomiting , organ failures, death and many more side effects.

Quotes: ‘PETA has been at the technical forefront of the animal protection community in its campaign to replace animal methods with in vitro methods in regulatory toxicity testing. Importantly, they have backed up their activities with real dollars to support the development of nonanimalmethods.’—Dr. Rodger Curren, President, Institute for In Vitro Sciences

‘Following the ban on animal-tested cosmetics in Europe, ending animal tests for household products is the next logical step – and would save countless lives.’‘PETA is urging the UK government to end these animals’ suffering by banning all animal-testing for household products and their ingredients.’‘Despite the remarkable progress that’s been made, ingredients used in cosmetics may still be tested on animals in the EU under REACH, the world’s largest chemical testing programme.’

Validating Sources: As this article came from the PETA website it is reliable as it is at the forefront of being against animal testing and how badly animals are treated within the fashion industry.

Tags: PETA, cosmetics, animal testing, animals.

‘The Rise of Vegan Teenagers’

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/may/27/the-rise-of-vegan-teenagers-more-people-are-into-it-because-of-instagram Friday 27th May 2016.

Summary: This article focus’ in on the fact that young people make up almost half of all the vegan sin the UK, as 42% of UK vegans are aged between 15-34 where as only 14% are over 65. Also in this article it states that in 2006 150,000 people in the UK chose a plant based diet which is an increase of 350%. One of the people they interviewed was a 17 year old boy from south northamptonshire who said that he discovered veganism online and was immediately interested by the videos he was seeing.

Quotes: ‘It took me a while to go fully vegan – I was vegetarian for some time before – as I didn’t realise it would be so easy to get into.’ – EuanReece, 17.‘Veganism is definitely more common among young people now. I feel that social media has played a major part in this, but there’s also the fact that younger people aren’t bound as much by traditional values, so they are more likely to change to a more leftfield thing such as veganism.’ – Euan Reece, 17.‘I find that men are looked down on in mainstream circles for being vegan as it isn’t seen as masculine.’ – Euan Reece, 17.‘On Instagram, people make veganism look like a very desirable lifestyle, and young girls can be influenced by that.’ – Megan Malthouse, 17, Hampshire.

Validating sources- This source is fairly trustworthy as the article comes from the Guardian and is also mainly based on statistics and interviews with teenagers.

Tags- The guardian, veganism, teenagers, statistics.

Veganism and the Environment.

https://veganuary.com/why/environment/

Summary: This article highlights the information like the fact the fishing, pollution and deforestation is destroying many species homes, for example sloths are one of many victims that are effected by deforestation. This article contains a lot of facts, figures and quotes which is helpful to gage the scale of deforestation and how many species are actually effected.

Quotes:‘Every second, any area of rainforest equivalent to a football field is cleared to provide space to grow animal feed and for pasture grazing.’‘The charity Rainforest Concern estimate that:1 lb beef = 200 sq m of rainforest destroyed.’‘According to a United Nations Food and Agricultural report:96% of all wild fish species are moderately exploited, or worse.’

Tags: wildlife, veganury, deforestation.

Cowspiracy Infographic

http://www.cowspiracy.com/infographic

Summary: This infographic contains lots of key facts and figures on veganism and how it effects the environment to produce meat on such a large scale. Also within this infographic it highlight facts like 90 million tons are pulled from ocean each year, also the way the information is presented makes it more appealing to a wider variety of people as it catches the eye. Also from these graphics you learn that in 1 hamburger there are 660 gallons of water which is the equivalent of 2 months worth of showers. Also 51% of global greenhouse gas emissions is due the byproducts of livestock.

Validating sources: this is a valid source as it is a fairly well known site with other links and connections, so it likely that all their facts are up to date and have been a checked a lot to ensure they are true as a lot of people will likely to have seen this infographic.

Tags: cowspiracy, infographic, facts, statistics.

‘How your diet could change the world’

https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/environment

Summary: Also in this article there is a lot of facts and statistics which help to show the scale of meat production and veganism for example this article states that since the 60’s the population had doubled yet the worlds meat production has quadrupled which is a shocking scale as that isn't a well known fact that the meant production industry is that large across the world. Meat production contributes massively towards global warming, pollution, deforestation, water scarcity and species extinction. Having ore animals in the food production industry also means that they will need food to feed them, which indicates that in years to come there wont be enough room for both the crops and the animals. Food and land security can also be effected by this and a vegan and plant based diet don’t use as many resources and would therefore save a lot more space, as well as this a vegan diet uses less water and would help to eliminate the water scarcity problem that may develop.

Quotes: ‘The world will only have 60% of the water it needs by 2030 without significant global policy change, according to a recent report from the U.N.’‘Livestock production has increased massively; there are now 4 and a half times as many tonnes of pig produced in 2013 compared to 1961, while world chicken production has increased by nearly 13 times.’‘The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations predicts that by 2050 world meat production will have almost doubled, as the Western taste for meat, eggs and dairy products continues to grow.’‘The planet cannot feed both increasing human and farmed animal populations, especially when there will be between 2-4 billion more human mouths to feed by 2050.’

Validating Sources: The source is also a fairly reliable website as its an official company ‘The Vegan Society’ which is one of the leading vegan action sites.

Tags: The vegan society, environment, water scarcity

‘UN Urges global move to meat and dairy-free diet’

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet(Wednesday 2 June 2010)

Summary: This article is based more around the UN’s concerns that without more people turning to a vegan diet it could lead to world hunger, fuel poverty and climate change. The UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) states that diets rich in meat and dairy products are not sustainable as there is estimated to be 9.1 billion people by 2050.

Quotes: ‘Agriculture, particularly meat and dairy products, accounts for 70% of global freshwater consumption, 38% of the total land use and 19% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, says the report, which has been launched to coincide with UN World Environment day on Saturday.’‘Last year the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation said that food production would have to increase globally by 70% by 2050 to feed the world’s surging population.’‘Professor Edgar Hertwich, the lead author of the report, said: “Animal products cause more damage than [producing] construction minerals such as sand or cement, plastics or metals. Biomass and crops for animals are as damaging as [burning] fossil fuels.”’‘The recommendation follows advice last year that a vegetarian diet was better for the planet from Lord Nicholas Stern, former adviser to the Labour government on the economics of climate change.’

Validating Sources: As this article came for the Guardian it is fairly reliable however it is 6 years old so I may have to check on some of the facts and statistics from this article to ensure that they are still correct.

Tags: The guardian, environment, statistics

‘Veganism & The Environment’

http://www.yourdailyvegan.com/environment/

Summary: This article covers all aspects of veganism and the environment ranging across global hunger, climate change, habitat loss, resource depletion. This post also says that raising animals for food is the largest source of greenhouse gases, land use and rainforest deforestation, and also contributes to air pollution and the extinction of species. Also by raising animals for food it takes up 45% of Earths land, and is reliable for up 91% of Amazon destruction.

Quotes:‘It takes more than 11 times as much fossil fuel to make one calorie from animal protein as it does to make one calorie from plant protein.’‘Raising animals for food uses 45% of Earth’s total land’‘Animal agriculture is responsible for 80-90% of water consumption, more than any other activity in the United States.’‘One pound of beef requires 2,500 gallons of water.’‘One pound of eggs requires 477 gallons of water.’‘One pound of cheese requires 900 gallons of water.’‘One gallon of milk requires 1,000 gallons of water.’‘82% of starving children live in countries where food is fed to animals, and the animals are eaten by western countries’

Validating Sources: ‘Your Daily Vegan is committed to providing accurate information to the vegan community. The information and data presented in this article has been meticulously researched, and is based on the information available to me at the time of publication. Each guide is periodically reviewed for accuracy and updated as necessary. You can find the update date listed at the end of every guide. Please contact me if you find out-of-date or incorrect information.’

Tags: environment, statistics, your daily vegan

Health benefits- Veganuary

https://veganuary.com/why/health/

Summary: This article on Veganuary states that the second biggest reason for people going vegan is now for the health benefits. One of these health benefits is that going vegan/vegetarian can help lower blood pressure, as it was research that meat eaters generally have a higher blood pressure than non-meat eaters. High blood pressure can be the cause of heart disease, strokes and kidney failure. Also studies have shown that vegans cholesterol levels are generally lower than a meat eaters, high cholesterol can cause heart attacks and strokes. As well as this research found that vegans generally have a lower BMI than people on a standard meat eating diet, veganism can help combat the risk of obesity.

Quotes: ‘Between 1996 and 2011, obesity rates in the UK have almost doubled; 24% for men and 26% for women.’‘Trials of diets have also shown that being vegan is more effective than a low fat standard diets.’‘A two year controlled trial inObesity compared a moderate low fat diet to a vegan diet. The results showed that the vegans lost significantly more weight than those on the low fat diet.’“All my blood tests are good, and my vital signs are good, and I feel good, and I also have, believe it or not, more energy.” –Bill Clinton (became vegan after emergency heart surgery).‘Approximately 30% of the UK population have high blood pressure.’‘In 2012, a cross sectional study in Public Health Nutrition compared the blood pressure of non-vegetarians, semi vegetarians, pescatarians, and vegans. The results showed that vegans had the lowest risk for high blood pressure.’

Validating Sources: As all this information came from the veganuary website its most reliable and contains references of where they found their information from too.

Tags: veganuary, health benefits

‘Is a vegan diet healthy?’

http://www.jamieoliver.com/news-and-features/features/vegan-diet-healthy/#ImgYdUw2bBw5VbtH.97(December 31st 2014)

Summary: This article contains a balanced argument on the health benefits and downfalls of a vegan diet for example a vegan diet is is generally higher in vitamin C and fibre and is also lower in saturated fats however the article also says that vegan diets can also be fairly low in calcium, iron and vitamin D, so you need to be conscious of whether or not you are low in any of these vitamins or minerals. This article also highlights that fact no matter what diet you are on there's always a risk of it being unhealthy if you eat too much of one thing and too little of another.

Quotes:‘A recent study indicated that the average vegan diet is higher in vitamin C and fibre, and lower in saturated fat than one containing meat.’‘Statistics show that vegans have a lower BMI (height-to-weight ratio) than meat eaters’‘A diet without any meat or dairy products is likely to contain a lot less saturated fat, which is related to increased cholesterol levels and increased risk of heart disease.’‘If you follow a vegan diet it is essential that you get enough of these nutrients through specific vegan food sources – and may even need to take additional supplements.’

Validating sources: This article was a lot more opinionated and less factual however it had a lot more balanced arguments and gave a lot more of an incite of what issues may be caused from having a vegan diet.

Tags: Health, Jamie Oliver, balanced diet.

‘Benefits of a vegan lifestyle’

http://www.ilovevegan.com/resources/benefits-of-a-vegan-lifestyle/

Summary: This article focus’ on the positives that come from a vegan diet for example the article states that healthy vegan diets are high in vitamins B1, C and E, folic acid, magnesium, and iron as well as this they are usually low in cholesterol and saturated fats. As well as this a vegan diet can reduce the risks of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, heart disease, hypertension, stroke and obesity. In this post the it is stated that there's an estimated 14% of the earths population that suffer from malnutrition yet there still continues to be so much waste from agricultural land. By following a vegan diet it contributes less to to air pollution and puts less pressure on natural resources as there is less of a requirement for land, fossil fuels and water.

Quotes:‘Breeding, raising, and feeding animals for food is a tremendously inefficient use of our natural resources.’‘60% of worldwide deforestation has been converted for use as agricultural land, much of which is used for grazing cattle.’‘While chickens can live for more than 10 years, egg laying hens are slaughtered between the age of 2-2.5 years old as this is when egg production begins to decline.’‘Females begin their lives as dairy cows at 13 months of age. Males are slaughtered for veal within anywhere from just a few hours old up to 4 months of age.’

Validating Sources: As this article is more of a blog post it may need some of the facts checking before I use them as there is no references so if I use any of these ill have to ensure they are true.

Tags: Vegan lifestyle, statistics, animals, benefits.

Primary Research

Interviews• Do you agree with the vegan lifestyle? Why?

‘Yes, because of how poorly animals are treated just to produce meat.’

‘No, I personally don’t understand it. I like meat too much and its part of the food chain.’

‘I am open to other peoples opinions, I don’t really know that much about veganism.’

‘To a certain extent but I don’t know where you would get protein and other nutrients from.’

‘Yes because of how badly animals are treated for fashion and food purposes.’

‘Yeah, because it’s a healthier way of living.’

• Would you ever consider going vegan?

‘Yes, to help cut down on meat production and help save animals lives’

‘No.’

‘Yes for a short period of time if I knew more about it’

‘maybe if I knew more about it.’

‘Yes.’

‘Maybe sometime in the future.’

• Have you seen any advertisement for veganism?

‘Yes only on social media though.’

‘I have, mainly on Facebook in videos.’

‘Facebook mainly.’

‘not really, only briefly on the internet.’

‘No only heard about it from a friend.’

‘Yes but only on social media from what friends have shared.’

• What do you know about veganism?

‘I only know that 1/3 of land is needed for a vegan diet and is a lot healthier.’

‘They don’t eat animals, or wear anything from animals.’

‘Don’t eat or use any animal produce.’

‘They don’t use or eat anything that comes from animals.’

‘Vegans chose not to use any vegan produce to help animal welfare or for dietary reasons.’

‘Not much I would like to know more.’

• When did you first hear about veganism?

‘About 2 years ago.’

‘I watched a documentary a few years ago.’

‘In the last year.’

‘A few years ago.’

‘Last year.’

‘About 3 years ago.’

• Do you know anyone who is vegan?

‘Yes, my best friend is vegan.’

‘I only know of the band Slaves that are vegan.’

‘No.’

‘No only celebrities.’

‘Yes one of my friends.’

‘No.’

• Does veganism interest you?

‘Yes, to support my friend.’

‘No, I don’t know enough about it.’

‘Yes, for animal welfare.’

‘Not particularly but maybe if I knew more about it.’

‘Yes because animals are treated so poorly for fashion purposes.’

‘Yes because animals are treated terribly when producing meat and dairy.’

• What would you like to know about veganism?

‘Where sells vegan foods.’

‘Why they do it, what do they gain from it.’

‘Where has vegan menus.’

‘What made other people go vegan.’

‘How to make going vegan a smooth transition and not as confusing.’

‘What health benefits it has.’

Summary

• What I found from talking to the people I interviewed was that people are fairly open to a vegan lifestyle, as one of them was already considering veganism to support their friend, and another was that they would try it for a short period of time, meaning something like Veganuary would be very well suited to them as they would be likely to try it. On the other hand the second person I spoke to was more against the idea of trying veganism, but did know of vegan musicians who they enjoy. The general responses I got was that people had found out about veganism and saw the most advertisement for veganism on social media, more specifically Facebook, which helps me to understand where people see most about veganism and could be place to mainly target my infographics. Also from these conversations I found that people have only just started to learn more about veganism in the past couple of years showing how its becoming increasingly more popular.