There were many potential reasons for becoming a vegan that were discussed on Monday night during an event held at the University of Guelph. The biggest motivator for many in attendance was to guarantee the ethical treatment of animals.
“When I drive past one of those trucks taking animals to the slaughterhouse it breaks me into a million irreparable pieces,” said speaker Andrew Hunt. “What we see in the suffering of those sentient beings is a collective failure of our humanity.”
Hunt is a professor of US history at the University of Waterloo and maintains a blog called Planet of Animals that celebrates animal rights and vegan living.
“There are 56 billion animals killed each year for human consumption,” he said. “That is about 3,000 animals every second and 100 million die each year in scientific experiments.”
Hunt became emotional as he quoted Italian writer Antonio Gramsci, who was jailed by fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in 1926 for his Marxist views. Gramsci maintained his hope for justice by writing in notebooks smuggled into the prison.
“I’m a pessimist because of intelligence but an optimist because of will,” quoted Hunt. “Our task is similar. We must find hope despite the statistics.”
He drew parallels between fascism and the treatment of animal rights activists such as Anita Krajnc who was arrested in June of last year for giving water to pigs in a livestock trailer.
Krajnc is co-founder of Toronto Pig Save that works to rescue animals destined for slaughter and raises issues of animal abuse in the food industry. She was scheduled to speak at the event Monday but had to cancel due to an unspecified crisis at her animal sanctuary.
“Anita was charged with a criminal offense for giving water to a pig,” said Hunt. “You’re not alone if you don’t like what is happening. We know there has to be a movement.”
Room 103 in the University Centre was filled to capacity with many in attendance hoping to hear Krajnc speak.
Event organizers from the Guelph Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals were disappointed Krajnc couldn’t make it but were happy with the large turnout.
“We have 700 student members with a solid 20 to 30 that come out regularly to meetings,” said GSETA president Lily Leclipteux. “We actively inform students about the role animal exploitation plays in their lives.”
Speaker Ray Kowalchuk from Climate Vegan invoked veganism as a way to address climate change. He describes himself as a climate vegangelical and used facts from the documentary Cowspiracy to demonstrate how meat consumption influences climate change.
He said animal agriculture produces more greenhouse gas emissions than the combined exhaust from all transportation and is responsible for 91 per cent of the deforestation of Amazon rainforests.
“Those rainforest are the lungs of the Earth and we are cutting and burning them down for cattle production,” he said. “What are you doing about it? A vegan diet is something you can do three times a day.”
Mike Fuendling from Boom Health and Fitness on Gordon Street talked about the health benefits of a vegan diet.
“Meat is unnecessary,” he said. “We don’t need it. Put the issues of animal cruelty and the environment aside. We can get all the protein and nutrients we need with a vegan diet.”
He stressed, however, that just because you have chosen a vegan diet it doesn’t mean you are eating healthy. He advises people to stay away from processed food and not to believe everything they hear or read on a label.
“Do your own research,” he said. “Don’t trust the front label. Turn the product over and read the label of ingredients.”
