Empathy Over Speciesism

"Highly concentrated and heavily polluting industrial animal production facilities are disproportionately sited in Black and brown communities." (Source)

"Factory farm air pollution is harming communities of color. Satellite data shows industrial pig farms in North Carolina release high levels of ammonia, disproportionately affecting Indigenous, Black and Latino communities." (Source)

"The majority of slaughterhouse workers are people of color, who come from predominantly low-income communities. Slaughterhouse workers are already at great risk of dangerous pollutants and injuries. For example, in 2015, Tyson meat packing plants reported an average of one amputation per month for workers in their facilities throughout that year. Workers are also exposed to air pollutants such as particulate matter carrying mold, animal dander, and pathogens. Additionally, workers in the meat industry frequently suffer from mental illnesses like PTSD, which are ignored." (Source)

Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth.

Cattle ranching is the leading cause of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, responsible for approximately 80% of current deforestation rates. Driven by global demand for beef, this expansion involves clearing vast forest areas, often illegally, to create pastureland, which also fuels land speculation and forest fires.

"Transport typically accounts for less than 1% of beef’s GHG emissions: eating locally has minimal effects on its total footprint. 

There are massive differences in the GHG emissions of different foods: producing a kilogram of beef emits 60 kilograms of greenhouse gases (CO2-equivalents). In contrast, peas emit just 1 kilogram per kg.

Transport is a small contributor to emissions. For most food products, it accounts for less than 10%." (Source)

If you don’t want to be vegan then don’t be vegan but if you’re going to be a troll, at least use your brain.

You also eat fruit, vegetables, nuts, legumes and grains. (Not just vegans.)

You know who else also eats those? Livestock.

The prevention device clamps on the nose by means of a screw. Some have spikes to ensure that the cow rejects the calf's efforts at suckling.

If you search for “anti-suckling device calves” online you will find dozens of these for sale.

Image found on Pinterest.

"Factory farm air pollution is harming communities of color. Satellite data shows industrial pig farms in North Carolina release high levels of ammonia, disproportionately affecting Indigenous, Black and Latino communities." (Source)

Slaughterhouse workers are already at great risk of dangerous pollutants and injuries. For example, in 2015, Tyson meat packing plants reported an average of one amputation per month for workers in their facilities throughout that year. Workers are also exposed to air pollutants such as particulate matter carrying mold, animal dander, and pathogens. Additionally, workers in the meat industry frequently suffer from mental illnesses, which are ignored.

According to the American Psychological Association, slaughterhouse workers can experience a form of PTSD called Perpetration-Induced Traumatic Stress (PITS). Those who suffer from PITS are the “causal participant,” meaning that they are the reason for the trauma of another being, rather than being the victim of trauma themselves. The symptoms of PITS are similar to symptoms of PTSD in the sense that they both experience substance abuse issues, anxiety, depression, and the dissociation from reality. Slaughterhouse workers experience PITS, as their job results in the killing of 25 million farm animals daily in the U.S..

The mental effects and toll taken on these workers can be tied to violence outside of the slaughterhouse. A study published in 2009, by researchers Amy J. Fitzgerald, Linda Kalof, and Thomas Dietz outlines and analyzes the connections between slaughterhouses and increased crime rates. Their study found that slaughterhouse employment led to an increase of overall crime, yet more particularly violent and sexual crimes. According to the study, “The findings indicate that slaughterhouse employment increases total arrest rates, arrests for violent crimes, arrests for rape, and arrests for other sex offenses in comparision with other industries.” (Source)

Eating animals uses more crops than eating plants directly, so if you cared about migrant crop workers, you'd stop eating animals and animal products.

"The current system produces enough to sustain more than 10 billion people (the current global population is roughly 7.9 billion people). But world hunger remains a problem due to many crops being grown worldwide to feed animals, not humans.