By Emma Weidmann | Arts and Life Editor
By now, we’ve all heard the elevator pitch from that one vegan friend. You know, the one who says, “Being vegan is so much healthier for you!” and swears up and down that the diet is not only healthier than eating meat, but somehow cheaper too?
Incredulous, you walk into Whole Foods, and all of the snacks are “meatless beef jerky” or “vegan ricotta cheese.” You’re left wondering how it’s even possible to make meatless meat and cheese that somehow didn’t come from an animal — not just more healthy than the real thing, but less expensive as well.
That’s because it isn’t. The whole time vegans and vegetarians have been buying into this well-meaning lifestyle of cruelty-free, environmentally friendly products, they’ve also been sold a “greenwashed” lie. There is no world where cutting out the biggest and most bioavailable source of protein, iron, vitamins and fatty acids is good for you. Living on a diet of soy, nuts and fruit — while simultaneously downing a handful of pills and supplements just to make sure you don’t faint — isn’t really living.
While it’s true that vegans and vegetarians have been shown to have less association with cardiovascular disease, liver disease and obesity, per the National Institutes of Health, evidence also suggests that these diets leave people more susceptible to nervous, skeletal and immune system impairments, blood disease and mental health deterioration due to malnutrition. Talk about a clean diet.
That’s a lot of health risks, but at least vegans are saving money, right? Wrong again. Compare one 8-ounce container of grated parmesan from H-E-B for $4.31 to a two-pack of 4-ounce containers of “dairy-free grated topping” for $16.54 on Amazon. The non-vegan cheese is $0.54 per ounce, while the vegan stuff is $2.07 for the same. And while there are some vegans and vegetarians who maintain that their lifestyle saves them money, the NIH shows a majority of vegans take supplement pills and vitamin gummies that can cost a pretty penny. A quick Google search reveals most supplements marketed toward vegans are around the $30 mark for a month’s supply.
And the downsides of the lifestyle don’t stop there. Of course, everyone should care about the treatment of animals, and it’s a sad reality that our furry friends are often abused on industrial farms as well as in cosmetic testing. To circumvent the impact of animal cruelty, many vegans and vegetarians boycott the sale of leather and furs in favor of what they call “vegan leather.”
What is vegan leather, you may ask? None other than plastic. Yes, the same plastic that pollutes the water we drink and mucks up marine wildlife habitats, killing an estimated 100,000 marine mammals each year, according to the World Wildlife Fund — not to mention the fact that fast fashion companies are the leading contributor to air pollution and a huge offender of workers rights.
So, when the well-meaning vegetarian consumer shops for vegan leather rather than thrifting or wearing a hand-me-down leather or fur jacket, they’re not doing any favors for the animals at all. In fact, they’re valuing animal life over the lives of child laborers and the future of the planet.
If you’re vegan or vegetarian and your diet works for you and your wallet while also making you feel healthy, that’s amazing. However, the diet and lifestyle are not feasible for everyone, and it takes money and dedication, as well as being in tune with your body and knowing its limits. If you’re on the fence about cutting meat and other animal products from your diet, be my guest, but be aware of all the facts before making such a commitment, and don’t be swayed by “greenwashed” marketing and false information.
