Autumn 2021
The International Day of Peace, observed around the world yearly every September, was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly. In 2001, the U.N. General Assembly unanimously voted to designate the annual Day of Peace as a 24-hour period of non-violence and cease-fire devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace.
This year’s United Nations International Day of Peace theme is ‘Recovering Better For An Equitable and Sustainable World’. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres also urged that “We must make peace with Nature”.
Vegan International suggests that the International Day of Peace be extended to include peace on all levels, an end to all wars, and especially all aspects of the War on Nature including:
War on Disease. The war against Zoonotic diseases, such as Covid-19, HIV/AIDS, SARS, MERS, Ebola, Avian (Bird) Flu, Swine (Pig) Flu, and others, will continue to wreck havoc on humanity until the cause, and not the symptom, is addressed. Humanity will not stay safe with vaccines, but with an understanding of the cause of zoonotic disease, which is speciesism, the unjust exploitation of other species. and a determination to eliminate it.
War on Soil. Soil is being destroyed and eroded by unsustainable agricultural practices. Chemical pesticides and fertilizers are deadly and expensive. They cause run off which pollutes ground water, are unhealthy for human consumption, and often cause fatalities for local wildlife. Use of sustainable agriculture practices such as ‘natural’, ‘stock-free organic’, and ‘veganic’ agriculture use no dangerous and expensive chemical fertilizers or pesticides, or any disease causing animal inputs such as manure, blood, or other components which cause disease from E.coli, salmonella, and other pathogens.
There is no risk of animal related zoonotic disease with sustainable agriculture. Sustainable (veganic) agriculture is highly productive, self-sufficient, and has a low carbon footprint. This is especially helpful in the developing nations since it does not need outside inputs. Sustainable agriculture is economical and is in harmony with nature. Veganic agriculture grosses less income because it requires rotation of fields, leaving one field unplanted and rejuvenating, but nets more income because there are no outside inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides, and there is no contamination or pollution of land. This is especially helpful in developing nations, and is the most peaceful treatment of soil anywhere in the world.
War on Forests. Destruction of forests to create land for grazing or to produce crops for animal agriculture causes land degradation and desertification. and exacerbates climate change by eliminating the cooling effect of forests.
According to the New York Times, “We invade tropical forests and other wild landscapes, which harbor so many species of animals and plants – and within those creatures, so many unknown viruses. We cut the trees; we kill the animals or cage them and send them to markets. We disrupt ecosystems, and we shake viruses loose from their natural hosts. When that happens, they need a new host. Often, we are it.”
We are pushing into the last wild spaces on our planet. We burn and plow into the Amazon rainforests so that we can have cheap land for ranching, we convert the African bush to farms, and we hunt wild animals to extinction. So long as we keep making remote places less remote, disasters will ensue, according to global health expert Alanna Shaikh.
War on Oceans. Currently oceans are being used as garbage dumps for plastic and other debris. Nothing can live in the ‘dead zones’ created by this garbage. Ocean individuals face extinction from being kidnapped, drown in air, and cut open while alive. Developed nations subsidize fishing which keeps the market value of murdered fish artificially low while contributing to hunger and starvation in some humans. Without subsidies, the market manipulating mechanism which enriches some human individuals at the expense of other humans, the fishing industry would collapse. Then ocean individuals could live in peace, and humans would be incentivized to adopt the more peaceful and healthful plant-based diet.
War on Water This precious and limited resource is being squandered and destroyed by unsustainable use and pollution. Water scarcity affects every continent, and water use is growing globally at more than twice the population increase in the last century.
The most wasteful and dangerous use of water is in animal agriculture. Water from slaughterhouses contains nitrogen, phosphorus, fecal bacteria, pathogens, veterinary drugs, viruses, parasites, cleaning products and blood. It enters ground water, making it unsafe for drinking, recreation or irrigation.
Nitrates, a form of nitrogen, account for nearly all the pollution reported in slaughterhouse wastewater discharged to rivers. Field spraying of slaughterhouse wastewater pollutes local drinking water wells with nitrates. Water treatment systems are not able to completely filter out these pathogens from drinking water.
Nitrogen and phosphorus pollution runoff from animal agriculture causes dead zones in waterways harming ecosystems and wildlife. Livestock and poultry incarceration facilities produce huge amounts of manure without any safe, effective way to remove it. Manure is a major source of pollution in waterways.
War on Atmosphere. Global warming is universally accepted to be caused by greenhouse gasses. Methane from animal agriculture – raising animal individuals to be eaten by human individuals – holds heat in the atmosphere more effectively than the carbon dioxide from both industry and transportation. Methane produced in the intestines of sentient beings during digestion, is the single greatest cause of climate change.
War on Heat. The war against heat in a warming world, requires access to sustainable cooling
Warmer temperatures globally cause hurricanes, tsunamis, wildfires, melt polar ice caps, and cause rising water to devastate small island developing nations and coastal areas. Warmer temperatures also contribute to hunger in developing nations.
According to the representatives of Rwanda at a recent Sustainable Energy For All conference, 50% of their food is destroyed from farm to market because of lack of cooling. As global warming increases so does the need for cooling!
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that due to heat. approximately 14% of all food worldwide is lost after harvest on farms, and at the transport, storage, processing, and wholesale stages. Food lost from heat has a value of more than $400 billion a year. This does not take into considering its impact on hunger!
War on Health. Pandemics, zoonotic disease, antibiotic resistance, some cancers, heart disease and diabetes are all linked to the unsustainable meat, fish and dairy (milk and egg) based diet. This war on health is caused by the exploitation, abuse and ingestion of individuals of other species by the human species.
The United Nation World Health Organization (WHO) announced that cases of human infection with avian H7N9 virus have been reported recently from exposure to live poultry. This would include confined individuals, poultry and birds, on factory farms and in other animal agriculture facilities, live and other poultry markets.
The greatest health risk for the emergence of new pandemic strains comes when poultry, pigs and humans are in close proximity as in intensive factory farms, slaughter facilities and livestock markets.
The Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention reports that pandemics revolve around food choices – specifically, the consumption of animals, and proposes a global moratorium on this, and re-evaluation of our food sources.
Meat, fish and dairy (milk and eggs) are linked to heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, obesity, antibiotic resistance and zoonotic diseases such as covid-19, HIV / AIDS, SARS, MERS, Ebola, Avian Flu, Swine Flu, Black Flu, Spanish Flu, and many others. The single most effective way to end the war on health is with a plant-based diet.
War on the Vulnerable
“In a world with enough food to feed all people everywhere, 690 million people continue to go hungry and 3 billion cannot afford a healthy diet”, according to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Pandemics cause illness, death, and economic loss. They also cause disproportionate suffering to women and girls from the violence of frustrated men, an increase of child brides, an increase in deaths from childbirth, and loss of education by many girls who do not return to school after the pandemic.
Economic policies in the developed nations cause hunger and poverty in the vulnerable developing nations. Corporate influenced political monetary subsidies for the meat, dairy, egg, and fish industries manipulate prices. Developing nations are adversely affected by this market disparity, causing hunger and poverty for the most vulnerable human individuals on the planet.
In addition, billions of vulnerable, innocent, unjustly incarcerated, violated, tortured and executed individuals of other species have none of the rights afforded to members of the human species.
War on Species. Vulnerable non-humans suffer from extinction caused by habitat destruction. Species extinction and habitat destruction make disease transmission between species more likely and more deadly. The unjust treatment of individuals who do not look or communicate like humans is a result of human pride and supremacy. Unfortunate individuals of other species are unjustly incarcerated in disease ridden, horrific conditions, subjected to mutilation, violation, rape, kidnap of their children, and ultimately murdered horrifically, usually while fully conscious, all to satisfy the whims of those in power – the humans.
Please join Vegan International in embracing all aspects of the International Day of Peace. May peace on all levels extend to include all species, and all days of the year from now on.
Arrivals and Departures! Vegan International is pleased to announce the arrival of a new Advisory Board Member – Budjargal Byambaa, and the departure of an Advisory Board Member – Krishna Gautam.
Budjargal Byambaa is a raw fruit vegan, and one of the most capable and accomplished multi-day runners in the world. He ran from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing – 1500 km – within one month to symbolize that Mongolia would win gold medals at the Beijing Olympics. Bud is an ultradistance runner, and runs extreme distance events over several days, covering enormous distances at impressive speeds. He has completed the 10-day Sri Chinmoy race five times, winning it twice. It is the equivalent of 29 marathons. He won the Xiamen 6-day race, holds the course record at the Icarus Florida 6-day race, national record for 24 hour running, and took the course record at the Milwaukee 6 Days In the Dome.
Budjargal was motivated to be vegan to improve his athletic performance, but mostly by his outrage at the exploitation and abuse of animals. Now he eats lots of raw food, mostly fruit. “Veganism is the right choice for me, it improves my physical strength” he says. “It helps me to transcend my physical self, moving to the next stage of my spiritual development and growth.”
Krishna Gautam, Founder, Aging Nepal, has left the Vegan International Advisory Board, and is currently retired. Thanks for all your help, enjoy retirement!
Vegan International Founder, Sharon Wallenberg, is currently writing her third book entitled “Where Do You Get Your Protein?” Part of the book will be based on her experiences with Budjargal. Proceeds from the sale of all three books will benefit Vegan International.
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