“Some Lives Matter Less is the cause of most of what is wrong in the world”

Vegan International Spring 2023Newsletter

“Some Lives Matter Less is the cause of most of what is wrong in the world”, said Christina Stefan, Director of the Institute of Global Health Equity Research, in her presentation at the World Health Summit in Washington DC last week.  “Equity is the only acceptable goal.  We all have the same vision – to have a better world.”   Unfortunately, inequity is a fact of life, where someone is born or what species they are determines their quality of life.  

The first annual Regional Meeting of the World Health Organization and  World Health Summit was co-hosted by the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, the Consortium of Universities for Global Health, and the Association of Academic Health Centers International.  This year’s theme was “Bridging the Science to Policy Gap for Global Health”.  The feeling is that 2023 marks a crucial inflection point of sustained leadership, intentionality, and strategic and assertive engagement in global health.

No mention was made in any of the sessions that the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) are linked to food choice.  Diabetes, heart disease, some cancers, obesity, antibiotic resistance, serious depressions, including suicide are currently responsible for the more human morbidity and mortality than pandemics.

Diabetes results from animal fat and cholesterol clogging the cells of humans and will not allow glucose (nutrition) to enter and nourish cells, forcing glucose to remain in the blood stream, and cause the symptoms of diabetes.   Heart disease results when animal fat and cholesterol fill human blood-vessels, restricting blood flow to the heart.  Antibiotic resistance, often fatal for humans, results from the overabundance of antibiotics fed to unjustly incarcerated individuals and then eaten by humans.  There is no cholesterol and very little fat on a plant-based diet.  This was never mentioned in any of the sessions.

Cortisol, the stress hormone in all sentient beings, exists in understandably copious amounts in individuals unjustly incarcerated and extrajudicially executed.  When these individuals are eaten, or their stolen milk is ingested by humans, the excessive amount of the stress hormone, cortisol, causes depression, often severe enough to cause human suicide. 

The Non-Communicable Diseases far outnumber the number of mortalities and morbidities from pandemics.  Like pandemics, they are almost always related to Speciesism – exploitation by one species (humans) of all other species.  These avoidable morbidities are expensive to treat and outnumber infectious diseases as the top killers globally.  They cause nearly three-quarters of deaths in the world and kill approximately 41 million people every year.  Humans who eat a whole-foods, plant-based diet do not get the NCDs.  A plant-based diet is rich in protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, has little fat, no cholesterol, tastes and looks delicious. 

Howard Zucker, Deputy Director for Global Health at the Center For Disease Control and Prevention, said in his presentation that Health Equity is one of the five pillars of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and that the CDC’s vision for Health Equity takes a global perspective.  He said further that the CDC strives for a reduction in inequities, promotes the needs of most vulnerable, and incorporates Guiding principles for implementing Health Equity into CDC’s global policy. Unfortunately, this equity is applied to only one species, humans. 

Dr. Zucker said that health equity needs our input.  Here is Vegan International’s input: there can be no equity when the needs of only one species, not all species, and the health of the planet itself, are not taken into consideration, and solutions formulated and implemented accordingly.  It is this very inequity between the species that is responsible for the NCDs and zoonotic pandemics.

Climate was another issue discussed at the World Health Summit.  According to one of the Speakers, 20 million human deaths a year are alleged to be caused by climate, and Climate Change threatens to increase hunger by 20 percent by 2050.  There was no mention of methane which holds heat in the atmosphere many times more effectively than carbon dioxide.  It was stated that both Non-Communicable Diseases and Climate Change are getting worse.  It is also a fact that animal agriculture is increasing significantly exacerbating these problems.

According to the Lancet:

“Global food production threatens climate stability and ecosystem resilience and constitutes the single largest driver of environmental degradation and transgression of planetary boundaries.  A radical transformation of the global food system is urgently needed.”

“The animal protein culture, conventionally viewed as improved consumption in a ‘nutrition transition’, has serious environmental and health consequences.” 

“Eating plants directly rather than in meat, dairy, eggs, much less of the crop is required to deliver the same amount of protein, without the pollution and pandemics.” 

Animal agriculture is the main cause of global warming and the single greatest factor in planetary destruction.  Scientific facts prove that methane traps heat in the atmosphere more effectively than carbon dioxide, and that the massive amount of animal feces produced in factory farms is the largest source of airborne methane. 

Animal agriculture causes environmental degradation: desertification of land, destruction of forests, pollution of air, water, and land, habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, and species extinction.  Species are presently going extinct at approximately 1,000 times the natural rate.  This lack of biodiversity is a factor in the origin and spread of pandemics.

The global livestock sector is growing faster than any other agriculture sub-sector, and as animal agriculture grows, it needs more and more resources of land and water, causes more pollution of water, land, and air, and increases the incidence of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and pandemics.  Much less land and water are needed to grow plant-based food directly for human consumption.

In a casual conversation with Dr. Walter Bruchhausen, from Bonn, Germany, regarding the currently skyrocketing Non-Communicable Disease health issue of Depression and Suicide, I mentioned that the stress hormone of cortisol is present in individuals eaten as food (meat), and in the milk of individuals who have been raped and their children kidnapped (dairy).  This contributes heavily to the serious health issue of depression and suicide.  Although this would be enough evidence for some people, I was surprised to learn that this crucial information cannot be taken seriously as a causative factor without clinical trials.  Why doesn’t someone do that?

Anders Nordstrom, Ambassador for Global Health, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden, said “Health needs are different now, NCDs increased 85% in low and middle income countries.”  He mentioned antimicrobial resistance, AMR, and said health needs are changing, and “Food is not making the world healthy”.  Although he did not specifically mention the change to meat and dairy from the traditional rice, beans, and vegetables in low and middle income countries as the culprit, this would be the logical conclusion.

Even though a mass of plastic waste the size of Alaska is floating in the Pacific Ocean, and the danger of petrochemicals used to produce plastic caused the East Palestine petrochemical train derailment disaster mentioned in one of the sessions, and plastic petrochemicals are proven to produce cancer, lunch was served in mountains of plastic boxes.  The choices were beef, poultry, or veggie.  These were ‘veggie’ not vegan because they including dairy cheese.  These ran out first.  Also served were (healthful?) cans of soda and bags of potato chips.  Fortunately, a kind hotel employee was able to find another veggie lunch from somewhere, otherwise I would have had bags of high fat potato chips for lunch.

Speciesism, the exploitation and violent abuse of individuals of other species, is not recognized as a category of discrimination, and is widely tolerated throughout the world.  Species other than human are excluded from any protection, are treated as objects instead of rights holders, and are subjected to violence and abuse of all kind.  This ultimately causes pandemics, diet related diseases such as Non-Communicable Diseases, Antibiotic Resistance and some Suicides and Depressions, as well as extensive planetary degradation.

Vegan International advocates a United Nations Convention Against Speciesism which would reduce climate change, prevent pandemics, improve global health, reduce hunger, starvation and poverty, achieve food security, improve nutrition, promote sustainable consumption, promote sustainable veganic agriculture, reduce human mortality and morbidity from zoonotic disease, diet related diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, some depressions, and some cancers, sustainably manage the scarce resources of land and water, sustainably manage forests, and curtail pollution of air, water, and land, species extinction, habitat destruction,  and give justice to billions of unjustly incarcerated and exploited individuals. 

There is no way to humanely, and safely, confine and exploit animals. This has not worked. The United Nations recommendation of stricter regulations of live markets, the UN Universal Declaration of Animal Welfare, andglobal investigations have not been effective in solving the problem.  Neither have any local or national laws or ordinances.  The key to assuring a healthy planet, and the health of all individuals of all species, is to achieve justice for all inhabitants of Earth by giving enforceable rights to members of all species.  Animals are the least protected and most exploited individuals on the planet – a planet that is currently on a trajectory headed for disaster if radical changes are not implemented. 

Everyone deserves justice, and the United Nations’ “place at the table” regardless of species.   The UN motto, “No one left behind”, should apply to everyone on planet Earth, not just to one species.  There needs to be a radical, comprehensive approach.  The proposed United Nations Convention Against Speciesism which would follow the Conventions Against Genocide, Torture, Eliminate Discrimination Against Women, and The Rights of the Child.  Currently there are little or no rights or protections afforded to the most vulnerable on the planet, or to the planet itself.

A UN Convention Against Speciesism finally ‘leaves no one behind’.  It creates a ‘place at the table’ for all inhabitants of planet Earth and brings clarity to the rights of all species, and to the responsibilities necessary to protect them.  A United Nations Convention Against Speciesism is the single most important way to insure optimal good health for all inhabitants of planet Earth, the environment, as well as for planet Earth itself.

“Equity is the only acceptable goal.  We all have the same vision – to have a better world.”  Christina Stefan, Director of the Institute of Global Health Equity Research at the World Health Summit, Washington DC, April 2023.  Let’s make that equity happen!