At this time of a great awakening of many souls to a more conscious way of being, we are seeing an exponential rise in anti-racism, veganism and overall kindness and compassion to each other and the planet.
We know that animal agriculture is a proven and serious source of air, soil and water pollution. The disproportionate number of industrialised farms, slaughterhouses and processing facilities in low socio-economic areas and communities of colour also means that poor people, particularly Black people and people of colour – are exposed to significantly more pollution than the general population. This is a major factor of a social issue referred to as environmental racism.
Raising livestock for meat, eggs and milk generates 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the second highest source of emissions and greater than all transportation combined. It also uses about 70% of agricultural land, and is one of the leading causes of deforestation, biodiversity loss, and water pollution. This means that contributing to animal agriculture destroys not only the planet, collective health and animal life, but is killing and abusing Black people and people of colour. Coastal city flooding in Africa and India is also caused by animal agriculture in the East and West – constantly destroying Black and brown lives.
People who live near or work at slaughterhouses and factory farms breathe in many harmful chemicals produced by decomposing manure. Hydrogen sulfide is released by manure lagoons and dangerous even at low levels; with health risks ranging from sore throats to seizures, comas and even death. These same lagoons contaminate local drinking water supplies, increasing the risk of blue baby syndrome which can be fatal to infants. There is also a higher risk of miscarriage. Areas surrounding factory farms have also been subject to several disease outbreaks due to bacterial and viral contamination of drinking water.
With every non-vegan choice, people are contributing to this racist violence and at a time when we are speaking up for Black Lives Matter, it is imperative that all human citizens understand the impact of their consumption choices so that their actions can be aligned.
Factory farms are an absolute atrocity to all touched by them, from the animals trapped in horrible conditions within, to the local environment, and even spreading their devastation to affect the health and safety of people unfortunate enough to live in their vicinity.
In addition, slaughterhouse worker suffer heavily from PTSD due to having to exact the violence commissioned by non vegans, and unfortunately the majority of slaughterhouse workers are Black and POC.
From an environmental standpoint, the impact from the pollution of animal agriculture is also disproportionately causing flooding in Africa and Asia, again an unconscious racial bias comes into play.
Animal abuse is human abuse.
Animal advocates are often met with the claim that our advocacy for animals is somehow less important because human suffering is a priority, but everything is connected. Animal abuse also leads to and amplifies human abuse.
Also worth reading Zachary Toliver’s article on PETA.org which contextualised accountability in this movement and below is a list of six books by Black women specifically about environmental racism via @enviroslug. Here is a Google doc they created for the books too.
