
Vegan Australia

There is a link between the climate crisis and what’s on our plates. The hard facts are astounding, as is the difference a plant-based change...
As the weather cools, we let the kitchen warm us. We’re roasting, we’re baking, we’re making pies and tarts and pizza. Yum!
Wholefoods may just save your life, and at the very least, they will deliver a host of health benefits. Here’s what you need to know to get...
Great food photos can have us drooling over dishes we’ve never even tasted. Here’s how to take your food photography to the next level.
We know we’d benefit from it, but we just can’t do it! Here are five ways to find your flow state through a more active form of meditation.
There’s a serum for every skin condition, but which active ingredients do what? This is the guide to vegan and sustainably sourced serums...
Love yourself by saying yes to desserts made from feel-good ingredients, including a sprinkling of #selfworth, #lettinggo, #ease&flow, and...
Whether you are looking to share a quiet drink after work or host a festive evening with your best gals, this mindful mix is a fun and refreshing...
This dish is not only gluten free, but also offers much more of a flavour punch than regular pasta-based cannelloni. It’s a wonderful way to...
This salad is so simple, full of flavour and literally only takes a few minutes to create – we promise!
The key to perfecting Thai food is beautifully balanced sweet, salty, and sour notes. This dish uses coconut milk to balance the salty and sour...
Perfectly balanced and quick and easy to create at home, the Vegana Fresca is a velvety-smooth vegan delight!
The creaminess of the avocado, the spiciness of the sriracha... These tacos truly are a taste sensation!
Spraying sheets and pillows with calming scents can be a wonderful aid to slumber
The next time you go for a walk, discover the wonder of the everyday world around you
A skincare routine can be a way to nourish yourself inside and out
When the clouds converge, practise gratitude for the smallest of glimmers, and learn to dance in the rain.
Greg McFarlane of Vegan Australia explores the perennial topic of nonessential harm to animals in the production of plant foods.
The mainstream media have become vocal recently about the number of animals killed in plant farming. It seems any story that justifies the use of animals, especially eating them, is jumped on to support the argument that if you can’t be perfect, then why try at all?
We need to remember the aim of veganism is to avoid harming animals as much as possible. And one of the main ways to do this is by eating and wearing products derived from plants rather than animals. However, due to common agricultural and production practices, the growing and processing of plant products can involve some animals being harmed or killed.
Growing plants can harm animals in a number of ways, including converting natural habitat to farmland, producing the manure, fish meal or blood and bone used to fertilise plants, and during harvest. Insects can be killed by pesticides, other ‘pest’ animals are intentionally killed to protect crops and stored grains, and some crops are fertilised by bee colonies managed by commercial beekeepers.
Pig farmer Matthew Evans points out that animals are killed in plant production in his book On Eating Meat. He claims one billion mice are poisoned annually to protect wheat in Western Australia alone. Evans took this figure from a 2011 column written by Mike Archer, and due to a misunderstanding by Archer, this figure is exaggerated by more than 100 times. The main point they are making, however, is that animals are harmed in plant agriculture – and while this is undeniable, it’s not on the scale that Evans and Archer would have you believe.
Authors such as Archer argue that a vegan diet causes more suffering than a traditional diet, claiming that plant farming results in over 25 times more sentient animals being killed per kilogram of usable protein. While he gives some evidence for this, he has over-estimated the number of deaths, and the argument has been thoroughly discredited. And what about the plants grown to feed the animals eaten by people?
A huge proportion of crops grown are used to feed farmed animals. In Australia, crops are the primary food source for pigs, chickens and other poultry, while dairy cattle are supplemented with feed and many cattle are fattened in feedlots. This means a lot more crops are used to feed these animals than humans. In fact, farmed animals eat twice as much grain as people in Australia.
Just like plant foods grown for human consumption, the production of these feed crops can also cause harm to animals. Eating plants directly, rather than feeding them to animals whom we then eat, requires less land under cultivation and causes less incidental harm to animals. In addition, over half of the Australian landmass is used in the animal agriculture industry, with much of this cleared of native vegetation, endangering many native species.
The fact that we can’t avoid causing some harm to animals does not invalidate the principle that we should avoid hurting others wherever we can. Even if we can’t be ‘perfect’, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try at all. The secondary deaths caused by growing and processing plant products simply does not excuse the deliberate killing of over half a billion farmed animals in Australia for food every year. I recommend the book But You Kill Ants by John Waddell for an in-depth discussion of this idea.
There is a fundamental difference between animal farming and plant farming. Animal farming requires the suffering and death of animals. Plant production does not. Because of this we should encourage better plant farming practices. By improving agricultural and production methods, we can reduce the nonessential harm to animals in plant food production. Even Matthew Evans, who has researched the number of animals who die in plant farming, concludes, “It’s quite possible that eating less meat might mean less suffering”.
We could also support alternative methods of farming, such as veganics and stock-free farming which employ strategies such as using green manures, companion planting, natural pest control, and so on. Other ways to prevent harm to animals could be improved planting and harvesting methods and non-lethal ways to prevent wild animals eating crops, such as netting, fencing, and sound-based deterrents. However, these alternative methods of farming are not yet widely used nor do they produce enough food to feed a vegan world.
Remember, the principle of veganism is to avoid harming animals as much as possible, including by not directly consuming animal products, by avoiding products tested on animals, and by ensuring that animal products were not used in the production process after harvest.
At the moment, it is not practicable to avoid consuming plant products where animals have been harmed in their production, particularly animals harmed before harvest. This means we currently have no choice but to eat plant foods that are grown and processed in ways that may have caused harm to animals. While this is unfortunate, we can and should still try to cause the least harm possible.
Bolster your mental health during the depths of winter by resisting the urge to hibernate indoors.
Eco period products have risen in popularity – they’re sustainable, affordable, healthy, and convenient. Here’s what you need to know so...
Wholefoods may just save your life, and at the very least, they will deliver a host of health benefits. Here’s what you need to know to get...
Love yourself by saying yes to desserts made from feel-good ingredients, including a sprinkling of #selfworth, #lettinggo, #ease&flow, and...
If you haven’t quite got your cycle phases figured out, you’re not alone. But it’s time to tune in to your body’s rhythms - so that you...
There’s a serum for every skin condition, but which active ingredients do what? This is the guide to vegan and sustainably sourced serums...
We know we’d benefit from it, but we just can’t do it! Here are five ways to find your flow state through a more active form of meditation.
Lusciously decadent but guilt free, these divine bars are definitive proof that there’s a healthier, plant-based version of anything you fancy....
The trick to this super-vibrant green curry is to add a bunch of blitzed leafy greens into the paste to ensure a lovely, bright-green colour. I...
Looking for a quick and easy vegan dessert for your next BBQ or dinner party? You can’t go wrong with this airy, fluffy and creamy chocolate...
Smashed avocado on toast is perhaps the most popular breakfast or brunch item out there, and as much as we love the mighty avo, it generally has...
Shifting to a wholefood plant-based diet doesn’t mean missing out on cheesecake. This recipe uses tofu instead of cream cheese and is therefore...
You don’t need animal products to make lusciously creamy and satisfying dishes. You don’t even need oil! This wholefood, plant-based...
Ramen is an all-time favourite Japanese dish, full of flavour and nutrition. The secret ingredient to our vegan eggs is black salt. Known as kala...
Spraying sheets and pillows with calming scents can be a wonderful aid to slumber
The next time you go for a walk, discover the wonder of the everyday world around you
A skincare routine can be a way to nourish yourself inside and out
When the clouds converge, practise gratitude for the smallest of glimmers, and learn to dance in the rain.