Plant-based eating, is a daily choice that more and more are choosing to be a part of everyday. Rates of those who have excluded animal products from their diets is skyrocketing. 

   Some may notice that millenials are the start to this change, and the start to this worldwide trend. There has been a dramatic change in the global diet in recent years, and a lot of it encompasses a drive away from meat. 

   “The biggest benefit I’ve had from going vegan is knowing that what I eat doesn’t contribute to any animal cruelty,” senior Faith Glover said. “Food is medicine and going vegan has taught me a lot about nutrition.”

   Those who choose this diet seem to be very pleased and liberated with that lifestyle and the results that come with it.

    Senior Ellie Wilson began this diet purely for the health benefits, later to find out how helpful it is to the environment, which increased her drive even more to stay vegan.      

   “It wasn’t really until after I became vegan that I realized how positive of an effect a vegan diet has on the environment,” Wilson said, “I definitely want to be vegan forever because I don’t have any problems with it.”

   If the human body doesn’t actually need animal products to survive, why don’t we all go vegan? There is a well known perception that having a complicated diet is time consuming, and inconvenient. 

   Merely restricting your diet to plant based food does not leave you with many options. Many meat eaters, ponder the purpose of this diet choice and what it will ultimately do for the planet. 

   “I think it would be impactful to go vegan and I’ve considered it a few times,” senior Brayden Schauer said. “I like to eat a lot and I can’t really make my whole family accommodate to a plant based diet. 

   If the misconception that going vegan is too difficult, is changed, numbers of those turning vegan, could increase. Many are uneducated on this issue and are very sure that it is too complicated for them. 

   “People are so quick to think that being vegan is hard when it really is not,” Wilson said. “I can find a vegan meal at every restaurant, all animal based foods have a vegan version, and I never have bad cravings.”

     It is simply not only because most can’t stand to give up animal products, but rather the fact that they are unsure whether it’s a waste of time or not. Many want to know how much going vegan will actually ‘save the earth’.

   “Being vegan has made me more kind to all forms of life,” Glover said. “If those who disagree with veganism make rude comments I don’t allow it to hurt my feelings because I know what I’m doing is impactful.”

   Many who are apart of the movement wish to be respected for their food choices. If more people were informed of the negative affect a non-vegan diet has on animals, then we could possibly significantly decrease rates of extinction.  

  “Simply put, the three most prominent reasons to go vegan are for the environment, the animals, and for your health,” Glover said.