Blog written by Victoria Smith, volunteer blog writer

It’s Veganuary! This is an exciting time of year when millions of people worldwide decide to try veganism for the first time.

There are so many people who say that their only regret about going vegan is that they didn’t do it sooner. In 2025, it’s easier than ever, and not only is it a great feeling – going to sleep every night knowing that you’ve caused the least possible harm to other beings – it’s beneficial in so many different ways, too! Here’s why being vegan is the absolute best…

Veganism saves animals

First and foremost, of course, it’s always for the animals. 

83 billion land animals are killed worldwide for human consumption every year, as well as up to 2.2 trillion (yes, trillion) wild fishes. That’s not including the additional 124 billion farmed fishes and 630 billion crustaceans.

By switching to a vegan diet, you’re removing yourself from farming systems that cause immeasurable pain and suffering. And you’re literally saving lives! If you can eat the same, great-tasting meals with different ingredients that don’t hurt others, why wouldn’t you?

Veganism helps free-living animals

Perhaps this is less obvious, but by choosing not to eat animals who are farmed, you’re helping wild ones too. Animal agriculture takes up vast amounts of land, and this has hugely detrimental impacts on natural habitats and biodiversity, affecting entire ecosystems, from large predators to tiny insects. If the world switched to plant-based eating, we’d reduce the amount of land needed for agriculture by a staggering 75%.

In our oceans, the huge nets used in industrial fishing don’t distinguish between species. Worldwide, 40% – or 38 million tonnes – of sea creatures caught are done so unintentionally. When fishing nets are pulled in, the ‘by-catch’ are thrown back into the sea as rubbish, injured and dying, or already dead. This includes hundreds of thousands of whales and dolphins, millions of sharks, hundreds of thousands of turtles, and hundreds of thousands of seabirds every year.

Veganism protects the environment

Aside from land loss, animal agriculture is absolutely disastrous for the environment more widely. It’s a leading cause of deforestation, desertification, water pollution, carbon emissions, and contributes massively to climate change. 

The expansion of land to graze cows for beef is responsible for millions of hectares of tropical deforestation every single year. Another leading cause of deforestation is soy farming, a fact that’s thrown around often in efforts to debunk the credibility of plant-based diets as planet-friendly. This is misleading though – we couldn’t eat that much tofu in our wildest dreams. In truth, a mere 7% of soy that’s grown ends up being consumed by humans, the vast majority is used as food for livestock. 

Veganism helps people too

Less obvious victims of industrial animal farming are human people. Who wants to work in a slaughterhouse? Big Agriculture purposefully locates its slaughterhouses and factories in areas of social deprivation, often employing migrant workers who have little choice of what employment they take on, and little knowledge of their rights within the workplace. Working conditions are poor and injuries are frequent. Studies show that workers in slaughterhouses have higher than average levels of mental health issues, including depression and anxiety, and PTSD. Additionally, there are links between slaughterhouse employment and drug use, domestic violence and other forms of crime. 

A plant-based diet can be beneficial to your health

It’s not just good for your conscience, there’s lots of scientific evidence that a vegan diet can be great for your physical body too! Of course, you can be vegan and live on chips and Oreos (not recommended), but there are loads of people who swear by how much healthier they felt after switching to a well-balanced vegan diet. It’s not a huge stretch of the imagination that a diet of based on fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes may be better for you than one that involves scientifically proven carcinogens. (Processed meats are a Group 1 carcinogen and red meat is classified as Group 2 – linked to increased risks of stomach and bowel cancers). Vegans have reported improvements to their sleep, their skin, their digestion, their energy levels, their cholesterol…..the list goes on!

Animal farming causes pandemics and disease spread

Researchers have warned that animal agriculture raises the risk of future pandemics. Around three-quarters of all new and emerging diseases originate from our fellow animals and intensive farming greatly increases the chance of zoonotic viruses – that is, ones that can be transmitted from animals to humans. Expert Dr Michael Greger states that ‘the question is not if, but when the next pandemic will strike’.

There is also the very real threat of antibiotic resistance in humans, stemming from industrial animal farming. In some countries, antibiotics are used on healthy animals to promote growth. Even where this practice is banned, disease transmission and infections are rife amongst animals living in such cramped conditions, so antibiotic use is widespread. So widespread, in fact, that bacteria are becoming resistant. Eating ‘meat’ or drinking milk from an animal with resistant bacteria may infect the consumer with that same bacteria…that can’t be treated with existing medicine. It may sound dystopian, but it’s a globally acknowledged problem that the World Health Organisation and governments have been aware of for years. 

A plant-based diet can save you money

Finally, cost. There’s a common misconception that a vegan diet is for the privileged. Unfortunately, meat and dairy substitutes often are more expensive than the products they’re replicating, because demand is lower and the ‘meat’ and dairy industries are very heavily subsidised by governments. However, a plant-based diet doesn’t need to be expensive – people have been eating plant-based diets in some of the poorest countries in the world for thousands of years. Rice, pasta, tofu, vegetables, lentils, beans…these are inexpensive ingredients that can be bought and cooked in bulk. Taking a step back from the standard meals we eat out of habit and getting creative with new ingredients is one of the joys of changing up your diet! There are lots of us who will say our kitchen skills improved greatly when we switched to veganism! There are tonnes of resources for eating plant-based on a budget, including this from the vegan society and loads of great recipes here!

In summary, veganism is kinder to animals, kinder to our planet, kinder to ourselves. What’s not to love? If you haven’t tried it yet, get yourself over to Veganuary…it’s never too late.

For the planet.

For our health.

And as always,

For the animals