We don’t need to eat animals to survive

SIR – Not that long ago, most people I spoke to didn’t really believe that the vegan trend, as they were prone to calling it, would last. How wrong they were!

As we move into a new year, hundreds of thousands – and possibly millions – of people will undertake the Veganuary Pledge that, for the duration of the month of January, they will avoid all animal products (flesh, milk, eggs, etc). They will also ensure that any products they are buying (cosmetics, clothes etc) do not contain animal products nor have they been tested on animals.

The world is changing quickly now. Young people, in particular, have woken up to the devastating harm that animal production does to the environment. They are also waking up to the blindingly-obvious fact: we do not need to eat animals to survive. Indeed, we can live a healthy and a more compassionate life by not eating animals.

Giving up eating animals was the single most positive decision I have taken in my life (Christmas just passed was my 36th consecutive Christmas where no dead animal made an appearance at my dinner table). If you haven’t tried it, but would like to, the Veganuary Pledge is an excellent place to start. It could, quite literally, change your life.

Gerry Boland,
Keadue,
Co Roscommon.