Not eating animals isn't extremism: it's consistency

Not eating animals is still described as an extreme sacrifice. Yet the real question is not what we lose, but what the animal loses: its body, freedom, relationships, and ultimately, its life.

Not eating animals is a choice of consistency

Many people love animals and, at the same time, consume them. This is not necessarily individual hypocrisy: it is the result of a culture that separates dogs from pigs, cats from chickens, “pets” from “livestock.” Veganism highlights this separation and asks whether it is morally defensible.

“Animals have always been eaten”

The antiquity of a practice does not automatically make it right. Human history is full of habits that were discarded when we better understood the harm they caused. Today, for many people, accessible and nutritious plant-based alternatives exist. If we can choose without causing harm, tradition is not enough of an answer.

“But in nature, animals eat other animals”

A lion does not have supermarkets, legumes, tofu, supplements, or nutritional knowledge. Human beings build laws, hospitals, and moral principles precisely because they do not use nature as their sole guide. Nature also includes diseases and aggression: yet we do not turn these into an ethical model.

End of factory farming: "welfare" is not enough

Slightly larger cages and less painful procedures can reduce some suffering, but they do not change the principle: the animal remains property and a productive unit. For this reason, the closure of factory farms must be accompanied by a food and agricultural transition, with support for workers and businesses that change their model.

The problem is not only about the environment, although factory farming and the climate crisis are linked. It concerns the individual living within the system. Read our in-depth analysis on factory farming and the climate crisis.

The animals we meet in sanctuaries

Getting to know a sheep, a goat, or a pig changes the language. We no longer see “meat” or “production,” but preferences, relationships, and character. A sanctuary is not there to make us feel good: it shows a concrete alternative to a society that assigns value to animals based on their utility.

Discover what an animal sanctuary is and why it is different from a farm, a zoo, or a traditional shelter.

Where to start

• replace one meal at a time with complete plant-based recipes;
• learn to read ingredients and labels;
• get information from reliable nutritional sources;
• don't strive for perfection: seek consistency and continuity;
• support projects that free animals from the logic of production.

The most radical question is also the simplest: if an animal's life can continue, why should it end for a habit?