The Human Cost of Animal Agriculture

Illness, displacement, starvation, modern slavery and more

Many people dismiss veganism, arguing that human well-being should be prioritized over animal protection. They overlook something crucial: the animal industry doesn't just cause immense suffering to animals, but also to humans. Let me explain👇

1 — Horrific working conditions

Most workers in the industry endure harsh and dangerous working conditions, causing high rates of lifelong injuries, substance abuse, addiction, anxiety issues, depression, and PTSD.

For detailed accounts from former slaughterhouse employees, watch this video:

“America’s Worst Graveyard Shift Is Grinding Up Workers”.
— Bloomberg headline

“The meat industry is hiding a dark secret, as workers at ‘America's worst job’ wade through seas of blood, guts, and grease”
— Business Insider headline

“‘When We’re Dead and Buried, Our Bones Will Keep Hurting’: Workers’ Rights Under Threat in US Meat and Poultry Plants”
— Human Rights Watch headline

Human Trafficking, Slavery and Murder

Many of the animal products available in Western markets are produced abroad through modern slavery.

Investigations into the trafficked migrants working on fishing vessels in Thailand, for example, found that they are often forced to work between 17 and 24 hours a day. 68% of them have experienced sexual or physical violence and 59% have already witnessed the murder of a fellow worker.

"They would torture and murder the fishers then throw them into the sea. They abused the crew in many ways — beating, hitting and killing out on the ocean. I witnessed murder with my own eyes."
— Tun Thet Soe, escaped victim of trafficking

Similar conditions have been reported on cattle ranches in Brazil, including forced labor without proper shelter, toilets or drinking water.

It is estimated that over 1 million people in Brazil are victims of modern slavery. Data collected between 1995 and 2022 shows that Brazil's cattle ranching industry was responsible for almost half (46%) of detected cases of slave labour.

The meat industry in Brazil has also been linked to the killing of workers and activists.

---

2 — Public health disaster

The animal industry is the main and the only easily preventable cause of zoonotic diseases and of antibiotic resistance, which is projected to soon kill more people per year than all types of cancer combined.

In many countries, including the U.S., more than half of all antibiotics are used on farmed animals, creating an ideal breeding ground for resistant bacteria. In the long run, this will render many types of diseases untreatable.

Studies show that a large-scale shift to a vegan lifestyle could radically improve public health, saving 8 million lives every year.

In its official statement, the world's largest organization of nutrition experts, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, confirms that a balanced vegan diet...

• is “appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, adolescence, older adulthood, and for athletes”

• and "reduces the risk of certain health conditions, including ischemic heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, certain types of cancer, (...) obesity (...) [and] chronic disease"

According to the physician and bestselling author Michael Greger, abstaining from animal products has a preventive effect against 14 of the 15 deadliest diseases of our time.

Switching to a plant-based diet isn't only beneficial for you as an individual consumer and for human well-being in general, but would also help save up to $1 trillion annually in health care costs.

---

3 — Fear and destruction

Animal agriculture is also by far the leading driver of deforestation on this planet and produces five times the greenhouse gas emissions of all aviation — which has devastating impacts on humanity and threatens to make this planet uninhabitable.

To meet the growing space demands of the animal industry, rainforests are ruthlessly being logged down.

“Extensive cattle ranching is the number one culprit of deforestation in virtually every Amazon country, and it accounts for 80% of current deforestation.”
— WWF

Many cattle farms are established illegally within protected indigenous lands, and are often created by farmers burning rainforest. Over 1,000 activists opposing this senseless destruction have been murdered in the last 20 years.

If the world adopted a plant-based diet, we would only need a quarter of the land currently used for agriculture. This would offer a massive boost to climate change mitigation efforts and biodiversity, and provide ample space for indigenous peoples, reforestation, and wildlife.

A global shift to veganism is the only realistic way to put an end to the bloody history of deforestation and land grabbing.

---

4 — Impacts of environmental pollution

According to the WHO, nearly 1 in 4 deaths worldwide are caused by avoidable environmental factors. The animal industry is a leading source of some of the deadliest environmental risks: water, soil, and air pollution.

The animal industry releases enormous amounts of manure, medications, pesticides, and herbicides into soil and groundwater, as well as particulate matter and toxic gases such as ammonia into the air.

Poor countries are hit hardest by the consequences. But even in industrialized countries, thousands of people die each year from environmental pollution caused by animal production.

Nitrates, which enter our drinking water through excess manure, is estimated to cause more than 12,500 cancers a year — in the US alone. Air pollution from meat, dairy, and egg production is responsible for almost 13,000 deaths per year in the US.

Livestock production is responsible for an estimated 81% of agricultural nitrogen input to aquatic systems and 87% of the ammonia emissions from agriculture to the atmosphere, while animal products provide less than a fifth of the world's supply of calories.

---

5 — A major driver of world hunger

The livestock sector also strongly contributes to world hunger. Why? Because animals are a highly inefficient food source:

While roughly 24,000 people die from hunger and malnutrition every day, our society wastes massive amounts of grain, corn, soy, and fresh water to grow livestock — resources that could be directly consumed by humans.

It takes about 100 calories of grain to produce just 12 calories of chicken or 3 calories worth of beef. The world’s cattle alone consume a quantity of food equal to the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people (which is more than the current world population!)

For example, only about 7% of the global soy supply is used for direct human consumption (e.g. tofu, soy milk). A much larger portion (76%) is used to feed farmed animals. And while every third human suffers from water scarcity, the production of one pound of beef uses as much water as a 135 days’ worth of showers.

---

THE GOOD NEWS

You know what? We can simply stop supporting this cruel industry.

We don't need animal products to be healthy. In fact, population studies have shown that we are healthier without them. Meaning: we don’t have to decide between protecting our own species and treating (other) animals with respect. It’s not an either-or issue. We can — and should — do both!

A vegan lifestyle not only avoids unnecessary violence against animals, is a crucial step in mitigating climate change, prevents many forms of environmental destruction and improves your own health, but also protects your fellow human beings from hunger, misery and exploitation.

Honestly, can you think of a more convincing reason to try out an amazing new diet and lifestyle?

👉 Stay tuned

For more crucial insights on veganism, join as a free or paid subscriber if you haven’t:

A huge THANK YOU to those who upgrade! You boost my motivation to keep going — and help me keep Vegan Horizon paywall-free & available to everyone. 💚