Ten reasons why caring for animals aligns with your values and what you can do about it

In this episode, Lottie gives ten reasons why being vegan is the kindest choice. Look out for her episode on December 6th 2026 where she’ll give a crash course in how to go vegan, with lots of tips and resources. Animals feel pain and pleasure, and are social and intelligent. The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness: https://sites.google.com/nyu.edu/nydeclaration/declaration; Evidence that animals feel pain: https://scienceinsights.org/do-animals-feel-pain-the-evidence-across-species/; Farm animal personalities when free: https://sentientmedia.org/farm-animals-personalities-when-free/; Animal communication https://sentientmedia.org/new-research-on-animal-communication/; Farmed animal sanctuaries in Australia: https://veganaustralia.org.au/blog/vegan-farmed-animal-sanctuaries/. Videos of rescued farmed animals: @gentlebarn: https://youtube.com/shorts/SSI-1qbAQ_I?si=oC7o0_kuwVWXZbPT; https://youtu.be/Y2VjfEEFJTI?si=H16GMJo2WVTQgl2_; The Dodo: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLoPYaJqlcK7WZBY4qvvEU9ziRJlPDcLV; Called to Rescue (feature length documentary): https://youtu.be/wGT8ott4dTo; 2. Animals raised for food, clothing, experimentation or entertainment have painful lives. 3. Animals raised for food, clothing, experimentation or entertainment are killed cruelly and early in their lifespans. Dominion (2018): https://www.dominionmovement.com/watch; Food Empowerment Project. E.g., ‘Humane Myths’ https://foodispower.org/animals-on-land/humane-myths/; Faunatylics Fundamentals https://faunalytics.org/fundamentals/; Sentient Media. E.g. https://sentientmedia.org/do-fish-feel-pain/; 4. The scale is huge.86 billion land animals slaughtered every year for their flesh: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/animals-slaughtered-for-meat; 8 billion male chicks killed every year: https://faunalytics.org/global-chick-culling-2019-2024/; Billions or trillions of sea creatures (https://faunalytics.org/fundamentals-ocean-life/) and bugs ( https://faunalytics.org/fundamentals-invertebrates/); Per capita, the mass of meat produced has doubled in the last 60 years: https://ourworldindata.org/meat-production; https://ourworldindata.org/population-growth. 5. Eating vegan is the most impactful change to your diet, if not all your behaviours, you can make for the environment. Hannah Ritchie (especially her book ‘Not The End of The World’) https://hannahritchie.com/; Faunalytics animal product impact assessment: https://faunalytics.org/animal-product-impact-scales-2026-updated-u-s-estimates-and-the-u-k-s-first-animal-product-impact-data/; Human depopulation is too slow and small to save the planet: https://hannahritchie.substack.com/p/population-growth-decline-climate and previous Freedom of Species show ‘Antinatalism and humans’ impact on the planet’ July 26th 2026; A plant-based food system is a possible near-term change: https://climateactiontracker.org/publications/cop30-briefing-energy-methane-goals/. 6. Eating vegan is more ethical for humans. Environmental racism: https://foodispower.org/environmental-and-global/environmental-racism/; Human trafficking and slavery in the fishing industry around the world: https://foodispower.org/human-labor-slavery/workers-in-the-fishing-industry/#_ftnref9; Slaughterhouse work: https://foodispower.org/human-labor-slavery/slaughterhouse-workers/; “The Dying Trade” documentary: https://youtu.be/3qb-9Q0YhVA?si=CNjUhMCGMatLsmJn and previous Freedom of Species show ‘The Dying Trade film chat’ July 19th 2026; Colonisation and food sovereignty: https://foodispower.org/environmental-and-global/exporting-factory-farms/; Food deserts: https://foodispower.org/access-health/food-deserts/; https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2023/01/are-you-living-in-a-food-desert–these-maps-suggest-it-can-reall. Vegans of Colour around the world: Vegans for Palestine podcast https://vegansforpalestinepodcast.buzzsprout.com/; Food Empowerment Project https://foodispower.org/; Afro-Vegan Society https://www.afrovegansociety.org/; Umoja Greenlands https://umojagreenlands.org/. Sunaura Taylor on veganism and disability: Her book Beasts of Burden: https://sunaurataylor.net/books/beasts-of-burden-animal-and-disability-liberation/; Her interview on ‘The Dig’ podcast: https://thedigradio.com/podcast/beasts-of-burden-w-sunaura-taylor/. Animal-based clothing and “by-products” have similar issues, for example: Leather: https://scienceinsights.org/when-did-factory-farming-start-the-key-turning-points/; Gelatin: https://foodispower.org/our-food-choices/gelatin-byproduct-of-cruelty/; Pet food: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2025.1569372/full. 7. Animal agriculture causes many public health issues and a vegan diet can be healthy for many people. The Hidden Health Impacts of Industrial Livestock Systems: https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/our-campaigns/food-systems/factory-farming/hidden-health-impacts/; Health impacts of climate change: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health. Food guidelines examples: Mediterranean diet https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/16037-mediterranean-diet; EAT-Lancet https://eatforum.org/eat-lancet/the-planetary-health-diet/; Danish food guidelines https://en.foedevarestyrelsen.dk/food/nutrition-and-health/the-official-dietary-guidelines. Vitamin B12: https://veganslate.com/how-did-humans-get-b12-before-meat/. 8. We are living in unprecedented times and eating animal products today is not “natural”. Factory farms have only been around for 100 years: https://scienceinsights.org/when-did-factory-farming-start-the-key-turning-points/; ‘Why “Back to Nature” Isn’t the Answer for Healthy and Sustainable Diets’ by Ginny Messina substack: https://theresistancekitchen.substack.com/p/why-back-to-nature-isnt-the-answer. 9. Everyone’s individual choices make a difference. ‘Being Vegan Makes a Difference’ by Wonder & Aporia substack https://wonderandaporia.substack.com/p/being-vegan-makes-a-difference. ‘Somebody Should Do Something: How Anyone Can Help Create Social Change’ by Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva and Daniel Kelly: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262049788/somebody-should-do-something/ and previous Freedom of Species episode ‘Somebody Should Do Something: How to help create social change for the animals and environment’ Sept 13th 2026. 10. Why not? Even if you can’t eat 100% vegan straight away, consider whether you can: Acknowledge that animals matter and globally we need to eat much fewer animals, Change your mindset to identify as an animal advocate, and Commit to one manageable change that brings you closer to being vegan. Email us at FoSradio@proton.me with feedback, questions or topic requests. Music: Animal liberation – Los Fastidios https://www.losfastidios.net/; Go Vegan – C5; Dominion – Vegan Queen V; Animal Kingdom – Prince.

A weekly show hosted by Melbourne-based animal advocates, presenting local and international interviews, presentations, and music from this vibrant social justice movement. The show is broadcast on 3CR Community Radio 855AM

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