Is there any real way to keep from impacting animals in a negative way?

Question

I mean even if all you do is eat grains and lettuce, that's food that could be going to starving goats in Afghanistan. Isn't veganism all just a matter of perspective?

Answer 1

Sure...

"[...]some Jains have been known to starve themselves to death in order to avoid harming any living creature."

http://www.jainuniversity.org/jainist-be...

We can not live the way we do in Western society without negatively impacting animals in some way.  The point is to lessen that impact as much as possible.  It doesn't have to be all-or-nothing.

::edit::

Nothing is useless if you believe it to be right.  Policing yourself is still useful, imagine if everyone did it.  And by policing yourself you set an example for others to follow.  Would I have become a vegetarian if I hadn't first read/heard/etc. about it from a source other than myself?  Probably not.  It was the people that set an example before me that created the circumstances to allow me to follow in their footsteps.  No one will attain perfection, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.  And just because humanity endangers other animals doesn't mean they can only thrive if we are extinct.  There are ways to co-exist, even if we haven't thought of them yet.

Every journey begins with a single step.

Answer 2

Adopting a vegan diet is the most effective way to reduce animal suffering. It is not about totally eliminating suffering (which is impossible) but to alleviate it as far as is practical for you.

A vegan diet is much easier to adopt than most people believed - and it is no less pleasurable (far more pleasurable in many ways!)

Animal foods take huge amounts of resources to produce - and of course animals have to be fed with plants. When you eat a meat-based meal, you are indirectly using up about 10-20 times more plant resources than when you eat a plant-based meal! The conversion of plant protein to animal protein is an incredibly inefficient process.

There is absolutely no way to live without killing. When you breathe you are killing insects or microorganisms in the air. You step on ants when you walk. The fact that some suffering is unavoidable is absolutely no reason to avoid alleviating suffering that is avoidable. Would you give up on something just because you can't do it absolutely perfectly?

Answer 3

I shouldn't police myself?

This isn't any sort of parallel, but should I be a racist rapist just because there will always be racist rapists all over the world?

Your logic is extremely flawed.

I won't question your choices and you can live without questioning ours.

Answer 4

There's starving goats in Afghanistan? Can you cite that please.

Answer 5

There is a way to have minimal effects on the earth, but in the average lifestyle, not including animals in a negative way is not possible.

Answer 6

Be an ethical consumer as well.

There would not be starving goats wherever if we did not raise herds of them for their hair for clothes. If we source our products from areas that have good animal welfare, then the situation will become better.

Education of our impact on foreign living conditions is the best way forward. If this means the Afgans get a fair wage, then the goats will see the benefit.