Following a plant based diet is the biggest contribution you can make towards the fight against climate change. Around 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions are from animal agriculture and this figure is thought to be under-reported by meat and dairy producers so their contribution could actually be much higher.  

 

Animal agriculture uses 4 billion hectares of land and studies show that a move towards diets that exclude animal products could reduce land use by 76%.

I'll begin with my own story as I started my plant-based path to address a medical condition.  I'd had multiple sclerosis (MS) for over a decade and symptoms were worsening to the point where I was unable to write my own name or use my right arm properly.  The answer from my doctors was always drugs and at this point they suggested killing off my immune system.  Unwilling to accept this, I started my own research into my condition and quickly found links between a protein in dairy and MS relapses.  I immediately became vegan and found that my symptoms began to improve.  I now don't suffer from relapses, have much more energy and have stopped taking any drugs for my condition.

Meat and dairy have been linked to a number of other health conditions including 

 

The Cambridge Declaration of Consciousness states that "the weight of evidence indicates that humans are not unique in possessing the neurological substrates that generate consciousness. Nonhuman animals, including all mammals and birds, and many other creatures, including octopuses, also possess these neurological substrates.” In other words, like humans, animals feel happy, sad and form emotional bonds with their families and friends. Most importantly, animals show aversion to pain and do not want to die. Although the UK has high animal welfare standards, repeated undercover investigations show that farmed animals are abused whether on factory farms, RSPCA assured farms or Red Tractor farms. Regardless of welfare standards, all animals are deprived of their freedom and ultimately all end up in the same slaughterhouses.