What’s weird about our food system?

Imagine a world where the things we consider normal in our diet are recognised for how weird they are. Veganuary – the global campaign to try vegan for January and beyond has launched a new campaign, which does just that. The campaign theme “Food doesn’t have to be weird,” challenges the everyday norms of society’s eating habits influenced by the food industry, showing that what is widely considered ‘normal’ is actually quite strange.

Weird fact 1- Chicken comes from birds bred to grow so fast that often they can barely stand. 

Selective breeding of chickens by the farming industry has produced breeds of birds that grow much bigger and much faster than they naturally would. This results in enormous suffering for billions of chickens every year. Many are unable to stand after just a couple of weeks of life, and they often struggle to breathe as their lungs are compressed under the weight of their gigantic bodies. They are slaughtered at only 5-6 weeks old– still just chicks with blue eyes and soft chirps.

Most of us are not informed about this, and are sold chicken in packaging showing cartoons of happy looking birds. We would refuse to eat baby birds in whatever flavour or form, and choose from the wide range of plant-based proteins, if only we knew the facts. 

Weird fact 2- Antibiotic resistance is a global health threat and the heavy use of medically important antibiotics in factory farmed animals is a major cause. 

Antibiotic resistance is a major threat to human health and identified by the World Health Organization as one of the most important health challenges in the 21st century. The overuse of antibiotics in animal farming, including for farming chicken, is a contributor to the increase in antibiotic resistance in our bodies. Antibiotics are routinely used in intensive farming systems to prevent and treat infections and can also be used in animal feed to increase growth. Studies have estimated that 73% of all antibiotics sold globally are used in animals raised for food.

Prashanth Vishwanath, who heads Veganuary in India says “We clearly wouldn’t want to eat baby animals or foods laden with antibiotics. But our reasoning and ability to make an alternate choice- a kinder, and healthier one- is lost in the barrage of advertisements promoting these products. Veganuary is lifting the veil from these common foods, so people are able to make an informed choice.”

Through thought-provoking and startling imagery, Veganuary’s campaign is flipping the script to suggest that eating vegan might just be the more sensible option for everyone. Not just that, the campaign offers more than 10 free resources including a cookbook with recipes from vegan celebrities, meal plans, support emails for 1 month and much more for people who want to try eating vegan.