Natureba

 

LETTER TO THE UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION (UNO)

It is necessary that we put on the agenda a

GLOBAL PACT FOR A PLANT-BASED FOOD SYSTEM

 

A commitment to a joint effort of all

to transform the current food system   into a plant-based food diet

out of the respect for the right to life of animals and people.

 

 Why? Here is a list of reasons:

 

-  Considering that the contempt for the rights of animals has allowed acts of violence against them.

-  About seventy billion terrestrial animals and trillions of aquatic animals are being needlessly killed every year, as we don't need to eat meat to survive.

-  We owe equal respect for the right to live of other species, because animals are also conscious and capable of feeling pain and suffering.

 

-  Considering that the use of animals for food has brought various diseases:

SARS, caused by coronaviruses; H1N1 swine flu; avian influenza; mad cow disease;   AIDS that originated from hunting chimpanzees, among other diseases...

-  Killing wild animals and the contact with their bodily fluids make it easier for viruses to eventually jump from the infected animal to humans.

-  And the widespread use of antibiotics on intensive animal farming has contributed to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, making it difficult to treat and cure bacterial infections in people.

-  Despite growing food insecurity and global hunger, a large part of the arable land and grain produced on the planet are used for livestock.

 

-  Considering some environmental impacts of livestock, such as:

intense use and contamination of water by waste, fires, carbon dioxide emissions, destruction of habitats, loss of biodiversity...

-  Forests have been deforested and replaced by pastures and large grain monocultures to feed animals that will be slaughtered.

-  Deforestation reduces the humidity and rainfall so necessary for agriculture, water supply and power generation in hydroelectric plants.

-  Livestock emits methane, a potent greenhouse gas that intensifies global warming and climate change such as droughts and floods.

-  Food systems are responsible for more than a third of global greenhouse emissions.

 

Considering that cruelty is part of industrial animal farming:

-  Animals are deprived of freedom in intensive confinement

-  Females are enslaved and treated like machines for the production of meat, milk and eggs, and then slaughtered

-  Industrial egg production involves the killing of billions of male chicks every year and the confinement of hens in cages or sheds

-  Milk production involves artificial insemination, successive pregnancies for milking, separation of the mother from her newborn baby, among other abuses

 

The killing unnecessary for survival is an evil that we cannot allow to continue happening.

 

According to the American Dietetic Association, well-planned vegetarian or vegan diets are  healthy at all stages of life, nutritionally adequate, and can provide health benefits.

They reduce the incidence of obesity, hypertension, high blood cholesterol, heart attack deaths, risk of diabetes and some types of cancer such as prostate and large intestine.

 

What each one can do

Actions for the respect of life

 

UNO

Include "Respect for the Right to Life of Animals" in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda, calling for the joint effort of all (countries, companies and society) to make the transition and transform the current food system into a plant-based feeding.

 

Industries and consumers:

Replace animal milk with vegetable milk, preferably fortified

Replace cheeses and other dairy products such as ice cream and yoghurt with vegetable versions

Replace animal meats with beans or plant-based meats

 Replace egg with vegetable alternatives in recipes.

Replace animal leather with synthetic leather or other materials

 

Governments of nations

Prohibit fires and halt the loss of biodiversity.

Combat deforestation and illegal occupation of public lands.

Contain the advance of livestock and large monocultures of grains for animal feed.

Stop giving subsidies to the livestock sector that degrades the environment.

Provide incentives for family farming, the planting of diversified foods and agroforestry.

 

Protect global health. Definitely ban the trade in wild animal meats.

Combat antibiotic resistance and one of its main causes which is the intensive confinement that makes massive use of antibiotics so that animals survive in overcrowded conditions and grow quickly.

 

Ending nutritional myths. Bring up-to-date vegan food and nutrition education to health professionals, students and the general population through food guides.

Encourage people to replace animal meats with beans rich in protein and iron.

Encourage the plant-based healthy eating pattern in restaurants and hunger relief programs.

Reduce taxation and provide more incentives for industrialized plant-based products such as vegetable milk and meats so that they become cheaper and more accessible to the population.

Include vitamin B12 in food fortification as this is the only nutrient that needs to be supplemented in the animal-free vegan diet.

Support the new technologies that are being developed for the production of meat without the slaughter of animals to put a definitive end to slaughterhouses.

 

GLOBAL PACT FOR A FOOD THAT RESPECTS THE RIGHT TO LIFE OF ANIMALS AND  PEOPLE

For a better world for us, our children and future generations

 For the health of people and the environment

For the abolition of animal killing

For justice and animal liberation from suffering

For compassion and love for animals

 

Ana Claudia Correa

Brazilian educator and animal rights activist

 

Scientific references on the Natureba website: www.natureba.com.br

 

“The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men.”

Leonardo da Vinci

 

GLOBAL PACT FOR A PLANT-BASED FOOD SYSTEM

 

Traduções