Could Veganism Prevent the Next Pandemic?

Could Veganism Prevent the Next Pandemic?

Has Mother nature been attempting to warn man over the past 10,000 years to leave other species live freely? Connecting the dots, it becomes clear that the major pandemics were due to humans living in too close proximity to animals, at times hunting them, enslaving them and often subjecting them to very barbaric living conditions. Will our species evolve one day to look back at man's imprisonment of animals similarly to the way we now consider barbaric the enslavement of the gladiators for entertainment or slaves for labor?

Deadly diseases from domesticated animals: measles originated from cattle (rinderpest), tuberculosis form cattle, smallpox from cattle (cowpox), influenza from pigs and birds, pertrussis from pigs and birds, falciparum from birds.1,2 Bubonic plague, Syphilis, Ebola, SARS, Swine flu (H1N1), HIV/AIDS all originated from animals, termed zoonotic diseases. Leprosy is believed to have originated from the water buffalo. Scabies, rabies, leptospirosis, toxoplasmosis, ringworm as well as salmonellosis originate from dogs and cats.

"Overall human health (including longevity) took a severe hit from agriculture. The typical human diet went from extreme variety and nutritional richness to just a few types of grain, possibly supplemented by occasional meat and dairy. The Aché diet, for example, included 78 different species of mammal, 21 species of reptiles and amphibians, more than 150 species of birds and 14 species of fish, as well as a wide range of plants.

In addition to the reduced nutritional value of the agricultural diet, the diseases deadliest to our species began their dreadful rampage when human populations turned to agriculture. Conditions were perfect: high-density population centers stewing in their own filth, domesticated animals in close proximity (adding their excrement, viruses, and parasites to the mix), and extended trade routes facilitating the movement of contagious pathogens from populations with immunity to vulnerable communities.

When James Larrick and his colleagues studied the still relatively isolated Waorani Indians of Ecuador, they found no evidence of hypertension, heart disease, or cancer. No anemia or common cold. No internal parasites. No sign of previous exposure to polio, pneumonia, smallpox, chickenpox, typhus, typhoid, syphilis, tuberculosis, malaria or serum hepatitis.

This is not as surprising as it may seem, given that almost all these diseases either originated in domesticated animals or depend upon high-density populations for easy transmission. The deadliest infectious diseases and parasites that have plagued our species could not have spread until after the transition to agriculture." 1,3

"Once pathogens mutate into human populations from domesticated animals, they quickly migrate from one community to another. For these agents of disease, the initiation of global trade was a boon. Bubonic plague took the Silk Route to Europe. Smallpox and measles stowed away on ships headed to the New World, while syphilis appears to have hitched a ride across the Atlantic, probably on Columbus' first return voyage. Today, the Western world flutters into annual panics over avian flu scares emanating from the Far East. Ebola, SARS, flesh-eating bacteria, the H1N1 virus (swine flu), and innumerable pathogens yet to be named keep us all compulsively washing our hands.

While there were no doubt occasional outbreaks of infectious diseases in prehistory, it's unlikely they spread far, even with high levels of sexual promiscuity. It would have been nearly impossible for pathogens to take hold in widespread groups of foragers with infrequent contact between groups. The conditions necessary for devastating epidemics or pandemics just didn't exist until the agricultural revolution. The claim that modern medicine and sanitation save us from infectious diseases that ravaged pre-agricultural people (something we hear often) is like arguing that seat belts and air-bags protect us from car crashes there were fatal to our prehistoric ancestors."1

"Within a year of the first European settlers' arrival at Sydney, in 1788, corpses of Aborigines who had died in epidemics became a common sight. The principal recorded killers were smallpox, influenza, measles, typhoid, typhus, chicken pox, whooping cough, tuberculosis, and syphilis.

In these two ways, independent Aboriginal societies were eliminated in all areas suitable for European food production. The only societies that survived more or less intact were those in areas of northern and western Australia useless to Europeans. Within one century of European colonization, 40,000 years of Aboriginal traditions had been mostly swept away.”4

"A hundred grams of dehydrated cricket contains 1,440 milligrams of iron, 340 milligrams of calcium, and 25 milligrams of zinc -- three minerals often missing in the diets of the chronic poor. Insects are richer in minerals and healthy fats than beef or pork. Freaked out by the exoskeleton, antennae, and way too many legs? Then stick to the Turf and forget the Surf because shrimp, crabs, and lobsters are all arthropods, just like grasshoppers. And they eat the nastiest of what sinks to the bottom of the ocean, so don't talk about bug's disgusting diets. Anyway, you may have bug parts stuck between your teeth right now. The Food and Drug Administration tells its inspectors to ignore insect parts in black pepper unless they find more than 475 of them per 50 grams, on average. Some estimates suggest that Americans unknowingly eat anywhere from one to two pounds of insects per year...

Archaeologist David Madsen investigated the energy of foraging for Mormon crickets (Anabrus simplex), which had been on the menu of the local native people in present-day Utah. His group collected crickets at a rate of about eighteen crunchy pounds per hour. At that rate, Madsen calculated that in just an hour's work, a forager could collect the caloric equivalent of eighty-seven chili dogs, forty-nine slices of pizza, or forty-three Big Macs -- without the hearth clogging fats and additives" 1, 5

While it is not feasible to go back to hunter-gatherer lifestyles in our time of population boom as agriculture is a necessity in our day and age, we could explore the option of adapting to a plant-based diet, at least for the majority of the world population. This would not only reduce the risk of pandemics to the degree populations adhere, it would slow down devastations to the environment caused by animal agriculture and allow for a more ethical co-existence with other species on the planet. It would prevent unnecessary loss of lives, reduce the risk of many chronic diseases, allow us to travel freely while not giving authorities the opportunity to infringe on our liberties. Of course, the change would not occur overnight, but we should at least be exploring this option. Governments could invest in educating populations to aide in the dietary transition, nutrition counseling, agriculture of lysine-rich plant sources such as sacha inchi and luptin, algae-derived EPA and DHA essential fatty acids. While natural water sources were a source of vitamin B12, modern water sanitation makes supplementation of this vitamin now necessary for vegans. While sanitation methods cause iodine contamination in the milk supply, supplementation and algae sources of iodine could be introduced to many. While less than half of the world population adapted to tolerate cow’s milk, we as a species lived most of our evolution as lactose-intolerant adults.

Are the unnecessary loss of millions of lives, the morbidities of survivors, the crash of economies, the financial ruins, the loss of liberties that result from preventable pandemics really worth it, all for the pleasure of munching on a hunk of flesh while there are alternatives, while resources could be directed instead towards educating populations on how to transition to a vegan diet and development of more plant-based convenience foods and meat replacements to ease the transition for meat-lovers? Thousands of other zoonotic viruses are naturally in the making while we remain confined to our homes, economies are halting and liberties risk being lost due to COVID-19. It is but a matter of time before the next pandemic is upon us unless we adapt to living a safe distance from animals. Our species has survived due to its capacity to adapt throughout evolution. Let us consider an adaptation to plant-based diets, letting wild animals roam free, putting an end to the breeding and reproduction of domesticated animals.

Peace!

A Visual History of Pandemics: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/a-visual-history-of-pandemics

Dr. Micheal Gregor's presentation on the relation of animal domestication and pandemics:

Animal agriculture's environmental devastations:

Plant-Based Diets in Climate Change Mitigation and Resource Conservation: https://vndpg.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Climate-Change-RD.pdf

Cowspiracy discussion:

1- Ryan, C. PhD, Jetha, C., MD, Sex at Dawn, How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships. Harper Perennial. New York. London. Toronto. Sydney. New Delhi. Aukland. Feb. 2012. Chapter 14. P. 3-15.

2- Diamond (1997).

3- Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (2009).

4- Diamond, J. W.W. Norton & Company. Guns Germs, and Steel, The Fates of Human Societies. New York, London. Chapter 15, p. 1194.

5- Menzel and D'Aluisio. p. 178.