Riduce your ecological footprint it is the great challenge of the coming years for the defense of the planet and the change in our lifestyle can start at the table, reducing the consumption of meat or eliminating it completely from the diet. In short, becoming vegan is no longer just a question of love for animals.
Being vegan for the planet
Greenhouse gases resulting from the raising of livestock destined for slaughter or the production of milk and cheese represent 14.5 percent of the total. Deforestation, for the production of vegetables used to feed animals, means less CO2 stored by trees, less oxygen in the atmosphere and other consequences on the climate, in addition to the pollution caused by animal waste. Greta Thunberg, vegan, declared in a speech that if we all adopted a plant-based diet we would save up to 8 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year (out of 17 in the food sector, according to estimates by Nature Fooded.).
Kids choose to be vegan
This choice is becoming trendy even among very young people who care about the environment. Unlike their parents, who are perhaps vegan to protect animals, climate change is the decisive driving force for twenty-year-olds. The results of a survey, reported on the website veganok.com, describe a Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2009) in which 70 percent of those interviewed plan to remain or become vegan in the next five years. Among the reasons, attention to the environment stands out but there is also health. And, surprisingly, these kids also manage to influence friends and family, even infecting parents and siblings with their ideas.
Eating green is not enough
As it happened to Francesco Bachschmidt Grillone, 25 years old, artist, in Paris for his studies. «Talking with a friend I started thinking about the resources used to grow the animals we eat and about waste» she says. «And, at the beginning of university, I had a small job in large-scale retail trade: I saw with my own eyes how much food was thrown away. So I became a vegetarian. It lasted about a month and a half: I realized that the meat industry is the same as milk and dairy products. The dairy cow is exploited, has a shortened life expectancy, when it does not produce enough it is killed and enters the meat market. And I became vegan.”
And health? «I immediately felt better, lighter. I’m sporty: I run, swim, climb. As a vegan I can eat a lot and it’s a healthier diet. As for proteins, I’m careful: I regularly consume legumes. At first it took me a while to understand what to eat, then I approached Asian cuisine, discovering new dishes and recipes.” Isn’t it more expensive to eat vegan? «As a student abroad in an expensive city I actually saved money» she comments. «It all depends on purchases. Ready meals, like the veggie burger, aren’t cheap. But I buy the ingredients and enjoy cooking.” Heart dish? «Vegan parmigiana. Sacher with vegetable milk and olive and sunflower oil. All done by me.” Francis’ choices also influenced some of his friends, but he never proselytized. «Everyone eats what they want. But he must be aware of his actions. Even as a vegan, I believe that it is not enough to eat only what is plant-based, you need to focus on what does not pollute. I avoid what comes from monocultures made possible through deforestation and excessive use of water.”
Family routine
Is a child who changes his diet a revolution for the family? «The vegetarian phase was not difficult» says Olga Bachschmidt, curator of cultural projects and mother of Francesco and Luca. «At home we have never consumed excess meat, not for love of animals, but for health. As a vegan, Francesco started doing his own shopping and during the lockdown he cooked for all of us». Luca, two years older, was infected by his brother and is now a vegetarian. The father, on the other hand, struggles to share his children’s decisions: «I told Francesco that he was free to choose. It was important to me, however, that he seek advice from a nutritionist to be responsible for his health.” Is it difficult to cook for different diets? «No, I learned to make half a flan with eggs for us and Luca, the other half without for Francesco» explains Olga Bachschmidt. «He taught me a lot about Chinese, Indian and Japanese ethnic cuisine. It was an enrichment, also in terms of open-mindedness.”
Virginia Sofia Campanella, 22 years old, Roman, has a degree in Natural Sciences and is currently living in Belgium for a master’s degree in Marine Biology. «How can you not eat cacio e pepe and cheeses in Lazio? I liked them a lot too. Then, at 14, I became a vegetarian, due to an intolerance to milk and dairy products but also out of love for animals. The transition wasn’t difficult: I didn’t like fish, but I loved vegetables. The real renunciation was the meat. In our house, barbecue was tradition, I struggled to give up cutlets. As for eggs, I loved the omelette with asparagus, but one day while I was eating it I felt nauseous: I linked food to animal suffering.” As a teenager, being a vegetarian is not easy to make friends understand. But Virginia was determined. «When I stopped eating burgers in company they made fun of me. No problem: I chose the french fries. Or a marinara pizza.”
Experiments with tofu and seitan
For almost three years, Virginia has been vegan. And her studies also have something to do with this more adult choice. «I approached Fridays for Future» she says. «Many still struggle to connect intensive farming and overfishing to the changes they cause on the soil, in the waters and on biodiversity. Thanks to my passion for science, I was able to understand this. Nutrition is the easiest part of our lifestyle to change». At home, her family supported her from the beginning. «When I stopped eating eggs, my grandmother made me fresh pasta with water and flour. My mother started experimenting with vegan foods like tofu and seitan with me. And now she also takes her friends to eat at vegan restaurants. Even some of my friends in contact with me have become vegetarian or vegan for reasons related to the environment and animal suffering.”
The path of Elisa Rossi, 24 years old, Roman transplanted to Milan, is different to study at the Polytechnic, where he has just obtained a master’s degree in Chemical Engineering with a thesis on cultured meat. Elisa is an anti-speciesist vegan. «All animal species have the same dignity: therefore, they are not eaten, they are not killed, they are not mistreated, they are not used» she explains. «When I left home I became a vegetarian. In reality, I would have liked to eliminate meat as a teenager, but with my parents it was complicated, I couldn’t manage meals independently. After understanding how cows were treated, I became vegan within a month».
Reconvert companies
Today Elisa is a volunteer for Animal Equality, the organization that fights to defend animal rights and fights against cruelty on farms. «I try to raise awareness among people by focusing on curiosity» she says. You are not among those who go to farms to secretly film what happens. «But I worked in a mountain hut: for three months the cattle are on pasture and are fine, but the rest of the year they are tied up in the stables».
And don’t you think about the work of breeders? «They can be converted into companies that produce vegetables. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also recommends it.” Yes, livestock and climate, but also pollution and land consumption, are closely linked. And who doesn’t want to give up steak? “There is cultured meat: it doesn’t hurt anyone and doesn’t involve animal suffering.”
Vegans: keeping principles and health in balance
It is possible to survive in good and excellent health by completely eliminating animal proteins. At every stage of life. Witnesses are a science communicator and a nutritionist. The important thing? Awareness
«I was a vegetarian for 25 years. For reasons of serious intolerances, despite myself, I had to introduce meat into my diet, but I rarely consume it and never from intensive farming.” Talking is Mario Tozzi, geologist and researcher at the Cnr, as well as a well-known television presenter on Rai.
He is keen to underline that the vegetarian diet has given him excellent health over the years. Tozzi, very attentive to the environment and climate change, like many twenty-year-olds made a choice dictated by precise reasons. «My motivations were above all environmental, but also ethical, I am against the suffering of living beings – health and paleoanthropological. The genus Homo to which we belong was originally not carnivorous, but vegetarian and occasionally consumed meat».
We can survive in good health even without meat and fish on our plates, as vegetarians, and even as vegans. Teenagers and children included. Silvia Goggi, nutritionist, vegan, mother of two super sporty vegan children and author of various books on the subject, is clear: «A vegan choice can be made at any stage of life. It is doable, beneficial and for everyone. With a vegan teenager in the family you have to consume legumes once a day and to accommodate him the whole family benefits. What matters is having a well-balanced diet and this also applies to those who are omnivores. For advice, you can ask your GP or paediatrician, otherwise ask your nutritionist. There is only one indication for vegans, absolutely not to be overlooked: taking vitamin B12 supplements».
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