Do people who profess Christianity have special reasons for moving towards a plant-based diet? First, there are four general reasons: concern for the environment, concern for animals, concern for the well-being of people, and the desire to lead a healthier lifestyle. In addition, Christians may be guided by a long-standing religious tradition of abstaining from meat and other animal products during fasting.
Let’s look at these reasons in turn. Let’s start, however, with a more fundamental question: why a Christian understanding of God and the world can provide special motivation for a plant-based lifestyle.
Christians believe that everything in the universe owes its existence to God. The God of Christians is not just their God, or even the God of all people, but the God of all beings. Biblical texts glorify God who created all beings and declared them good (Genesis 1); who created the world where every creature has its place (Psalm 104); who has compassion for every living being and provides for it (Psalm 145); who, in the person of Jesus Christ, acts to free all his creatures from bondage (Romans 8) and unite everything earthly and heavenly (Colossians 1:20; Ephesians 1:10). Jesus comforted his followers by reminding them that no bird is forgotten by God (Luke 12:6). John says that the son of God came to earth because of God’s love for the world (John 3:16). God’s admiration and care for all creatures means that Christians have reason to admire and care for them, especially since people are called to be the image and likeness of God. The vision that the whole world, as the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins said, is charged with the majesty of God, is a fundamental aspect of the Christian worldview.
Thus, Christians recognize the universe and all beings in it as belonging to God, loved by God, and under the protection of God. How might this affect their eating habits? Let’s go back to the five reasons we noted above.
First, Christians can switch to a vegan diet to take care of God’s creation, the environment. Greenhouse gas emissions from increasing livestock numbers are a major cause of the climate catastrophe our planet has been facing in recent years. Reducing the consumption of animal products is one of the fastest ways to reduce our carbon footprint. Industrial animal husbandry also causes local environmental problems. For example, it is hardly possible to live next to large pig farms where excrement is dumped into ditches, but it is often placed next to poor communities, which makes life miserable.
Second, Christians can go vegan to enable other beings to thrive and praise God in their own way. The vast majority of animals are raised in industrial systems that subject them to unnecessary suffering. Most of the fish are specially grown by man for their needs, and the fish caught in the wild die long and painfully. Large-scale production of dairy products and eggs entails the killing of surplus male animals. Current levels of raising animals for human consumption prevent both domesticated and wild animals from flourishing. By 2000, the biomass of domesticated animals exceeded that of all wild land mammals by 24 times. The biomass of domesticated chickens is almost three times that of all wild birds. These shocking statistics show that humans are monopolizing the Earth’s productive capacity in such a way that there is almost no room for wild animals, which is gradually leading to their mass extinction.
Third, Christians can switch to a vegan diet in order to save the lives of people themselves. The livestock industry threatens food and water security, and those already suffering deprivation are most at risk. Currently, more than a third of the world’s cereal production goes to feed farm animals, and people who eat meat get only 8% of the calories that would be available if they ate cereals instead. Livestock also consumes a huge amount of the world’s water supply: it takes 1-10 times more water to produce 20 kg of beef than to produce the same calories from plant sources. Of course, a vegan diet is not practical in all parts of the world (for example, not for Siberian pastoralists dependent on reindeer herds), but it is clear that people, animals and the environment will benefit from switching to a plant-based diet wherever possible.
Fourth, Christians can follow a vegan diet to maintain the health and well-being of their families, friends, neighbors, and the community at large. The unprecedented high consumption of meat and other animal products in developed countries is directly detrimental to human health, with increasing rates of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and cancer. In addition, intensive farming practices contribute both to the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains and the risk of pandemics from zoonotic infections such as swine and bird flu.
Finally, many Christians may be inspired by long-standing Christian traditions of avoiding meat and other animal products on Fridays, during Lent and at other times. The practice of not eating animal products can be seen as part of the practice of repentance, which redirects attention from selfish pleasure to God. Such traditions remind Christians of the limitations that come with recognizing God as the creator: animals belong to God, so people must treat them with respect and cannot do whatever they want with them.
Some Christians find arguments against veganism and vegetarianism, and the debate on this topic is constantly open. Genesis 1 identifies humans as unique images of God and grants them dominion over other animals, but humans are prescribed a vegan diet at the end of the chapter, so the original dominance does not include permission to kill animals for food. In Genesis 9, after the Flood, God allows humans to kill animals for food, but this does not justify modern schemes to raise animals in industrial systems in ways that are so obviously detrimental to people, animals, and the environment. The gospel records say that Jesus ate fish and offered fish to others (although, interestingly, he did not eat meat and poultry), but this does not justify the consumption of modern industrial animal products.
It is important to note that veganism in a Christian context should never be viewed as a moral utopia. Christians recognize a gap in our relationship with other beings that cannot be bridged by adopting a particular dietary practice or making any other such effort. Vegan Christians should not claim moral superiority: they are sinners like everyone else. They simply strive to act as responsibly as possible when making choices about what to eat. They should seek to learn from other Christians how to do better in other areas of their lives, and they can pass on their experiences to other Christians.
Caring for people, animals, and the environment are obligations for Christians, and so the impact of modern industrial animal husbandry should be of concern to them. The Christian vision and admiration of God’s world, their conscious living among the fellows whom God loves, will serve as an impetus for many to adopt a vegan diet or reduce consumption of animal products.