Gary L. Francione Quotes

Veganism is an answer for almost every problem facing the world in terms of hunger and climate change.

For me, going vegan was an ethical and environmental decision. I'm doing the right thing by the animals.

If one of the arguments against eating meat is to do with cruelty and animal intelligence, then lab meat avoids that. There's also the environmental argument for it.

There's so many issues tied to the meat industry. I mean, social, environmental, humanitarian - all of them. I know that when I'm eating that I'm not hurting the planet, I'm not hurting other people on this planet, I'm not hurting animals... and I'm not hurting nature.

If people learned what they were contributing to every time they ate meat, eggs, or dairy, surely they would be just as motivated as I was to change.

Mainly I'm a vegan because I like animals, and I don't want to be involved in their suffering. Also, it's better for my health and for the environment.

I've learned so much about what you can do to help animals, the environmental issues around meat production.

The health of the planet is at stake, because the cruelty and the waste that accompanies the slaughter of billions of animals each year literally infects us all. We could consume healthy plant-based food produced at almost infinitely less cost. What does that say, really, about us and what we're doing... to animals and to ourselves?

I believe veganism can be beneficial for the individual and the world, and of course the animal, but belief is like laying in the dark with someone and telling them you love them and hearing nothing back. So I've never had the confidence to get on a soapbox and tell someone else what to do.

It is all very well for 2% of the population to live in a monastic state of meatlessness while everyone else gorges their way towards environmental meltdown or the nearest heart clinic. Vegetarianism is good for the willing minority, but not much use as a campaign tool.

Being a vegan is a first-world phenomenon, completely self-indulgent.

When I started researching the eco effects of eating meat, I'd assumed, for no good reason, that environmental irresponsibility would correspond to both animal size and deliciousness: Eating cows would be worst, eating pigs would be a bit less bad, and eating chickens would be basically harmless.

I realised what goes on in the egg industry and the dairy industry, so then I was like, 'That's it! Going vegan!' and I just kind of went cold turkey, basically.

Years of cultural programming have taught us to love some animals while eating others, when in all reality, all animals are sentient beings with the capacity to feel, both physically and emotionally. Every day, I have the choice to live a life of compassion that not only saves animals but helps the environment.

I have been vociferous against government on things like beef. I used to eat beef, but I've stopped. That doesn't mean others shouldn't eat beef.

If a kid ever realized what was involved in factory farming, they would never touch meat again.

There’s no comparison. Veganism is the single most important thing that one can do today.

I grew up in cattle country-that's why I became a vegetarian. Meat stinks, for the animals, the environment, and your health.

If you and I become vegans, the global consequences aren't going to be that much. But if we can get a few hundred million people to become a little more aware and cut back on their animal consumption, the consequences will be great.

You can't really call yourself an environmentalist if you're still consuming animals. You just can't.

I think vegetarianism is a crucial ethical choice for an individual and a society.

Every time we consume meat, eggs or dairy foods, we contribute to ecological devastation and the wasteful misuse of resources on a global scale.

I became a vegetarian after I became aware of factory farming and slaughterhouses and the torture and inhumane handling of all these animals.

'Cost-saver' in industrial livestock agriculture may usually be taken to mean 'moral shortcut.'

My own view is that being a vegetarian or vegan is not an end in itself, but a means towards reducing both human and animal suffering and leaving a habitable planet to future generations.