Vegan Help Sheet

✨ Language Tips

Avoid: welfare / cruelty / abuse / harm / reduce / suffering / care Use: rights / exploitation / use / oppression / abolition / respect

Veganism is a social justice movement for the liberation of animals. It is a movement for peace that knows all animals deserve respect. We are against the oppression & exploitation of sentient life and want to abolish the use of all our fellow animals for human interest. Veganism is not a diet.

How to use this page

Each card below tackles a common claim or objection. Click a title to copy a link, search to filter, and use the Print button for handouts. Edit directly in the HTML — every section is just a <section> with a heading and bullet points.

Crop Deaths / Insects

Claim
  • "But crop farming kills animals and insects."
Response
  • Most crop/pasture land exists to feed farmed animals. Reducing animal agriculture reduces collateral harm.
  • Shifting to plant-first food systems enables less land/water use and fewer field deaths overall.
  • Better methods: rewilding, veganic/low-till, protected cropping, indoor/vertical farms.

Nutrition / Omnivore / Evolution

Key point
  • Humans can thrive on well-planned plant-based diets at all life stages. Major dietetic bodies agree.
  • "Omnivore" describes what we can eat, not what we must eat; we still choose not to exploit.
  • Evolutionary ability ≠ moral permission. Capacity does not create obligation.

Land Use / Pollution / Environment

  • Animal agriculture is a leading driver of land use, deforestation, water use, and waste.
  • Vegan world = less land/water, fewer emissions, rewilding opportunities, and returning habitats.

Culture / Tradition / "Raised this way"

  • Culture doesn’t justify violating others’ rights. Harmful traditions change when we know better.
  • Family habits explain behaviour; they don’t excuse oppression.

"Natural"

  • "Natural" ≠ good. Many natural things are harmful; many good things are invented.
  • Morality is about what we ought to do, not what occurs in the wild.

Legality

  • Legal ≠ moral. Laws frequently lag behind ethics (history is full of examples).
  • We don’t outsource our ethics to legislation; we vote and act to improve it.

Delicious / Personal Pleasure / Choice

  • Personal enjoyment or convenience doesn’t justify using someone else’s body.
  • Freedom ends where another’s rights begin.

Local / Free-Range / Organic

  • Scale and label don’t change the core wrong: use and killing.
  • Local or small farms still breed, confine, separate families, and slaughter.

Circle of Life / Food Chain

  • Being able to dominate doesn’t make domination right.
  • We can also teach that being higher on a food chain doesn’t override ethics.

Hunting / "I’ll Do It Myself"

  • Skill or effort doesn’t make killing someone ethical.
  • Only ~4% of mammal biomass is wild; we should protect them, not turn them into targets.

"We Use All Parts"

  • Industry profits from the whole body — that doesn’t make the use ethical.
  • There’s no "unique" waste-nothing path that justifies breeding and killing.

"I Don’t Kill/Oppress Them Myself"

  • Paying others to do violence assigns responsibility via supply & demand.
  • If it were a dog, we’d see clearly that hiring the harm doesn’t absolve it.

Canines / "We’re Built for Meat"

  • Ability isn’t necessity. Humans are generalists with tools and choices.
  • Moral community expands as we understand others’ capacity to feel.

Superiority / Intelligence

  • Intelligence isn’t a yardstick for rights. Humans vary widely; we don’t grade rights on IQ.
  • What matters morally is sentience — the capacity to feel.

Welfare / "Better Way"

  • There’s no right way to do the wrong thing. Softer cages are still cages.
  • Focus on ending use, not optimizing oppression.

Animals Eat Each Other

  • Wild animals act from survival, not moral agency. Our duty is to avoid causing needless harm.
  • Parents in nature kill babies in some species; we don’t copy that for ethics either.

"We’ve Always Done It" / Cavemen

  • History doesn’t sanctify a practice. When we learn a better path, we change.

Over-Population / Extinction

  • We’re not going vegan overnight. Demand declines reduce numbers bred into existence.
  • These animals are created for use. Phasing out breeding prevents future suffering.

"Not Everyone Can Go Vegan"

  • True: some people face constraints. But exceptional cases don’t define the rule for most of us.
  • If you can avoid exploitation, you should.

Cost of Being Vegan

  • Staples like beans, grains, veg, and fruit are often the most affordable foods in a market.
  • Fancy substitutes are optional; justice is not.

Job Losses

  • Transitions happen in every industry. Support workers to move to kinder, future-proof livelihoods.
  • We’ve done this before (e.g., coal → renewables). Help people, not harmful systems.

"Plants Feel Pain"

  • Plants respond to stimuli but lack a central nervous system required for feeling pain.
  • Eating plants directly minimizes plant use compared with cycling them through animals.

Bottom line

Address each point, but always pull back to the core idea: using someone when we don’t need to is wrong. If we wouldn’t do it to a dog, we shouldn’t do it to a cow, fish, pig, or chicken. There’s no excuse.

Made for easy updating. Edit this single file; add new sections by copying a card. — Last updated

🎯 How to deal with…

Phil Bros (pseudo-intellectual debaters)
  • Stay calm — don’t get pulled into endless “gotchas.”
  • Keep returning to core ethics: exploitation is wrong regardless of word games.
  • Redirect away from hypotheticals; stick to real-world harm.
Farmers
  • Acknowledge their work and struggles — avoid personal attacks.
  • Emphasise system change: subsidies, alternative crops, plant-based markets.
  • Offer transition stories (oat/veg farming, sanctuaries).
Gym fanatics / “Protein Bros”
  • Plant proteins cover all amino acids easily.
  • Point to vegan athletes & strength sports figures.
  • Keep it simple: protein is easy, calories matter more.

Crop Deaths / Insects — Decision Path

Claim: “Crop farming kills animals and insects.”
Most crops feed farmed animals?

Yes → Reducing animal agriculture reduces overall collateral harm.

No / unsure → Shift to plant-first systems uses less land & water.

Better methods
  • Rewilding
  • Veganic/low-till
  • Protected cropping
  • Indoor/vertical farms

Bottom line: Plant-first systems = fewer victims overall.

Nutrition / Omnivore / Evolution — Decision Path

“Don’t we need meat?”
Consensus

Major dietetic bodies: well-planned plant diets are adequate at all life stages.

“Omnivore” point

Describes what we can eat, not what we must eat.

Therefore: Ability ≠ obligation → choose non-exploitation when possible.

Land Use / Pollution / Environment — Decision Path

Impact check

Animal agriculture drives land use, water use, waste, and emissions.

Want lower footprint?

Plant-first systems use less land/water and enable rewilding.

Ethic: Even beyond footprint, using someone unnecessarily is wrong.

Culture / Tradition — Decision Path

Appeal to tradition

Does tradition override rights? No.

Harmful traditions change when we know better. Family habits explain, not excuse.

Choose respect over custom.

“Natural” — Decision Path

“It’s natural.”

“Natural” ≠ “good.” Many natural things are harmful; we judge by ethics, not occurrence.

Do what reduces harm when we can.

Legality — Decision Path

“It’s legal.”

Legal ≠ moral. Law often lags ethics (history proves).

Act & vote to improve laws; if you can avoid exploitation, do.

Pleasure / Choice — Decision Path

Personal taste or convenience

Does my freedom cross others’ rights?

Yes → Not justified. No → Pick the option without victims.

Local / Free-Range / Organic — Decision Path

Labels & scale

Do labels remove killing/use? No. Breeding, confinement, slaughter still occur.

Core issue: using someone as property → choose products without exploitation.

Circle of Life / Food Chain — Decision Path

“Top of the food chain.”

Power ≠ permission. Strength doesn’t justify harm — ethics > hierarchy.

Hunting / DIY — Decision Path

DIY killing

Effort/skill doesn’t make it moral. Consent is absent; harm remains.

Protect the little wildlife we have, don’t target it.

“We Use All Parts” — Decision Path

Waste-nothing claim

Profit/use doesn’t make it ethical. Still breeding, confinement, killing → end use, don’t optimize it.

“I Don’t Kill Them” — Decision Path

Outsourcing harm

Paying someone assigns responsibility via supply & demand. Dog test: hiring harm wouldn’t excuse it.

Canines / Built for Meat — Decision Path

Capability

Ability ≠ obligation. We have tools & choices → choose kindness when able.

Superiority / Intelligence — Decision Path

IQ comparison

Rights aren’t graded by intelligence. What matters is sentience.

Welfare / “Better Way” — Decision Path

“Better way.”

No right way to do the wrong thing. Softer cages are still cages → end use.

Animals Eat Each Other — Decision Path

Appeal to wild behaviour

Should we copy survival behaviour? No. We have agency; avoid needless harm.

Always Done It / Cavemen — Decision Path

Historicity

Past practice ≠ moral permission. We change when we know better.

Over-Population / Extinction — Decision Path

Concern about species disappearing

We’re not going vegan overnight. Demand decline → fewer bred into existence; phasing out breeding prevents future suffering.

“Not Everyone Can” — Decision Path

Edge cases

Can you avoid exploitation?

Yes → Then you should. No → Support + harm reduction where possible.

Cost — Decision Path

Is vegan expensive?

Using staples? Yes → Often cheapest (beans, grains, veg). No → Fancy substitutes are optional.

Justice ≠ luxury product.

Job Losses — Decision Path

Worry about workers

Transitions happen in every industry. Support re-training & new markets → help people, not harmful systems.

“Plants Feel Pain” — Decision Path

Do plants feel pain?

No central nervous system → responses ≠ felt experience. Eating plants directly uses fewer plants overall.