Why Vegan?

Eat. Good. Karma.

The Facts

Maybe you’re on the fence when it comes to consuming animal products or just curious what all the fuss is about. We’ve compiled some facts below for you to ponder.

 

Water Conservation

This is a big one for us as Californians.

On average, a vegan - a person who doesn’t eat meat or dairy - indirectly consumes nearly 600 gallons of water per day less than a person who eats the average American diet.1

 

By relying exclusively on plant-based ingredients, our baked goods come with a much smaller water cost. See how much water you save by choosing Karma Baker over the average non-vegan equivalent.

 

Health

Beyond the satisfaction of living a more ethical and sustainable lifestyle, there are abundant health benefits to a plant-based diet.

By eating nothing but plants close to their natural state, I lost weight quickly and responsibly. My skin cleared up. My mental acuity sharpened. My sleep improved and my mood elevated.

- Rich Roll
Best-Selling Author, Ultra-Endurance Athlete,
Wellness Evangelist & Karma Baker Fan

Peak Athletic Performance

There’s bountiful compelling evidence that a plant-based diet is the key to unlocking the full athletic potential of the human body. Check out the sampling of vegan athletes below to see how a plant-based diet can allow you to achieve optimal strength, endurance energy and longevity.

1. James Wilks

2. Dotsie Bausch

3. Lewis Hamilton

4. Tia Blanco

5. Heather Mitts

6. DeAndre Jordan

Optimal Weight Management and Disease Prevention/Reversal

Obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer – these lifestyle diseases not only result in millions of deaths worldwide, but also account for 75% of American healthcare costs.2

A whole food plant-based diet has been shown to successfully prevent or reverse these lifestyle diseases. Check out the testimonies of the people below to learn more about the how plant-based nutrition can help you achieve lasting health and weight management.

    • Robert Ostfeld MD.
    • Dr. Garth Davis
    • Fully Raw Kristina
    • Josh Lajuanie
    • Adam Sud
    • David Clark
    • Adam Scully-Power

Environment

It may surprise you to learn that choosing a vegan diet is arguably the single most impactful positive lifestyle choice you can make to benefit our planet.

A person who follows a vegan diet produces the equivalent of 50% less carbon dioxide, uses 1/11th oil, 1/13th water, and 1/18th land compared to a meat-lover for their food.5 6 7 8 9 10

Air Pollution

Animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions, more than the combined exhaust from all transportation.11
  • Livestock and their byproducts account for at least 32,000 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, or 51% of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.12 13 14
    • Methane is 25-100 times more destructive than CO2 on a 20 year time frame.15
    • Methane has a global warming potential 86 times that of CO2 on a 20 year time frame.15
    • Livestock is responsible for 65% of all human-related emissions of nitrous oxide – a greenhouse gas with 296 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, and which stays in the atmosphere for 150 years.16
    • Emissions for agriculture projected to increase 80% by 2050 while Energy related emissions expected to increase 20% by 2040.17 18 19
    • Even without fossil fuels, we will exceed our 565 gigatons CO2e limit by 2030, all from raising animals.20 21
    • Reducing methane emissions would create tangible benefits almost immediately.22

Land Usage & Devastation

    • Livestock or livestock feed occupies 1/3 of the earth’s ice-free land. 23
    • Livestock covers 45% of the earth’s total land. 24 25
    • Animal agriculture is responsible for up to 91% of Amazon destruction.20 26 27 28
    • 1/3 of the planet is desertified, with livestock as the leading driver. 29

Ocean Dead Zones & Depleted Fisheries

    • Livestock operations on land have created more than 500 nitrogen flooded dead zones around the world in our oceans.30 31
    • 3/4 of the world’s fisheries are exploited or depleted. 32 33
    • For every 1 pound of fish caught, up to 5 pounds of unintended-marine species are caught and discarded as by-kill.34
    • Scientists estimate as many as 650,000 whales, dolphins and seals
    • are killed every year by fishing vessels.35 36

That’s Why

For these reasons we not only choose to make our baked goods vegan, but we strive to make vegan baked goods that surpass their bad karma equivalents. We want the best choice for your body and the planet to taste the best too.

Sources

For more information about the impact of animal agriculture we recommend you check out cowspiracy.com/facts and whatthehealthfilm.com/facts.

  1. National Geographic, “Water Conservation Tips.”
  2. “Meateater’s Guide to Climate Change & Health.” Environmental Working Group.
  3. Water Footprint Network, “Product Water Footprints”.
  4. A Global Assessment of the Water Footprint of Farm Animal Products, WFN.
  5. CO2: “The Carbon Footprint of 5 Diets Compared.” Shrink The Footprint.
  6. “Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in the UK.” Climactic change, 2014.
  7. Oil, water: “Sustainability of meat-based and plant-based diets and the environment.” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2003.
  8. One Green Planet, “Meat The Truth”.
  9. Robbins, John. “Food Revolution”. Conari Press, 2001
  10. “Our food our future.” Earthsave.
  11. Fao.org. Spotlight: Livestock impacts on the environment.
  12. WorldWatch, November/December 2009. Worldwatch Institute, Washington, DC, USA. Pp. 10–19.
  13. Animal Feed Science and Technology “comment to editor” Goodland, Anhang.
  14. The Independent, article Nov. 2009.
  15. “Improved Attribution of Climate Forcing to Emissions.” Science Magazine.
  16. “Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options.” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2006.
  17. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v515/n7528/full/nature13959. html
  18. Energy Global Hydrocarbon Engineering
  19. IEA, World Energy Outlook 2014
  20. Oppenlander, Richard A. Food Choice and Sustainability: Why Buying Local, Eating Less Meat, and Taking Baby Steps Won’t Work. . Minneapolis, MN : Langdon Street, 2013. Print.
  21. Calculation is based on http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6294 analyses that 51% of GHG are attributed to animal ag.
  22. U.N. Press Release, Climate Summit 2014.
  23. FAO. “Livestock a major threat to environment”
  24. Thornton, Phillip, Mario Herrero, and Polly Ericksen. “Livestock and Climate Change.” Livestock Exchange, no. 3 (2011).
  25. IPCC AR5 WG# Chapter 11, Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Us (AFOLU)
  26. World Bank. “Causes of Deforestation of theBrazilian Amazon”
  27. Margulis, Sergio. Causes of Deforestation of the Brazilian Rainforest. Washington: World Bank Publications, 2003.
  28. WORLD BANK WORKING PAPER NO. 22
  29. “UN launches international year of deserts and desertification.” UN news centre, 2006.
  30. PRESS RELEASE, LOUISIANA UNIVERSITIES MARINE CONSORTIUM August 4, 2014
  31. NOAA News, 2014.
  32. “Overfishing: A Threat to Marine Biodiversity.” UN News Center.
  33. “General Situation of World Fish Stocks.” United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
  34. “Discards and Bycatch in Shrimp Trawl Fisheries.” UNITED NATIONS FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO).
  35. Wasted Catch: Unsolved Problems in U.S. Fisheries
  36. Goldenberg, Suzanne. “America’s Nine Most Wasteful Fisheries Named.” The Guardian.