|
|
“Having a plant-based diet is the number-one issue,” Notaro said. “No other politics matter if you don’t take care of that.”
Indeed, Notaro is likely referring to how veganism is fundamentally interconnected with many other social justice issues: Animal agriculture is a leading cause of climate change; eating animals is creating a public health crisis; slaughterhouse workers (many of whom are undocumented) are among the most mistreated laborers out there; and factory farms wreak havoc on our planet and on rural communities, especially those of people of color. And eating animals perpetuates a culture of violence by deeming some lives more worthy of freedom and happiness than others. These facts are why so many of us believe that leaving animals off our plates is one of the most politically impactful actions we can take.
Going plant-based is also one of the best steps you can take for your personal health. Notaro, who came to fame when she received a breast cancer diagnosis in 2012 and did a viral stand-up routine about it, lived with chronic pain after undergoing a double mastectomy. Now she says that since going plant-based, she’s lived relatively pain-free. That her diet is helping prevent future cancer from forming—and helping prevent a host of other health issues—is good news for those of us who want to enjoy her comedy for many years to come.
If you’d like to be half as cool as Tig Notaro, the good news is that you can also leave animals off your plate and use your voice to share the truth about factory farming on social media and beyond.
Image: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons