1. Veganism

While for some veganism is simply a set of dietary choices, for others it is an inherent part of their struggle against a system that oppresses and devalues lives, all lives, while at the same time creating a meat industry which has caused irreversible damage to the environment.

“It is all very well to say that individuals must wrestle with their consciences—but only if their consciences are awake and informed. Industrial society, alas, hides animals’ suffering. Few people would themselves keep a hen in a shoebox for her egg-laying life; but practically everyone will eat smartly packaged, ‘farm fresh’ eggs from battery hens…milk drinkers do not see the calves torn from their mothers.” The Economist, “What Humans Owe to Animals,” 8/19/95

Why Vegan? is a great resource on why being vegan is important. It covers a wide variety of issues connected to veganism such as the conditions for animals in factory farms, in transport as well as in slaughterhouses, the environmental impact of meat, as well as offering resources about healthy vegan eating. The guide is available in many languages with the english version here: http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/

2. Anti-Speciesism & Abolitionism

Anti-Speciesism

Anti-speciesism is a new wave similar to the anti-sexist or anti-racist one which seeks the elimination of all discrimination against particular beings based on their membership to a certain species. At the core of this movement is that the a being should not be valued based on its ability to make moral judgements, but rather on its ability to know pain or pleasure. Anti-speciesists believe that the only way forward is to give up treating animals as things from which humans can benefit. Source: http://www.rightsforanimals.org/antispeciesism.php

Antispeziesismus (german) http://www.antispe.de/

Abolitionism

Abolitionism is a concept closely related to anti-speciesism in that it too is based only on sentience and no other cognitive characteristic. Abolitionism seeks to abolish all animal exploitation through a legal and moral paradigm shift. While not only one tactic is prefferred by all abolitionists nonviolent vegan advocacy is one of the baselines especially for some of its more prominent advocates such as Gary Francione. Abolitionists believe that the legal ownership of animals must be abolished and are against welfarist animal rights interventions such as those of PETA which they consider to “risk making the public feel more comfortable about its use of animals.” Source: http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/

The Abolitionist’s Religion, Veganism and Anti-Speciesism Issue http://www.upc-online.org/whatsnew/60107abolitionist.html

3. The Ecology of Meat

While for vegan, animal rights and environmental activists it has been clear for many years that the nature of the meat industry had a negative impact on all beings involved in recent years even mainstream media and international officials have had to recognize the damage that the growth of this production has caused and will continue to cause worldwide.

"Global demand for meat has multiplied in recent years, encouraged by growing affluence and nourished by the proliferation of huge, confined animal feeding operations. These assembly-line meat factories consume enormous amounts of energy, pollute water supplies, generate significant greenhouse gases and require ever-increasing amounts of corn, soy and other grains, a dependency that has led to the destruction of vast swaths of the world’s tropical rain forests.” Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler is an indepth article published in the New York Times at the beginning of the year dealing with this issue.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman.html

On November 21st, as Americans prepared to celebrate the annual harvest festival that is Thanksgiving, the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) released "Eating our Future: The environmental impact of industrial animal agriculture." The report details how current agricultural practices in the U.S. and elsewhere contribute to the environmental, economic and social crises faced by developed and developing countries alike, and makes a call for shifting to humane and sustainable models of production. It also examines the impact of the rapid growth of meat production, and highlights the urgent need to challenge and restrain the expansion of that production and reverse it as soon as possible.
Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Industrial-Animal-Agriculture-Eating-Our/story.aspx?guid=%7B3B66B82D-4829-4A61-A213-3375525AC8E2%7D

The full report is available from the WSPA and includes three main sections: Environmental Impact outlining the relationship between meat production and climate change, air pollution, water use, land use, biodiversity loss, as well as statistics on management of animals; Economics, social justice and humaneness dealing with animal care, human & animal health, disease outbreaks; Reducing and reversing the damage which attempts to tackle various aspects of possible solutions. Source: http://www.wspa-usa.org/download/140_eating_our_future_nov_08_.pdf

Cook Plants, Not Planets! Short article outlining the direct corrolation between consuming meat and the environmental damage resulting from that consumption. http://www.aseed.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=144&Itemid=251

“People should have one meat-free day a week if they want to make a personal and effective sacrifice that would help tackle climate change.” A recent article ublished in the Guardian presenting some of the ideas of Dr. Rajenda Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, related to the over-consumption and production of meat and its detrimental impact on climate change.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/07/food.foodanddrink

Further information on the Environmental Impact of Meat

Meat by Numbers is a short article breaking down the statistics on the consumption of beef in Britain in relation to environmental impact such as amount of water used to produce milk, carbon dioxide emitted during production of meat, etc.http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/07/food.beef

4. Recent Vegan & Animal Rights News

European Vegetarian and Animal News Alliance with news in many languages from all over the globe related to vegetarianism, veganism, animal rights, environmental impact, etc. http://www.evana.org/

Animal Rights Media (dutch) http://www.animalrights.nl/

5. Further useful resources

Just starting out as a vegan? Check out the Vegan's Starter Guide which includes info on staying healthy as a vegan, simple meal ideas and further recipes, replacers and substitutes for eggs/dairy as well as further resources http://www.veganoutreach.org/guide/

Veganism in a Nutshell http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/vegan.htm

What to Eat?

A complete listing of all E-numbers containing animal ingredients http://www.veggieglobal.com/nutrition/non-vegetarian-food-additives.htm

An exhaustive listing of all ingredients derived from animals which might be found in food as well as other goods http://animal-ingredients.tripod.com/

Vegweb http://vegweb.com/

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World http://vegancupcakes.wordpress.com/

All about Tempeh http://www.tempeh.info/

Happy Cow's Guide to Vegetarian Restaurants and Health Food Stores in Europe http://www.happycow.net/europe/index.html

Express the vegan dietary restrictions in different languages with the Vegan Passport http://www.lekkerplantaardig.net/vgp/v-pas.htm

Vegan prisoners' support grouphttp://www.vpsg.org/aboutvpsg.html

Groups and information from around Europe

http://www.vegetarisme.info/ (french)
http://www.animalrights.ru (russian)
http://vegan.de/ (german)
http://www.veganitalia.com (italian)
http://www.svr.ro (romanian)
http://de.veganwiki.org (the vegan wiki in german)