Yes, a simple dietary change can have an enormous financial impact on the world — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

Yes, a simple dietary change can have an enormous financial impact on the world

Name: Lauren Vejvoda
Major: Accounting and Finance
Hometown: Spring Grove, IL
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Senior thesis

Abstract

Veganism is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, change we can make for the health of ourselves and the health of our environment. This dietary change has many impacts including water use, land surface usage, climate change, dead zones, and oceans, as well as, physical health, financial savings, health insurance, and changing businesses. However, there are arguments stating that veganism is detrimental for the environment and one’s physical health, but their conclusions are not properly thought through. The world is falling into pieces day-by-day whether we notice it or not, and it is time to make a change. We cannot continue to sit around hoping that the next generation will take care of the damage we have done to the world; we need to start now. In 2018, there was a record of 37 billion tons of CO2 emitted; this is not something we want to hold a record in (Ahead of UN Summit, Leading Scientists Warn Climate Change 'Hitting Harder and Sooner' than Forecast | UN News). With changing to a vegan diet for just one year, one can save 401,500 gallons of water, 10,950 square foot of forest, 365 animals lives, 14,600 pounds of grains, and 7,300 pounds of CO2 (The Vegan Web Designer). All of these savings are aspects we as a nation need to be aware of and we need to start making the changes. There is a list of diseases that are described as the Western diseases due to the U.S. being at higher risk than the rest of the world to contract them. These diseases include heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity, hypertension, stroke, appendicitis, diverticulitis, malformed dental arches or tooth decay, varicose veins, ulcers, and hemorrhoids. As stated in In Defense of Food: an Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan, “There are literally scores of studies demonstrating that a diet rich in vegetables and fruits reduces the risk of dying from all the Western diseases” (In Defense of Food: an Eater’s Manifesto, pg. 164). The greatest impact we can make as a nation is to stop consuming animals to save ourselves and the Earth. However, this is not always practicable in certain situations, so we should make it our goal to keep animal consumption to a minimum.