Is Veganism Only For The Rich?
Veganism costs in more ways than one. To deny this is to wield your privilege
There is an ever-pressing need for ethical consumption of food in our world, which is buckling under the weight of our eating habits as we speak. You know the figures: 14.5% of greenhouse gases are produced by animal agriculture, and, if you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, a giant clock was recently unveiled in New York counting down the seven years we have left to turn the tide on climate change. Gulp.
Our consumption patterns need radical change. But of course, there’s one more thing; our individual choices only go so far. In order for the temperature to stay low enough not to kill us and all other life on Earth, the way corporations operate to make us greedy, spoilt, wasteful consumers must change. We are being given a food utopia right now, and the world is paying for it. Our food consumption is inextricably linked with education, class, culture and availability of produce - and, of course, capitalism. Which brings me to our topic today, perhaps one of the most contentious of our time: veganism.
Veganism, in itself, is not a pricey lifestyle. It has existed across the world for generations, embedded in culture and religion as well as animal activism. Jains traditionally eat plant-based, with their monks even sweeping the ground before them as they walk to avoid accidentally stepping on a living creature; likewise, Hinduism and Buddhism both consider living creatures sacred. India is rated highly in its levels of poverty, and is approximately 23-37% vegetarian, compared with the UK’s 14% vegetarian and 7% vegan. It is not fundamentally expensive to be vegan; if you think of it in its most basic form, the husbandry, slaughter, preparation, preservation and cooking of meats is far more of a task than growing fruits, vegetables and cereals on your land. So why do I say that veganism is not cheap?
Vegan food is more widely available than ever before, but it is still the harder lifestyle choice. Sure, buying good quality meat is extremely expensive compared to buying organic fruit and veg, but if you don’t just look at veganism from a purely financial basis: it costs a lot more in time, education and effort. It is a specialist choice to be vegan. If you go to a restaurant you must research beforehand to see if they have vegan options. If you eat at home with friends, everybody in the room has to cater to your needs as a vegan - something which triggers anxiety in many people, and understandably so. If you have a partner who doesn’t eat the same diet as you, things become tricky as you navigate it. Others around you have to make social and dietary sacrifices to support your choice to be vegan. This is not me saying, ‘Nobody should be vegan.’ I support it. It is an important political statement for many people and I truly understand that. I was even vegan myself and felt fantastic for it. But it isn’t easy. Undeniably, veganism is the more difficult choice.
Aside from having to be the inconvenient friend, you also have to have time to be a vegan. The successful, long term vegans I know are foodies - some even chefs - who live for cooking. It is a hobby, a passion, not just a requirement. They would argue that their veganism is not a chore, but a celebration of all the creative things you can do with plant food - and I agree! Their food is incredible. But if you are not a food enthusiast, or if you have multiple jobs, children to feed, and responsibilities which warrant more concern than whether you are eating animals or not, you cannot be blamed for opting out of this lifestyle choice. If your main concern is making ends meet and putting food on the table for your children every night, the last thing you need is someone barking at you about the animals who suffered for your plate. Veganism, make no mistake, is a class issue. When a white dreadlock from Extinction Rebellion tells you to book a week off work and bring a box of grapes as a snack to the protest, you wouldn’t be blamed for rolling your eyes. Not everybody can afford veganism - if not with their money then with their time, energy, knowledge or ethics. In our current culture, a satisfying, sustainable vegan diet is a luxury.
Then, of course, there is the cultural importance of food. There is plain racism in vegan culture; we have witnessed it in the class and race deafness of organisations like Extinction Rebellion, and in the sometimes vicious online vitriol of vegans who compare piglets to your human baby, in an attempt to make you feel guilty about your choices. I really wish this weren’t the case. At the end of the day, vegans are trying to stop the torture and killing of innocent animals who have become cogs in a bloody, global meat machine. Their intentions are to appeal to our humanity. But those who argue that there is no excuse to eat meat any more are blindly wielding their privilege at those for whom meat is part of their cultural identity. When people belonging to non-white non-Anglo-Saxon-Christian cultures have been stripped of dignity, freedom, safety and celebrations in this country, the things that remain are sacred. One of these things is food. Yes, in an ideal world, all meat consumed would be ethically farmed, free range and healthy. But that isn’t our reality right now. That isn’t the fault of anyone but corporations who put profit over any living thing. Should minority cultures pay the price for that by dealing with enraged vegan activists? No. They should not.
The truth remains: being vegan is the harder choice. Vegans who pretend otherwise are wilfully blind to their privilege, which is part of the problem. Vegans fall on deaf ears when they try to explain to someone about whose life they have no idea, why they are a bad person for eating animal products. Make no mistake - you can and should be reducing your meat and dairy consumption. As a vegetarian myself, I simply don’t buy into the fact that you just have to eat meat six times a week. But because you don’t like vegetables? Are you six years old? OK, then that is no longer a valid excuse. I will not pretend that I don’t get frustrated by apathetic people who don’t see the how their reckless consumption of abused animals is contributing to climate change and deforestation. Equally, implying that veganism is an easy choice is simply a lie. We need to do better in rewarding those who try, who make their contributions where they can, and not apply doctrine to everyone’s existences. It will get us nowhere.
Written by Maddie Goode
Madeleine Goode is a writer, tutor and barista from Manchester. She can be found cute-wrestling any dog she sees, watering her houseplant collection or making cheap jokes on Twitter. She likes to write about current affairs, neoliberalism and feminism, as well as poetry and journal entries. You can find her personal site at www.seizeyourlife.blog; on Instagram and Twitter she is @goodegracious.