There where so many valid points in this article and I completely agree that it’s complicated and it would be classist and ableist to push a single diet on everyone. It’s colonialist to push individual solutions to systemic problems and many vegans lack that nuance. I stand by veganism being a helpful choice for reducing suffering and using less resources due to animals farmed eating and using resources farmed on land that also leads to deforestation and ecological harm. I also believe the treatment of animals in factory farms is significantly more cruel than other methods of producing animals products. I understand I come from a position of privilege and valid reasons for not being vegan are plenty including emotional, financial, and time resources as well as cultural ones. And while vegan products also cause harm, factory farmed animal products cause an amount of significant harm that I’d like to avoid funding until we can achieve more systemic change.
It's a tricky spot when you are privileged, don't live in a food desert, and most of the meat around you is factory farmed. As well as most of the plants. And oils. Maybe meat and plants are "organic" but still factory farmed. It's tricky when you live in a place where when people do own enough land to finally ethically grow meat, there STILL isn't enough land to turn a profit while doing enough rotational grazing to save the soil and deter erosion. Animal grazing also requires deforestation.
It's tricky when the answer is changing the entire system - the food system, the colonial capitalist system, but that future doesn't seem close by. So then all you are left with is your individual choices, in the present moment. And then what? Harm reduction seems like all that's left in our power while we are surviving capitalism and trying to find a group to join that seems like it's starting or furthering a revolution. And it really really seems like, from the evidence, and from a position of privilege, harm reduction on an individual level is all we have right now. And that seems like vegetarianism/veganism, at least as these colonial capitalist systems prevail.
This reads like a "center for consumer freedom" propaganda piece geated towards duping the left. There are so many falsehoods in this I'd have to write a post twice as long to address them all, and given your delivery, I'm not sure it's worth it. The tl;dr version is that almost everything you attribute to veganism is from animal agribusiness. You're doing the industry's job for them, which is business as usual, but calling it "anti-capitalist" is a joke and tokenizing indigenous people to do it is even worse. Something tells me you've already been corrected about these things though as they're really common knowledge that not even agricultural data sites deny.
You can't possibly believe everything you've said here, right? You seem like an intelligent person who allowed their own biases and cognitive dissonance rather than what's actually happening guide this article. It happens to scientists, too, as I'm sure you know.
Also these memes are really really bad. Like worse than people who write, "mmm bacon." Never pegged you for an edgelord who tells deliberate lies to defend planetary annihilation and cruelty towards those who inhabit it with us. But, you learn something new every day.
It's not necessarily about black/brown or accessibility. Sometimes it's about health of the individual who may have gut issues and unable to eat vegetables, fruits, etc. We can be stuck with diets not of our own choosing. We eat what we are able to safely consume. People with diverticulitis avoid certain foods. People with IBS-d and other digestive disorders avoid fruits and vegetables. People eat what they can, not necessarily what they choose.
Thanks so much for this article. What is the best way to cite your articles? Just a normal link, and people can sign up if they want to read more? Or also a link to your instagram?
There where so many valid points in this article and I completely agree that it’s complicated and it would be classist and ableist to push a single diet on everyone. It’s colonialist to push individual solutions to systemic problems and many vegans lack that nuance. I stand by veganism being a helpful choice for reducing suffering and using less resources due to animals farmed eating and using resources farmed on land that also leads to deforestation and ecological harm. I also believe the treatment of animals in factory farms is significantly more cruel than other methods of producing animals products. I understand I come from a position of privilege and valid reasons for not being vegan are plenty including emotional, financial, and time resources as well as cultural ones. And while vegan products also cause harm, factory farmed animal products cause an amount of significant harm that I’d like to avoid funding until we can achieve more systemic change.
It's a tricky spot when you are privileged, don't live in a food desert, and most of the meat around you is factory farmed. As well as most of the plants. And oils. Maybe meat and plants are "organic" but still factory farmed. It's tricky when you live in a place where when people do own enough land to finally ethically grow meat, there STILL isn't enough land to turn a profit while doing enough rotational grazing to save the soil and deter erosion. Animal grazing also requires deforestation.
It's tricky when the answer is changing the entire system - the food system, the colonial capitalist system, but that future doesn't seem close by. So then all you are left with is your individual choices, in the present moment. And then what? Harm reduction seems like all that's left in our power while we are surviving capitalism and trying to find a group to join that seems like it's starting or furthering a revolution. And it really really seems like, from the evidence, and from a position of privilege, harm reduction on an individual level is all we have right now. And that seems like vegetarianism/veganism, at least as these colonial capitalist systems prevail.
This reads like a "center for consumer freedom" propaganda piece geated towards duping the left. There are so many falsehoods in this I'd have to write a post twice as long to address them all, and given your delivery, I'm not sure it's worth it. The tl;dr version is that almost everything you attribute to veganism is from animal agribusiness. You're doing the industry's job for them, which is business as usual, but calling it "anti-capitalist" is a joke and tokenizing indigenous people to do it is even worse. Something tells me you've already been corrected about these things though as they're really common knowledge that not even agricultural data sites deny.
You can't possibly believe everything you've said here, right? You seem like an intelligent person who allowed their own biases and cognitive dissonance rather than what's actually happening guide this article. It happens to scientists, too, as I'm sure you know.
Also these memes are really really bad. Like worse than people who write, "mmm bacon." Never pegged you for an edgelord who tells deliberate lies to defend planetary annihilation and cruelty towards those who inhabit it with us. But, you learn something new every day.
It's not necessarily about black/brown or accessibility. Sometimes it's about health of the individual who may have gut issues and unable to eat vegetables, fruits, etc. We can be stuck with diets not of our own choosing. We eat what we are able to safely consume. People with diverticulitis avoid certain foods. People with IBS-d and other digestive disorders avoid fruits and vegetables. People eat what they can, not necessarily what they choose.
Thanks so much for this article. What is the best way to cite your articles? Just a normal link, and people can sign up if they want to read more? Or also a link to your instagram?