Omnivorism and Animal Consumption is a Privileged Lifestyle and Ideology

As a vegan, I find that veganism often gets framed as a sort of elitist way of life. The media sources which the general public derives their understanding of veganism from generally fall in two basic categories: sitcoms making fun of vegans, and diet/health shows for soccer moms that are actually talking about low-carb plant-based diets that consist of $20 heads of lettuce and half an organic orange slice a day. In this way, the most people learn about veganism is that “Oh, only snobby rich white people with too much time on their hands go vegan”, or otherwise they think that “people who care more about bunnies than HUMAN BEINGS go vegan; vegans don’t understand how the world works”.

And sure, it causes some social problems for me. People make dumb jokes, people you’ve just met automatically assume they know you, random people on the street who’ve never studied nutrition suddenly become “world class nutritionists” who are “concerned about your protein deficiency”. It’s a little annoying, but that’s not the biggest problem. The problem is that mainstream media has done a perfect job in ensuring that the one lifestyle which costs the least, causes the least ecological damage, and uses the least resources/land in non-Western nations continues to be shunned.

• The consumption of animal products contributes to more than one-quarter of the water footprint of humanity.
• More than 12,000 liters of water are used to produce 1 kilogram of beef while it’s only 850 liters per kilogram of wheat.
• The leading source of deforestation is animal agriculture - up to 80% of all deforestation can be attributed to it.
• The most prominent source of CO2 emissions - more than every type of transportation combined - is animal agriculture.
• Dairy cattle, pigs, chickens and other farm animals play a huge role in severe land and water degradation.

The United Nations has known this since at least 2006 and has published various articles citing that meat and dairy are highly unsustainable, and even for environmental reasons alone, a major shift towards a dietary habit free of animal products is needed within this decade.

While viruses derived from animals are most likely to migrate to the human species through animal products, the air and water quality around factory farms is dangerous for local human inhabitants - who often happen to be poor or people of colour, since poor black neighbourhoods are the first to become negatively industrialized or the target of ecological damage. Even workers within the animal agricultural industry have their rights seriously stripped and are put in more danger than in any other sector of the agricultural industry.

Put simply, a diet which includes meat and dairy:

• Negatively impacts the quality of our environment
• Reduces resources more than is necessary to produce food
• Destroys the land of low-income PoC in the Western world and the natural environments in the non-Western world (primarily rainforests)
• Regularly includes foods which make the “most expensive foods” lists whereas plant-based foods like carrots, potatoes, beans, rice, tomatoes are regular parts of the dietary habits of low-income persons

And yet somehow veganism still gets framed as the “privileged” lifestyle, even though it is not only an attempt to reduce animal cruelty but also great strides in achieving global food security and global resource management. It gets framed as an unachievable lifestyle even though it has been approved for all persons including the pregnant, lactating, infants and children by the American Dietetic Association, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, and Dietitians of Canada.

It seems to me that the most progressive lifestyle and philosophy is a vegan one, not one which supports the consumption of animal-based products. It seems to me that the most privileged lifestyle in the Western world is one that includes meat and dairy, as well as fur or leather. And despite attempts to erase the existence of Vegans of Colour or Low-Income Vegans I think it should be clear to anyone who does adequate research that what TV sitcoms, Dr. Oz, the local news, or celebrity buzz websites present as veganism is nothing more than some Whole Foods flexitarian “I eat fat free yogurt and lean meat on Mondays” crap that isn’t actually veganism in the first place.

Since many of the responses to these arguments inevitably focus on the economic angle, I’ll repeat myself: foods that are part of a plant-based dietary habit are consecutively much cheaper than those which are meat and dairy based. It is also extremely easy to follow a non-time consuming low cost vegan meal plan. And to suggest that veganism is time consuming seems counter-intuitive when I can make rice and beans in two minutes with no water and a microwave (items which CAN be found in food deserts and even corner stores for those who cannot make long walks / bus rides to a grocery store). My biggest problem with these sorts of complaints is that I find it frustrating how they usually come from middle-class western citizens and can’t understand that I’ve been pretty low-income for my whole life (and for many years went to food banks) yet manage to be vegan.