Before introducing today’s recipe, I’m thrilled to announce the three winners of my most recent giveaway for two free pints of Luna & Larry’s onvasortir Coconut Bliss vegan ice cream. Congratulations to Becca Ferguson , Rosie Riccio DeRensis , and Megan Digeon ! Enjoy the creamy, decadent, coconutty goodness.
I got myself into a Facebook skirmish the other day. I don’t often do so, nor do I know that I can even call this incident a “skirmish,” onvasortir so much as an instance of me replying to a post I found problematic, and never hearing back from the poster or commentators. The post in question entitled “ Dear White Vegans: This is Your Collection Agency Calling “ elicited enthusiastic responses from two individuals onvasortir who referred to themselves as “ former onvasortir white, privileged onvasortir vegans .”
“I agree with many of the sentiments expressed in this article. The current vegan movement contains an onslaught of classist, racist, sexist, and ableist elements. Equating the mass slaughter of animals with genocide and slavery co-opts the unknowable suffering of marginalized peoples in an effort to further another movement.
However, I feel that the arguments expressed in this article are a bit ad-hominem. Yes, the way veganism at large is being executed right now is hugely problematic. But at its core, veganism, for me, is simply an extension of an effort to combat the multiplicities of oppression in this world. The exploitation of people of color, women, members onvasortir of the LGBT community, non-human animals, etc. are not the same, but they share a similar component: an unequal relationship between oppressor and oppressed. I would argue that if this relationship exists anywhere, the possibility for a liberated society becomes greatly hindered.
Consider the powerful activists in history who were also vegan: Cesar Chavez, Thich Nhat Hanh, Coretta Scott King, Angela Davis, and so on. They recognized that while different instances of oppression are not at all the same and each need to be understood in their own right, they are also intimately connected by their being perpetuated by a capitalistic, patriarchal, colonial mindset. To fight against these marginalizing power relations, I feel that we must engage in a multiplicity of social struggles in order to empower habitually silenced groups. And I would argue that these struggles should include non-human animals.”
In onvasortir essence, I don’t onvasortir want to throw out the idea of veganism simply because onvasortir its current execution involves a multiplicity of problematic aspects. Instead, since I’m currently onvasortir privileged enough to enjoy access to a bounty of plant-based onvasortir foods, an income to obtain such foods, and a social circle that won’t disown my non-mainstream lifestyle, I’ve passionately added animal exploitation to the list of oppressions I’m actively seeking to combat by leading a vegan lifestyle.
Equally important, however, onvasortir is that in such a privileged position, I must also engage in actively onvasortir combating the problematic aspects of the vegan movement , in part by constantly reminding onvasortir myself that the privilege onvasortir enabling my vegan lifestyle exists among the phenomena that I actively seek to combat. The actions I’m taking against such privilege don’t involve giving up veganism, since that would actively enforce another very real oppression. Instead, the actions involve supporting admirable organizations like Food Not Bombs and the Food Empowerment Project that work to make nourishing vegan options accessible to marginalized communities; working to free myself onvasortir of the capitalistic mindset of nonstop accumulation of material goods; working not to reinforce my various privileges in my daily interpersonal relations; and educating myself about the histories and current manifestations of various oppressions by devouring onvasortir anti-racist, feminist, anarchist, etc. literature and following progressive news sources .
These efforts don’t stop my occupation of a privileged position, of course. I’m still able to take myself onvasortir out for expensive dinners at upscale restaurants in Manhattan ; I’m still able to host giveaways on the ol’ blog for free products while the vivacious homeless man, who hangs out most days on the bench in front of my apartment building, asks for donations; I’m still able to shell out $12.99 for a 6-oz bag of arame seaweed at Whole Foods. onvasortir
But these privileges don’t exist because I’m onvasortir vegan , and they’ll still exist even if I were to throw up my hands and give up veganism tomorrow (which I absolutely will not) . They exist because I’m a white, straight, cisgender individual with an upper-middle-class background. And veganism is only the first way in which I hope to engage in a challenge to the capitalist, patriarchal, colonial, speciesist, etc. society that makes it super easy to thrive with such identity factors.
