Veganism as a Form of Resistance

Over the past few days, we’ve seen massive protests and acts of civil disobedience that many believed were a thing of the past in this country. Most of them have been peaceful (for those of you who have protested but have not been peaceful, get it together or stay home next time).

That resistance is wonderful. We need resistance to Trump's racism, his xenophobia, his sexism, ableism, and predatory actions. Resistance to his globally destructive energy policy proposals. Resistance to what amounts to the way he bullied his way to the White House. Resistance to injustice. So in that same spirit, I would like to reflect on one of my favorite forms of resistance: veganism.

What?? You’re probably thinking about how being vegan is for rich, white millennials living in suburbia. That’s no form of resistance.

And sure, the mainstream vegan movement looks that way a lot. But the mainstream movement isn’t representative of the entire movement. Countless vegans of color exist, and they’re fantastic activists. There are poor vegans, disabled vegans, old vegans, young vegans, and intersectional vegans who use veganism as just one of the many ways to fight the oppressive systems in our society (who the rest of this essay will focus on).

More and more people are turning to veganism as a form of resistance. And why shouldn’t they? It’s a politicized, action-based rejection of speciesism. It's an extension of the principles of nonviolence to include all sentient beings, rather than just humans, and a rejection of the idea that our genetic makeup makes us morally superior to others. The vegan lifestyle, in its most basic form, is a protest of violence toward the innocent.

But while justice for animals is the most important aspect of that resistance, it doesn’t stop there. Rejecting meat can help combat environmental racism. Being vegan uses only a fraction of the water, oil, land, and food that eating animals does, and it fights deforestation. It rejects the parallel objectification frequently used to oppress both human women and nonhuman animals. It rejects the theft of bodily autonomy and the idea that something—someone—is ours for the taking simply because we want what they have. It is based on the rejection of unfair power and the concept of liberation for all.

A couple of quick notes before I finish: This isn’t to say that we should drop all of our passion areas for animal rights. We can work on multiple issues at once, and it’s just as easy to campaign for an issue—say, gender equality—after an oatmeal breakfast as it is after an egg breakfast. Plus, many animal rights activists are more than willing to push for progress on other issues. In fact, just last night in Colorado there was an anti-Trump protest of over a thousand people organized by Direct Action Everywhere—An activist group made up of a bunch of vegans.

Second, things like food access and poverty make going vegan difficult or impossible for some. But for those of us who are able to, it is imperative that we extend our idea of justice to nonhuman animals (and continue to fight institutionalized racism and other issues that make it difficult for people to go vegan).

Resistance to oppressive ideologies is incomplete if it leaves nonhuman animals out of the conversation. So in between protests and pushes for reform (which we will need a lot of in the coming four years) I’d like to ask you to educate yourself on veganism as a form of resistance. I’ll leave some articles to get you started below. And once you’ve read enough, join us in a protest that you can engage in every time you eat, get dressed, wash your hair, and go to the store. Give your anti-oppression resistance an upgrade.

Aph Ko- On Intersectionality in Feminism and Veganism

Food Empowerment Project-Slaughterhouse Workers

Aris Austin- Why Veganism is a Social Justice Issue

Carol J Adams-Why Vegan-Feminist

Collectively Free- Veganism for the (Nonhuman) Animals