Animal exploitation should not have a place anywhere
Social justice events are excellent venues to bring awareness to meaningful causes, raise money and connect with like-minded individuals. I’ve attended quite a few, and I always revel in the strong sense of community, camaraderie and passion that envelop these gatherings. However, my recent attendance at two events — mental health and food insecurity — has opened my eyes to an obvious, yet completely overlooked, injustice that’s present at so many events that advocate for, well, justice.
I am talking about the food.
When I think back to not only these recent events but to all the social justice events I have attended, there has always been an abundance of animal products offered to attendees, be it the milk-chocolate candy at nearly every booth at a fundraising walk or the truck selling coffee and doughnuts at a race or the dairy-and-eggrich pastries at another walk. The latter event also featured mother animals and their babies in cages.
We live in an age where we all know, whether we like to admit it or not, that to eat animal products is to contribute to the needless suffering, exploitation and death of animals. It seems not only wrong, but also incredibly shortsighted to provide these products at events that advocate for justice, equity, awareness and compassion. There would be a public outcry if any one of these inclusive events discriminated against a certain group of individuals, so why is it accepted to discriminate against animals, who feel pain as we do, who deserve the right to life as we do, and who literally rely on us to speak out against myriad injustices they face?
I’m not asking that such causes advocate for animal rights as well or even address them; all I’m requesting is that they give the most base-level consideration of the right to life and honor this by providing exclusively plant-based fare at social justice events. Again, this age we live in, where fruits, vegetables and plant-based alternatives are abundant, means this would be an extremely easy change to make for us, and it would mean the world for the animals.
In addition to basic animal rights, the connection between veganism and many social justice issues — including mental health and food insecurity — is strong. Plant-based diets have been shown to improve our physical health — and the same can be said about our mental well-being, with studies showing how diets rich in plants reduce anxiety and depression and elevate mood. So it makes even less sense to offer animal products to participants in events centered around mental health.
The relationship between food insecurity and veganism is more complex, and that’s largely because of the pervasive misbelief that veganism is expensive and elitist. And sure, veganism can be, but often it’s not, and to promote this idea is to erase the many lower-income individuals who practice this lifestyle. What is elitist, however, is the system in which eating meat operates, where the wealthy can afford organic, grass-fed, non-gmo products, and the poor have to rely on the “cheap meat,” such as fast food and meat subsidized by the government, which is typically devoid of nutrition. This contributes to health issues that predominantly impact people with lower incomes; health issues that, again, can be remedied by a diet rich in plant foods. Add that we’re growing enough food to feed eighty billion farmed animals, yet we can’t even institute a system that feeds nine billion humans, and we should absolutely be bringing veganism into the conversation on food insecurity and hunger.
Ultimately, our dietary choices impact not only animal lives and our personal lives but the socio-cultural norms and systems that govern our society. If the goal is justice for all, then we need to start thinking beyond our own species and about the billions of sentient animals who inhabit Earth with us. Animal exploitation should not have a place anywhere — and certainly not where social justice is involved. Advocacy for one issue should not come at the cost of another. Leave animals off the table — and the booths — in the fight for a more just world.
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