Why you don’t need to be vegan to be a feminist

As many stories on the internet, this one begins with some guy on Twitter.

A bit of background: Steve is making the argument that you have to be vegan to be a feminist. His supporting arguments are:

• “Animal exclusionary feminism isn’t intersectional, and therefore isn’t feminism.” — Steve Glen
• “One mechanism for oppression is that some lives are inherently more important than others. I do not believe that some lives are inherently more important than others.” — Steve Glen

Can you be vegan and feminist? Sure! Do you have to be vegan to be feminist? No, and let’s unpack why.

An Intersectional Feminist Lens Finds Veganism Flawed

The argument, “you have to be vegan to be feminist” seeks to validate veganism by tacking it onto the strengths of feminist theory and practice. This only succeeds if veganism is internally consistent with feminist theory and practice. Let’s break down why this isn’t (currently) the case.

• Labour Rights: Many vegan diets rely on imported food or food that depends on migrant labour. Items like quinoa, palm oil products, avocados, almonds, and tropical super foods are eaten year-round, but can have harmful ecological and labour effects. Cashews, for example, come from a system where mostly female-identified workers suffer long hours and harsh conditions for very low pay to process a nut that produces caustic burns on the skin. Looking at more local fruits and veg, migrant workers produce much of our food in the US and Canada. With about half of the workforce identifying as female, farm workers toil long hours for poor pay, and as many as 80% say they have experienced sexual harassment. Do the meat and dairy industries have the same issues? Sure. But it’s hypocritical to say veganism is cruelty-free from a worker’s perspective. And it takes an intersectional feminist perspective to point this simple fact out.
• Indigenous Rights: Those of us who are settlers in North America need to recognize the Indigenous food systems that predated our (or our ancestors) arrivals. These food systems have worked for thousands of years and involve living in balance with the salmon, seal, caribou, and other plant and animal life. It is colonial to suggest that these lifeways are immoral, to protest traditional practices as unethical, and to import carbon-intensive and expensive food into remote communities. More info: Animal rights activists, Inuit clash over Canada’s Indigenous food traditions.
• Food Security: An intersectional feminist lens looks at who has economic and geographic access to vegan food. A 2014 study on food security, poverty, and race found that poor neighbourhoods are less likely to have grocery stores. And, poor Black neighborhoods are even more unlikely to have grocery stores. Should we fix this with more grocery stores, community gardens, and better local food systems? Absolutely! But assuming that everyone has equal access to vegan food is flawed thinking. And, a position that requires folks be vegan before they can be real feminists excludes folks on this basis of race, economics, and geography.
• Body Sovereignty: When we talk about the body, we are also talking about reproduction, property, and ownership, all issues that some vegans say women and animals have in common. However, this leaves out body sovereignty in the context of body shape, size, fatness, and shame. This tangles with feminism in tricky ways when veganism is touted as a healthy lifestyle choice. In the past, feminism has not addressed fat bodies well. As Amy Farrell writes, it took until third wave feminism to see how weight-based stigma intersects with poverty and race. It is highly patriarchal to make demands about who should eat what and whether those choices are healthy. On top of that, to weaponize feminism to undermine people’s individual body choices is seriously misogynistic.

On the basis of labour rights, Indigenous rights, geopolitics, the economy, and body sovereignty, an intersectional feminist analysis shows serious shortcomings in veganism. Are veganism and feminism mutually incompatible? No. Rather, veganism alone isn’t sufficiently feminist. So, what “you have to be vegan to be feminist” is actually doing is trying to benefit from feminist “cred” without bringing its own intrinsic feminism to a sufficient degree.

Spiritual Bypassing

Some vegans say that all lives are equal. They point out that mainstream culture uses a moral hierarchy to make certain bodies more valuable or important than others, and that this false moral hierarchy hurts both women and animals. A core argument is that animal bodies are objectified in the same way that female bodies are, which leads to violence and erasure. It seeks to use an intersectional framework to call out animal-exclusive feminism in a way that parallels the valid criticisms of trans-exclusive feminism, sex worker-exclusive feminism, and white feminism. The goal is to dismantle the hierarchy, which is shared with feminism.

“Spiritual bypassing” is a term referring to the self-righteousness or entitled belief that comes from thinking that one has found a single right path, and that others not on that path are wrong. We just need to look at how many vegans attack Indigenous people to see spiritual bypassing in action.

Tanya Tagaq says, “ The idea some people can’t comprehend is that we [Inuit] might have the key to how to respect animals and how to respect the land. We’re all on the same side here.” The Inuit perspective here acknowledges that all life is sacred, and that we live in a mutually-dependent way with all beings.

Thus, it is an act of spiritual bypassing to impose a vegan value system, which is based on colonial perspectives and a globalized economy, onto Indigenous people. For clarity, it is hypocritical and an act of bypassing to state that female bodies and animal bodies are just as important as each other, while failing to recognize that same argument when stated by Indigenous people. It takes an intersectional feminist perspective to point this out.

The Patriarchal and Capitalist Gaze

I’m not disputing feminist arguments for veganism. Instead, I object to the premise that one must be vegan to be feminist. Yes, female-identified people and animals should be seen and valued as more than just meat. Yes, let’s smash the hierarchy. But let’s not pretend that a global food system that ignores worker’s rights, actively seeks to dismantle Indigenous people’s rights, and damages the environment is the morally superior choice. Yes, let’s build strong, local, and affordable food systems, especially in poor and racialized neighbourhoods. But, let’s not force that on people.

So where to from here?

• Support local food systems and food sovereignty programs, and interrogate how they are servicing Black and Indigenous people in your community.
• Get to know your local foods and eat seasonally if you can.
• Don’t rely on fairtrade and organic labeling on imported food as a proxy for it being cruelty-free.