Hi, resident vegan in your feed here to remind you that eating fewer animal products is good for the environment, speaking very generally. BUT—and this is a big but—we need a more nuanced discussion of agriculture here. (thread) theguardian.com/environment/20…
In much of the world, animal agriculture either looks like small farmers trying to eke out a living or like large corporations massively misusing land and natural resources.
Just as we note that it is not financially possible for everyone to go vegan, it is also not financially possible for every farmer to switch to plant-based agriculture. There are huge startup costs to learning how to produce new crops.
Meanwhile, agricultural firms that mass produce animal products (think giant fisheries, high-impact beef, etc.) often do so by crowding out local farmers and causing environmental devastation in the global south. Huge intersection of class and neocolonialism here.
Discussions of reducing consumption of animal products that don't take exploitation and class into account will only make things worse for the large segment of the world that relies on animal agriculture for income.
Yes, in an ideal world, plant-based agriculture and plant-based diets would be a more sustainable way of living (and a tastier one—just spreading facts, y'all). But massive changes are, unsurprisingly, complicated.
Veganism is classed. Veganism is racial. Veganism is colonialist. As a vegan, I can say it's absolutely the right choice for me, and I would encourage everyone who can to pursue it. But it doesn't exist outside broader systems of food production and environmental management.
