FFS 021 - My Beef with Veganism

For Food's Sake

English - October 31, 2017 23:23 - 38 minutes - 31.2 MB - ★★★★ - 3 ratings
Food Arts Education dialogue food sustainability Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed

Previous Episode: FFS 020 - Optimising the Food Economy with Blockchain

Next Episode: FFS 022 - The Bird is the Word

In this episode, I talk about my beef with Veganism. I explain why, after a 30-day vegan challenge, I remain a sceptical vegetarian. I talk about:

How Vegan-endorsed health hypes and food fads create their own ethical dilemmas which vegans need to confront

How the ‘Go Vegan, save the planet’ discourse is unhelpful for the movement, and factually questionable.

How Veganism needs to move away from a self-understanding as the movement, and instead embrace its place as a movement among many (imperfect) dietary movements that support a move away from factory farming and industrial food production

Links:

UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (2013) ‘Tackling climate change through livestock’
Springman, A., Godfray, C.J., Rayner, M., Scarborough, P. (2016) ‘Analysis and valuation of the health and climate change cobenefits of dietary change’ Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences Vol. 113, No. 15 Blythman, J. (2016) ‘Can hipsters stomach the unpalatable truth about avocado toast?’ The Guardian (Opinion)
Gray, Margaret (2013) Labor and the Locavore: The Making of a Comprehensive Food Ethic. University of California Press.

Lawrence, Felicity (2011) ‘Spain’s salad growers are modern-day slaves, say charities’ The Guardian
World Economic Forum (2016) ‘What would happen if everyone in the world suddenly stopped eating meat?’
Fairlie, Simon (2010) Meat: A benign extravagance. Chelsea Green Publishing. Southan, Rhys (2011) Book Review: Meat: A benign extravagance

Morbiot, George (2010) ‘I was wrong about veganism. Let them eat meat – but farm it properly’ The Guardian (Opinion)