Thoughts: Political Veganism

Although some people are vegans primarily for health reasons, I feel like the grand majority of the vegan community has a multitude of reasons for committing to the vegan lifestyle that revolve around greater, more societal issues. For me, political veganism means being vegan for the greater good of a cause, whatever that cause may be. I'm a vegan because eating vegan makes my body feel healthy, but I’m also vegan because it lets me feel like I’m working against a system that harms both animal and people and the world at large.

Some people feel strange about politicizing food and the food industry, but I feel like it is something that needs to be done. Environmentalism is a huge reason why I went vegan, and I know for a fact that if the world doesn’t change the way it views food and the way food is produced soon, we will never be able to recover from the damage we’ve done. I won’t go on and on about environmental veganism, as I feel like most people have heard it all before, but I would recommend checking out documentaries such as Food, Inc. and Cowspiracy, which encourage the viewer to think more about the things they eat and the way that food consumption affects our world.

If you don’t have a cause to tie you down to a major life change you’re making, it’s difficult to get involved and immersed in a new community and culture. However, I feel that figuring out what veganism means to you, how it makes you feel, and the root of why you may feel as though going vegan is the right option for you, going vegan will be a much easier process. We all have to fight for something, and what better way to do it than with the way you live your life as a whole.