alimarko

“(Hola! I just wanted to add my own two cents on the vegan topic, if I may.)

As a transitioning vegan I feel like trying to move away from the evils of the dairy/poultry industry AND the horrors of mainstream agriculture. I’m Mexican, and live in an agriculture-based city and personally know some migrant workers. My father himself was in the fields for a while when he first moved here. It’s tough work, and the workers are often underpaid for their backbreaking work. 

I have my own vegetable garden right now and try to buy local and limit my dairy/egg consumption (I’ve been vegetarian for quite a few years), but I sure as hell know that not everyone can deal with this lifestyle. And people shouldn’t have to feel guilty for not abstaining from animal products. 

Being vegan isn’t going to be the panacea to the mainstream food industries’ problems. This is a multifaceted issue with many  sides. Personally, I enjoy refraining from meat and it fits into my lifestyle well. I would never want to be shamed into consuming a product nor would I want to be shamed into not eating a food item. 

tl;dr

Limiting animal products or consuming them does not make you a bad or a good person.

(I’m sorry for the essay, but since this topic hits so close to home I really wanted to speak about it.)”

———

(emphasis mine)

Thank you for your contribution! For all of you people who just crowded into my ask box asking me about how PoC are involved in veganism and privilege therein, here you go.

I agree that there are evils everywhere in the food industry, and that one of the best solutions is to eat locally grown (or even home grown) foods. I think that a lot of vegans prioritize the suffering of animals over the suffering of the actual people that are involved in vegan food production, which is obviously ridiculous.

I appreciate your very relevant input! Hopefully this will put things into perspective for those people who are bent on arguing with me rather than critically examine the movement they are involved with.