Ethics Beyond the Plate

Leigh-Chantelle Bali Vegan Festival: 9 October, 2016

Source: imtj.com

My Background

Content Creation & Social Media since 2009

NOW Appraisals, Consulting & Training for Events, Businesses & Corporate

Give lectures, workshops, consultations and coaching on the following topics:

Online Marketing & Social Media Online Etiquette & Effective Communication Tech Tips & Online Security Writing and Releasing your own Book or eBook Vegan Health & Lifestyle Staging Effective Events & Engaging Volunteers

EpicentreEquilibrium.com Leigh-Chantelle.com

VivalaVegan.net

Published Author, International Speaker & Consultant

My Vegan Journey

Went Vegetarian in 1994

Dairy and Egg industries…

Vegan for 20 years in January

VivalaVegan.net

Viva la Vegan! website started in 2005 to promote recipe calendars

10 years or Blogs, Articles, Podcasts, Videos, Interviews, Recipes, How-to Videos, FAQs, Talks etc

Been giving talks on the vegan lifestyle for over 10yrs

Books & eBooksNEW Vegan Athletes Book

Many other eBooks

VeganAthletesBook.com

Core EthicsMost of the top internet searches online focus on health and diet

Mainstream media focuses predominately on health, diet, weight loss, and food terms e.g. raw vegan

Mainstream media focus on middle-class, mostly white and thin (females)

Stock image

The Past 20 years

Many changes

Not many vegan options

Had to “give up” things

Scarcity mentality

Knew what a “vegan” was

Vegan, Vegan, Everywhere

SO MANY:

Products

Businesses

Shops

Restaurants

SO EASY to go - and stay - vegan

Source: toledolibrary.org

Mainstream MediaPast 4-5 years

Using the term “vegan” more

Mostly on eating - or not eating - certain foods

Weight loss & Control

Allergens e.g. gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free

Food Terms e. g. raw till 4, HCLF, paleo

Source: collective-evolution.com

Some Ideas Beyond Food

Ethics

Intersectionality

Oppression

Privilege

Compassion

Effective Communication

Source: nymgamer.com

Plant-Based

Food-related aspects are only ONE part of being vegan

The term “plant-based” should be used

Words and Meanings change over time

More in common with meat eaters who are interested in Social Justice, than with vegans who simply want to lose weight

What IS a Vegan?

Vegans choose to not consume any:

Animal Flesh - including sea creatures

Animal Secretions - dairy, bile, hormones

Animal Products - eggs, honey, fat, blood, casein

Animal By-Products - gelatine, isinglass, rennet

But, it’s NOT just a diet

What IS a Vegan?

The word "vegan" was coined in 1944 by Donald Watson of the Vegan Society of the UK.

This definition states:

Veganism is a way of living that seeks to exclude, as far as possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing and any other purpose.

What IS a Vegan?Non-Dietary areas

Vegans choose NOT to use:

Animals for Clothing - wool, silk, leather

Animal products for Cosmetics or Household Goods - lanolin, beeswax, glycerine, tallow

Animals for Testing - experiments, research, defence

Animals for Entertainment - zoos, circuses, aquariums, rodeos

What IS a Vegan?

Set of ethical guidelines

Commitment to ethics

Source: vegannook.com

Why Vegan?MANY reasons to go - and stay - vegan

Including:

Animal Rights & Ethics

Health, Fitness & Diet

Environment & Land Rights

Human & Labour Rights

Feminism

Social Justice issues

Why I’m Vegan

Veganism encompassed everything I believe in:

Consciousness-Raising

Non-Oppression

Non-Objectification

Anti-Consumerism

Why I’m VeganI went vegan primarily for animal rights

Have also been involved in feminist, and environmental movements

Now I’m interested in how ALL Social Justice issues relate/intersect with Veganism

MY way of leading by example to promote peace, love and compassion

I enjoy bringing this message to others

Veganism is a great way of…

Putting compassion into action

Living in line with your beliefs

Leading by example

Showing others how you want our world to be

SO Many ReasonsAlways be open to learning other reasons

May change your reasons

Hopefully you can add many more great reasons why veganism is important

Vegans do NOT partake in…

The Use

The Abuse

The Exploitationof non-human animals for ANY reason

More focus needs to be on things beyond what we do - or don’t - eat

Just One Step

To me, veganism is just one step

An awesome and important one

But still just one step

Source: Suranjan Mukherjee, National Geographic

Get Involved & Share Info

Great work by many vegan, and animal rights groups, organisations, and NFPs

Use their content and information to share

e.g. undercover investigations, fact sheets, studies, recipes, interviews, videos, rescue stories etc

Some New Ideas

Some ideas I’d like you to think aboutDo your OWN research

Think about how we can:Learn MoreDo BetterBecome better examples of compassion in action

What IS Intersectionality?Linking ALL Social Justice movements to each other

Working together to make changes

Examples intersectionality addresses include: racism, sexism, speciesism, homophobia, ableism, classism, ageism

Source: scottishwomensaid.org.uk

Health

The vegan diet CAN be healthyFocus on the 4 staples:

Whole grainsFruits & VegetablesNuts & SeedsBeans, Legumes & Pulses

A lot of not-so-healthy vegan foods

A lot of restrictive/controlling eating under the guise of healthy eating

SO many vegan diets e.g. high-carb low-fat, oil-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, paleo vegan, low-carb, raw, beegan, whole foods, low-fat raw (80/10/10), raw till 4

Health - Some Questions

Should veganism still be promoted as a healthy diet?

Should veganism be promoted as a cure-all?

What can we do to encourage others to be flexible and open to all types of healthful vegan foods?

What more can we do to encourage long-term commitment to the vegan lifestyle?

How can we show the different types of vegans that exist?

Environmental Impacts of Animal Products

Inefficient as a food source

Massive scale of the industry - 10s of billions of animals killed each year

Land clearing & Degradation

Green House Gases (GHG) - including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide

GHG emissions range 20%-50%

Many official measures of GHG emissions from livestock are under-reported

READ: Paul Mahony’s articles on these issues online

A Vegan DIET doesn’t contribute to any of the above

The Environment - Some Questions

Where does your Food come from?

What are the growing, producing & packaging processes?

How far have your favourite packaged vegan foods travelled?

What are the Food Miles?

What about Food Scarcity & Food Security?

Do you support in-season, non-GMO, organic and locally-grown produce?

People

Humans are animals TOO

Unskilled and undocumented workers work in abattoirs in horrific conditions with bad pay

Vegans are NOT supporting this

People - Some Questions

Think about your vegan clothing, vegan shoes, favourite brands.

What are the ethics & conditions involved in the manufacturing processes?

Do you know how your favourite products are produced?

Do the people who make these items get paid a fair wage?

What About?

Feminism?

Human Rights?

Reproductive Rights?

People & Feminism

Feminists are against the objectification & commodification of their bodies

Feminists are against their bodies being seen as a product

Do you think defending ONE type of female body while using & abusing another is okay?

Do you think different types of bodies and people should be used to promote veganism?

People & Violence

Domestic Violence is a BIG issue

Harming of non-human animals when younger is seen as something that can lead to harming of people when unchecked

Should we dismiss certain types of behaviour just because of someone’s age, sex, position in society, or class?

Privilege

Most of us have privileges we can never really understand or appreciate - unless they are taken away

It’s important to be mindful of others

It’s important to exercise compassion

It’s easy to be judgemental - it’s important NOT to be

We may think we have all the answers and solutions for others, but we DON’T

We all have choices, Some people have much better choices than others.

Is Everyone Able to…

Access spaces, events?

Access transportation to events?

Afford to attend meetups, restaurants, events?

Be Comfortable in a space, and around one another?

Get through their day? (Some need treatments & drugs)

Understand what is being communicated?

Privilege - Keep in Mind…

Some people can’t choose to NOT eat particular foods

Some people can’t afford do buy new vegan clothes or vegan shoes

Some people can’t access transportation to support vegan restaurants

Some people can’t afford to attend vegan events

Some people aren’t mentally or physically able to attend protests or demos

Some people don’t feel comfortable amongst another sex

Some people feel they don’t belong - as there’s no one who looks like them in the movement

Some people don’t feel their opinion is valid enough to share it

Black Vegans

Not props in discussions/debates or marketing

No need to use and commodify a group of people to further the vegan/Animal Rights agenda

Illustration by Steffany Brown

The Dreaded Comparison“The Dreaded Comparison: Human and Animal Slavery” by Marjorie Spiegel

“Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust” by Charles Patterson

Good examples of the connection of slavery, and human supremacy AND uses language respectfully

Be a Good Ally Against Racism & Speciesism

TIPS:

by Justin Van Kleeck, StrivingWithSystems.com

Why is it Racist?

“Material designed to provoke a white audience is also liable to alienate a Black audience. By using slavery as a tool to promote vegan values, vegan activists make clear that vegan spaces are frequently racist spaces. As is often the case in predominantly white spaces where racism goes unchecked, there is little room for people of colour. This marginalisation results in the perception that veganism is a movement by and for white people, which certainly isn’t the case.”

- Claire L. Heuchan (@ClaireShrugged)

Article: “Veganism has a serious race problem”, MediaDiversified.org

Why is it Racist?“Imagery of chattel slavery is popular amongst white vegan communities. The relegation of black people as less than human was at the core of the ideologies that justified that system of enslavement. Because of this, many black people are understandably triggered and offended by white people’s casual use of this imagery and arguments that continue to compare our ancestors with nonhuman creatures.

White vegans often argue that our desire to separate ourselves from nonhuman animals is a “speciesist” argument. What these people fail to recognize is that black people are still fighting to be recognized as fully our own species. As equally human. What does it mean when these white vegans argue against our demand to be viewed and represented as fully human, rather than as props in their version of nonhuman liberation?

The problem with this imagery is not only that it compares our ancestors to nonhuman animals, but that it erases our contemporary experiences where the effects of such comparisons continue to justify our oppression in this country…

We are still being dehumanized by the systems that oppressed our ancestors, yet white vegans find no problem stealing imagery that is deeply personal and traumatizing to us in order to, yet again, compare us with nonhuman animals for their art and causes.”

- Steffany Brown, Op-Ed on AfroPunk.com

Websites to Check Out:

BlackVegansRock.com

Food Empowerment Project: foodispower.org

TheIntersectionalVegan.Tumblr.com

Sistah Vegan Project: sistahvegan.com

VeganFeministNetwork.com

Always Be LearningOur way is NOT the only way

Learn from other movements

LGBTQI movement is a great example of including and welcoming allies

Source: socialcontrol.com

Social Justice - Questions

How can we participate in other Social Justice movements and support their causes?

How can we encourage others to support our movement - whether or not they are vegan?

How can we promote veganism in the most inclusive way

Planting Seeds

At best vegans are 1-2% of the population - this figure hasn’t changed for 20 years

Find out other people’s passions & motivations

See how you can plant the seeds of change

Why people Stay Vegan

Animal Welfare is the most effective way to get people to eat less meat

Health reasons are the second best

READ: Nick Cooney’s books “How to be Great at Doing Good,” “Veganomics” & “Change of Heart”

SUBSCRIBE: HumaneLeagueLabs.org - informing on advocacy strategies through actionable research on their effectiveness

Make Some Changes

Vegans don’t ONLY care about non-human animals

Let’s ACT like it

Learn more about each other and the world around us

ALL systems of oppression need to be changed

There’s only 24 hours in a day

There’s SO much information

There’s SO much to learn

Only limited time

Start with what resonates the most for you

What are you most passionate about?

What are you best at communicating?

Start here

Always aim to Listen & Learn More

Focus on More Good, Less Harm

Source: blog.hubspot.com

Online

Be Nice, Be Kind

You can still disagree with someone without using negative words, names, judgement

Remember - wrongly or rightly - that you maybe the ONLY vegan someone comes into contact with

What you do and how you do it reflects the whole movement - so ACT like it!

Top 10 Tips for Online Etiquette

Be MindfulWhat language do you use when promoting veganism? Positive/Negative? Encouraging/Discouraging? Empathetic/Judgemental? Preaching/Teaching?

Do you use racist language when you talk about other countries and cultures? E.g. Japan and dolphins/whales, China and dog meat? The Middle East and live export

Do you use trigger words that might truly upset someone? Words such as slave, rape, concentration camps

Do you give unsolicited health advice/tell terminally ill or disabled people that they will be “cured” if they go vegan?

Some Advice

Do your own research

Investigate and Read more

Focus on finding out what connects us to each other - not on the things we disagree on

Lead by example, and be consistent

Be the best version of yourself

Small Steps

Once you learn something, it can’t be unlearned - maybe ignored, and maybe for some time

Small steps still get to the same destination

What works for you might not for others

We are all made up of the same things, but we are not all the same

And Another Thing…

Focus on Encouragement - instead of Judgement

Focus on Education & Planting Seeds - instead of Preaching & trying to Convert

Always remember Kindness

Always remember Compassion

Be the Best Vegan you can be. Start from NOW

Connect with Me

VeganAthletesBook.com