There is no such thing as a vegan, or at least there shouldn’t be.
There is nothing distinctively inaccessible about vegan food. Everyone is able to eat vegan food, so shouldn’t it be more approachable than a hamburger or a glass of milk?
The labeling of products as vegan is functional because it saves time spent scanning ingredient labels. A product with a vegan label is declaring the lack of animal products in its constitution so that a consumer does not need to sort through each ingredient.
But now we have people labeling themselves as “vegans.” With the existence of vegan people, vegan food has an assumed destination so that it functionally transcends its ingredients (or lack thereof) to become an entirely new category of sustenance. It’s sustenance that’s become unreachable to the majority of people.
Vegan exclusivity has created aversion in the meat- and dairy-eating population toward vegan food. This is kind of ridiculous, considering vegan food is theoretically the most all-inclusive, and it’s seriously delicious.
In an effort to prove this, Students for Environmental Action’s Food Policy group will be giving away free vegan food on the following dates (locations TBA):
April 12
April 20
April 22
Come by, enjoy our food, and help break down useless stereotypes.
Art: Simply put, vegan food is accessible because it is the most inclusive. A consumer can eat vegan food whether he or she chooses to eat animal products or not. This is universally true, even in cultures without people who label themselves as vegans.
You are correct in saying that a small town in Arkansas would not likely be familiar with vegan food. You are also correct that Homo sapiens are biologically fit to eat an omnivorous diet. This does not mean that a vegan diet is less possible or less healthy, but it does means that our current society caters to the needs of the omnivorous consumer. However, if grocery stores removed all the animal products from their shelves and our society was forced to subsist on only vegan products, we as a nation would not be any less healthy. In this modern world, there exist numerous vegan options for each nutritional need of a Homo sapien.
correction-i meant accessible*
To say vegan food is inaccessible is to show just how accustomed to Northeast suburbia we are. Go to small town Arkansas, and try to eat vegan [THAT ISNT A SALAD] outside of your house hold. Half the population probably won’t even know what the word even means; that part isn’t your fault.
Furthermore, it is a noble but biologically and ecologically unnecessary, and unfitting of Homo sapiens. Our dental and enzyme profile is that of a omnivore. certainly, however, meat in take ought be limited
Gideon, I’ve never considered the issue from a linguistic perspective. You make a great point.
I saw the headline and thought the point was going to be that vegan is an adjective, not a noun. Is linguistics useful after all?
Good post!