Is veganism a privilege?

Hello! I did a Q&A on instagram this week and someone asked me how I respond to people saying “veganism is a privilege” and the answer resonated with quite a few people so I decided to make it permanent here as well as on Instagram.

At its core, no. Veganism is not a privilege. That said, the process of going vegan can be complicated and even impossible depending on someone’s level of ability, someone’s access to secure housing and/or food, etc.

Even though going vegan may not be feasible for everyone, vegans only represent around 5% of the global population and it simply isn’t true that only 5% of us are in a position to go vegan. The reality is that many of us could go vegan, but choose not to.

At the end of the day, non-human animals should not be subjected to undue harm simply because we like the taste of their body parts and we enjoy the convenience of maintaining the status quo.

Privileged or not, do your part. Whether “your part” = “going vegan” is up to you to assess. One thing is for sure: we should all divest from the systemic exploitation of animals however we can because animals are not commodities for us to exploit.