The Political Economy of Veganism

I’m not a vegan, though for no substantial reason I must confess. Perhaps it is this lack of tangible opposition to veganism which is why I find myself increasingly thinking about the motivations and mentalities of those that do pursue the diet; at the same time, I’m apprehensive to discuss veganism with sweeping generalisations. Yet, from a political economy perspective, veganism offers some interesting musings that – perhaps because they’re not wholly relevant beyond merely being interesting – I don’t believe are ever discussed that much. For the purposes of this piece, let us define political economy as the study of the distribution of excess production.

As the global population increases, food demands, logically, will also increase, and as such the means by which we produce food should also be re-evaluated. The philosophy of veganism, to an extent, attempts to do so. By advocating a diet that is not dependent (where dependent, depending on one’s perspective, might be replaced with exploitative) on animals, those means of food production that are very resource intensive – such as cattle farming – become challenged; if demand for meat were only to fall, so the logic might go, resources used inefficiently in meat production could be redistributed to crop production and used more efficiently, and thus satisfy the increased demand for food.

Whilst I disagree with this line of thinking, I do celebrate veganism for being one of few voices (if not the only voice) that seem to place, perhaps accidentally, questions of food security at the heart of their ethos. Still, I disagree. The problem of food security – and environmental concerns also, less we forget – is partly solved by more efficient food production, of which one might argue crops are compared to say, meat. Yet the problem, insofar as the developed West should be concerned, is not that of production, but of consumption. If one continues to consume the same amount of resources, the only difference being the source of the consumption, is the problem really solved? I’m not so sure. As a mental exercise, I do wonder whether the rise of vegan, ‘culture,’ does not serve to compound this problem?

Perhaps then, if not an obviously effective (though still, maybe, partly effective) solution to the problems of food security, we should consider the advantages veganism supplies in the ethical department, for, I concede political economy can be a cold subject that oft fails to capture such intangible things. On the question of ethics, generally, I think there is no question veganism is the superior dietary plan. I will not argue against this here; this piece, so far as it has a point, is to muse about perspectives. And thus, when vegan ethics is considered through the lens of political economy, another interesting consideration arises; does the cultivation of crops not exploit human labour in much the same capacity as animal labour, and as such why does veganism not advocate the consumption of foodstuffs produced only by the product of expressly voluntary (insofar as labour for food production can be voluntary, given we need food to survive) labour?

The great distinction that might be drawn is that, ‘animal labour,’ in food production involves killing said animal, whilst a human, even one exploited by the modern capitalist system (some might argue) is never actually killed in the process. To me, over the long-term, I think this is a pedantic distinction; it is certainly an unhelpful distinction, as such a distinction fails to explain the vegan opposition to, say, dairy production whilst simultaneously invalidating the question. Thus, I think the question remains valid, though not easily answered.

Allow me to consider this question with an alternative question: are vegans more likely to be socialists? Now, I retain my apprehension about speaking in sweeping generalisations, and thus I will not explicitly answer this question beyond saying recent research (see Wrenn, 2017) does seem to suggest the answer is yes. But, returning to the original question, veganism, I believe, serves as a fascinating framework with which to consider the long-standing question of the role of, and return to, labour in the production process; most prominently because the ethos already demands the emancipation of an entire – albeit non-human – part of the labour force.

This is the interesting side for the political economist; yet for progressive veganism, tackling such a question may, if dietary ubiquity is the desired outcome, have to be tackled in the future. So too then must more robust economic arguments be supplied re: food production – a process which may demand a whole re-evaluation of western vegan culture. Undoubtedly, there are more musing to be had, but yet, as what may constitute an outline of vegan political economy, I believe this will suffice.

References:

Wrenn, C L (2017) ‘Trump Veganism: A Political Survey of American Vegans in the Era of Identity Politics.’ Societies, 7(4), pp. 32-45