The Vegan Alternative

The dominant way of life in the Western World, especially in the United States, is based on consumption. In our society the consumer lifestyle is the mainstream. Hence, those who seek simple living – that is, a lifestyle based on conservation and sustainability as opposed to consumption – are said to be living an "alternative" lifestyle. So the question I'd like to address is: What kind of lifestyle is veganism? Is it a mainstream, consumer lifestyle, or is it an alternative, sustainable lifestyle?

Some critiques claim veganism is the former. They claim that it promotes the consumption and exploitation of the Earth's resources. For the most part these assertions are purely anecdotal, and are not backed up by any real research into the vegan ideal. The fact of the matter is that, from the beginning, the vegan ideal has always included conservation and sustainability as a core concept.

In mid-1940s, the definition for veganism as it was included in the original charter of the Vegan Society included the following paragraph: "Veganism remembers man's responsibility to the earth and its resources and seeks to bring about a healthy soil and plant kingdom and a proper use of the materials of the earth."

Leading pioneers in the Vegan Society – like Donald Watson, Fay K. Henderson, Eva Batt, and Kathleen Jannaway, to name but a few – all placed the vegan way of life firmly in the category of an alternative to mainstream consumer living. The same is true for vegan pioneers for the American Vegan Society and Gentle World in the United States. So where does the criticism come from?

While veganism movement has been around since November 1944, it is only in the last decade or so that it has come to be received by mainstream. But remember that what is mainstream in Western society is the consumer lifestyle. Being mainstream means you're a market – that is, you're a target for consumption. So it's not veganism that promotes consumption, but the co-option of veganism into the Western mainstream.

Veganism was founded as a revolutionary movement for change – an alternative to the exploitive status quo. If veganism is to survive as a movement it will need to resist the pressure to adapt veganism to the mainstream.