There sure is a lot of confusion about veganism these days, which is a shame. It’s a great idea. So, let’s try to clear up some of that confusion.

TLDR version:

Veganism is primarily concerned with freedom and entails rejecting the chattel property status and unfair use of animals, when we can reasonably do that. The principles also ask us to reduce/prevent unnecessary cruelty, again when reasonably possible. Finally, it’s voluntary, so people are free to do whatever they think best. It’s not about zero or even least harm, though that can be a consequence in some contexts.

Longer version:

Veganism is the name given to a pretty simple idea – that animals matter enough for us to want to treat them with fairness and compassion, when we can do that. If we think that’s important, we can adopt vegan ethics to help us make good choices for other animals whenever we can (or are willing to).

Veganism is a modern idea that aims to tackle our injustice to other animals. This is not some deeply unnatural notion – surprisingly, even the rest of nature is far more aligned with vegan aims than most modern consumers.

Vegan ethics helps us achieve three simple goals:

• To keep animals free (ie not treated as chattel property and as objects of production);
• To prevent our unfair use of animals; and
• To protect animals from our unnecessary cruelty.

You might ask, well… what’s “unfair” mean? In this context, it means using an animal for some purpose when we either don’t have to, or can use an alternative. Vegans choose not to eat meat because farmed animals are chattel property and we have alternatives (ie plants). Similarly, vegans don’t fund the use of animals in entertainment, again because the animals are treated as property and we just don’t need to do this.

A lot of people confuse vegan ethics with the principle of least harm, but while we can use that principle to make good choices, vegan ethics are not specifically aiming to do that. Vegans aren’t choosing to avoid eating meat so as to cause least harm, they are really choosing not to support exploitive systems that treat animals as property and use them unfairly.

Critics often think that vegans can never kill an animal and that it’s hypocritical for vegans to buy plant-sourced foods when wild animals are killed to grow that food. That’s really a misunderstanding. Within existing farming systems, killing of wild animals to protect agricultural infrastructure and production is unavoidable, whether we are talking plant or animal sourced food production. Alternatives either don’t exist or are not practical and consumers are hard-pressed to influence farmers’ methods.

Similarly, animal use for medical research when necessary is not a violation of vegan principles (though in this case, what is “necessary” is very much open to debate), nor is the management of wild animal populations when necessary, nor the killing of disease carrying animals (eg mosquitoes), again when necessary.

Yes, killing wild animals for crop protection is often cruel so we can apply the principle of least harm to make less harmful choices (for example, eat less wheat), however it’s hard for consumers to have much influence over what farmers do nor is it clear that swapping one food for another makes any real material difference. Very few consumers can choose to buy foods that don’t demand some animal cruelty and death.

Vegan principles ask us to see other animals as important, as mattering enough to prevent injustice to them. We can all adopt these principles and do what we can (or are willing to do) to make a fairer world for other animals.

It really is that simple. Adopting and applying vegan ethical principles is one of the most effective and easily understood ways to help us be fairer and kinder to other animals. And everyone can do that.

If you’d like to know more, you can read my essay that offers a deeper dive into the meaning and application of vegan ethics at the link below:

Click here to access: Animals Matter – Veganism for Everyone (pdf, 466kb)