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Insects and Vegan Principles

~ Graeme M ~ Leave a comment

People sometimes criticise vegans for causing insects to be killed by farmers protecting crops, but this seems rather disingenuous when we notice that everyone kills insects all the time and they are killed in vast numbers both to protect human food crops as well as feed for livestock and even in livestock production itself.

One reason people bring this up is they think veganism is a doctrine of least or zero harm, but that’s not exactly true. Vegan principles are about freedom and aim to prevent unfair use of animals and their treatment as property (you can read more here about what veganism is really trying to achieve). Still, vegan ethics also ask that we do what we reasonably can to prevent cruelty to animals.

Given vegans can’t do much to influence farming methods and that killing insects to protect crops is necessary, it’s not wrong for vegans to demand food be protected from insects, just like most everyone else. Luckily, it’s likely far fewer insects are killed for a vegan lifestyle than otherwise. On average, such a diet will lead to less overall harm to animals than a typical consumer’s diet.

But do we even need to care that much, really? I’d suggest that we all intuitively recognise that insects can’t matter individually in all contexts – if they did, we wouldn’t drive cars, fly in aeroplanes, use pest sprays to control insects in our homes, control insects in our gardens etc. We are backed in thinking this by a couple of facts:

  1. Insects’ own lifecycle works on a numbers game – individuals don’t really count. What matters is species success. Insects are an example of what can be described as r-selected reproducers. In other words, insects have many offspring and invest little care in those offspring. If enough are created, then most can die so long as enough survive to maintain the species.
  2. Insects have limited “sentience”. While some may “feel” pain they have very much simpler emotional circuitry so we can’t say that their pain matters as much as say a cow’s. Insects have a much less rich inner experience than more complex animals.

The reason we might worry about many animals is that their form of sentience entails an internal awareness of, and personal relationship with, themselves and other members of their species. They can have emotions, motivations, preferences, attachments and so on. Such rich inner lives means they matter in and of themselves and they matter enough that for them, justice matters.

Most insects, on the other hand, do not have such rich inner lives and operate largely on essential behavioural routines to achieve their goals. Take ants, for example. Ants recognise each other by chemical signals – they can tell which ants belong to their colony and what roles they play. But that’s as far as it goes – they don’t think of a fellow ant as Ralph from next door.

For an ant colony, what matters is if there are enough ants to fulfill the colony’s essential functions. It doesn’t matter if 100 of them are killed by a bicycle running over them; no-one misses them individually. There are thousands of others to maintain the colony.

In the end, just as we accept killing cockroaches in kitchens, mosquitoes to prevent malaria, and termites to protect our homes when we must, and even by living our everyday lives (for example, over 200 trillion insects might be killed every year just from driving motor vehnicles), we should not feel it’s wrong to kill insects to protect our food.

Of course, I’m not saying we shouldn’t care at all, just that when we have to kill insects to protect ourselves, our property and our food, we are not making an immoral choice. It is absolutely still worthwhile to make choices that minimise harms to insects when we can! And we can apply the Principle of Least Harm (an ethical principle whereby we should choose the least harmful of any two or more harmful options) to make wiser choices about what plant-sourced foods to buy, though it would be hard to say how much real world effect that might have.

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Don’t forget, no-one needs to be a vegan to adopt and apply vegan ethical principles in their daily lives to make a positive difference for other animals. 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)

Explaining What Veganism is REALLY About

~ Graeme M ~ 1 Comment

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 tackle injustice to other animals whenever we can (or are willing to). Bear in mind that veganism exists because nowadays we often treat other animals with great injustice. In fact, 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 protect animals from our unfair use; and
  • To prevent unnecessary cruelty to animals.

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 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. Very few consumers can choose to buy foods that don’t demand 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)

Voltaire and Veganism

~ Graeme M ~ Leave a comment

Hang on, you exclaim, Voltaire was a French writer and philosopher who lived over two hundred years ago. What on earth does he have to do with veganism?

Well, he said something that has resonated down the ages and which has a particular relevance to veganism. So, what DID he say?

“Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good”

Google AI tells us this quote is often attributed to Voltaire. The original French phrase is “Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien,” which translates to “The best is the enemy of the good”.

Why is this quote important? Voltaire used this phrase to encourage people to take practical steps toward improvement, rather than getting stuck chasing perfection.

I think what he meant is that if our aim from the outset is perfection, we may hesitate to even start. Perhaps we’ll abandon our efforts because we can never be good enough. But if we let this happen, if we allow our resolve to be undermined by doubts or feeling that the project dwarfs our puny abilities, we can never progress.

So what if all we can do is our best? Or not even our very best, but something? Surely having a goal in mind and doing what we can do with who we are in our circumstances still takes us down the road towards our goal.

This is very good advice, to be sure. And it’s not the only form in which the idea of moving forward and not simply giving up or procrastinating has been stated. You may have heard of the “if you can’t do everything” fallacy. Google tells us this is a logical fallacy where someone argues that because a solution isn’t perfect or doesn’t address every aspect of a problem, it should be completely disregarded, essentially rejecting any action at all, even if it provides some positive impact; it’s a form of the “Nirvana fallacy.”

OK, so we have pretty good advice that encourages us to go forward rather than giving up or settling for the worst. How does this relate to veganism? Well, I think it sets the tone for how we can apply vegan ethics in our everyday lives, as well as defending against those detractors and bullies who try to undermine our resolve to do better.

Veganism at heart wants us to be fair to other animals when we can do that. Its goals are simple – other animals should be free whenever possible and we should choose not to be cruel to them by our actions.

How we go about this is up to each of us. What counts is believing other animals have an inherent value that demands a duty of fairness from us. If we are honest in that belief, we’ll do what we can to make the best choices we can. Even when they aren’t the most perfect choices. And we are all free to keep on refining the choices we make and finding even better ways to do what we can to make a fairer world for other animals.

Finally, don’t let the bullies get you down. When you hear someone telling you that you are a hypocrite or a failure because you still use a computer, or drive a motor vehicle, or rely on medicines tested on animals, ignore them. What they want is for you to give up, and THAT Voltaire would never have wanted us to do.

Doing something positive is always better than doing nothing.

Farmers Defending Animal Welfare Miss the Point

~ Graeme M ~ Leave a comment

Happy farmer with happy cow

Something I often see on social media is farmers objecting to vegan advocacy on the grounds that vegans know nothing about animal husbandry. Because vegans aren’t engaged in the business, the story goes, they don’t understand just how well farmers really do look after their livestock. Unfortunately, this criticism rather misses the point.

I think this happens because farmers don’t understand what veganism is really about and the fact that pretty much all vegan/animal rights activism focuses almost exclusively on how much animals are harmed in animal farming with graphic imagery and stories about grossly negligent behaviour by producers. Farmers therefore think that vegans are simply complaining about animal welfare.

The reason that this criticism misses the point is that veganism and animal rights are not focused solely on animal welfare but rather on the question of whether or not we should use animals in these ways. The objection from veganism is that animals are being farmed in the first place, not just that they may suffer and be harmed.

To put it simply, “Veganism recognises the inherent value and dignity of other species and aims to treat them fairly by our choices whenever we can.”

In this context, “fairly” means that animals should be free to live their own lives without human interference, whenever it’s possible for that to happen. An easy way to think about this is that veganism proposes that when we can we should want to protect animals’ interests to:

  • be free and able to live their own lives
  • be able to make their own choices about their own bodies
  • not be treated cruelly by humans

A farmed animal is not free and is regarded as property, they are not able to make their own choices about what they do and when, and they can often be treated cruelly. That’s really why people adopting vegan ethics might choose not to buy products from animal farming (eg meat, dairy, etc). They are rejecting the unfair use of other animals when we have alternatives, so how animal farming is done is not relevant when making that choice.

That said, how animals are treated is important so while people continue to use animals in farming and other industries, we should want the best possible welfare for them. While it’s absolutely reasonable for farmers to defend their practices (and we should encourage their best practice), remember that the best welfare in the world doesn’t address the overall objections of veganism. Only the abolition of animal farming would achieve that.

Is that possible? That’s not for me to say, but really it’s a little irrelevant to what people can do right now. Veganism is primarily a personal stance so it’s much more likely that someone can make choices that minimise their support for animal farming.

Summarising all this:

  • Veganism objects to the unfair use of other animals and regarding them as property when we can do otherwise
  • People who adopt vegan ethics typically don’t buy products from animal farming for that reason
  • They also don’t need to know how animal husbandry systems work to take that stance
  • Farmers can (and should) promote best practice welfare and that’s important, but it’s not addressing the real moral objection

Veganism is Justice for Animals

~ Graeme M ~ Leave a comment

Here at JustUs Too we advocate for fairness and justice for animals. Importantly, we endorse veganism because it’s the only general term and overall conceptualisation of the wish to be fair to other animals we know of. We believe that “veganism” – regarded as the idea we can and should strive to be fair to other animals – is a rational, effective and workable ethical framework. No-one has to be a vegan but everyone can be guided by these principles.

What is Veganism?

The UK Vegan Society defines veganism as both a philosophy and a lifestyle. You may be most familiar with it as a super strict diet. However, veganism really asks that we do what we can, when we can, to be fair to other animals and prevent injustices to them from our choices. We could sum this up as:

“Veganism recognises the inherent value and dignity of other species and aims to treat them fairly by our choices whenever we can.”

Why veganism?

Veganism is important today because of the outsized and often unfair effects we have on other species. Veganism is about minimizing these negative effects as much as we can and hopefully making a fairer world for them.

If we think other animals are worth respecting for themselves and not only for what they can do for us, then vegan ethical principles can guide us in how to do that, especially when it comes to our everyday choices.

What can I do?

The answer is deceptively simple. Whatever you can or are willing to do that aligns with vegan ethical principles. These principles are pretty much exactly the same as those we adopt when wanting to be fair to other people, where “fairness” means taking into account the interests of others to live a good life.

That’s why people who identify as vegans don’t buy animal products. They believe that modern animal farming is inherently unfair to the animals and when we have alternatives – such as plant-based foods – we can make fairer choices.

Anyone can be guided by these principles – you don’t have to be a vegan to do that. In everyday terms, think about whether or not the products and services you buy and support contribute to treating other animals unfairly. If so, look for alternatives that minimize or eliminate this unfairness. What you do is up to you. If you are genuine in your wish to treat other animals fairly and compassionately, you’ll do what seems best.

Veganism for All

~ Graeme M ~ Leave a comment

I believe passionately in the idea that we should want to be as fair as we can to the rest of the animals with whom we share our world and the best way to do that is to be guided by vegan ethical principles. Yet while it seems that many, maybe even most, people often agree that animals should be treated well, most reject veganism. Why is this?

I think it is because veganism is deeply misunderstood by almost everyone, and worse, it has a terrible public image. Perhaps vegan advocacy and messaging has taken too much of an adversarial and even judgemental stance – if there is anything that will put people offside, it’s being told they are bad and they should do better.

In practice, veganism is a purely voluntary and aspirational set of ethical principles that guide us in what’s best to do when our choices affect other animals. No-one has to be vegan nor do they have to conform to any particular standard.

Of course many people do strive to completely eliminate animal products and use from their diets and lifestyle. They might identify as vegans and follow the definition of veganism to the letter as much as possible. The formal definition for veganism can be found on the UK Vegan Society’s website. But in the end, it’s up to you. We all get to make our own choices.

I’ve mentioned elsewhere on my blog that I think vegan advocacy needs a reformation and in particular that advocacy should focus on community engagement, inclusion and encouragement, rather than measuring success by the somewhat dubious metric of people “converted” to veganism. Perhaps we might see more interest from consumers if they can be shown practical ways to make a difference without feeling pressured to become something other than just themselves.

In this post, I want to propose a different way to think about the ethical philsophy that veganism represents in such a way as makes the principles accessible to anyone.

Upfront, I should point out that I do not regard veganism as merely a diet. If veganism really were just a super-strict, animal free diet, it would carry no compelling force at all. We could all just laugh at the idea and get on with things. No, there has to be something more than that – the diet can only be a consequence of whatever it is veganism stands for.

So, what does veganism stand for?

Quite simply,I believe that veganism is the idea that whenever we can, we should want to be fair to other animals and aim to prevent injustices to them from our actions. That’s it.

We could phrase this as:
“Veganism recognises the inherent value and dignity of other species and aims to treat them fairly by our choices whenever we can.”

But what exactly does it mean to be “fair” to other animals? Well, I think most of us can say what fairness means. At its simplest, it means to regard the interests of others equally and try to be consistent in our actions when they affect others. For example, a pig has just as much interest in being free to roam and do pig things as people like to be free to do people stuff.

Thought of like this, anyone at all can embrace veganism. All that ever comes into question is how far they are willing to go. Because vegan ethics are relevant in all the ways we treat other animals then as long as someone is being genuine in their efforts to be fair to other animals in their choices, that is veganism in action. And funnily enough, I would even be willing to agree that a carnivore dieter can be guided by veganism in this way. Unlikely, but possible.

Why should anyone want to be fair to other animals? I believe it is because of our modern context. In the distant past, our hunter/gatherer ancestors did not need to be vegan. In fact, I’d suggest they were largely vegan in practice. But things changed about 10,000 years ago and today we do not share the same fundamentally fair relationship with other animals. So, the reason we should want to be fair is that we have an enormous influence over, and effect on, the rest of nature. Just as our ancient ancestors sought to live in some balance with the rest of the animals, I believe we really should want to today.