Monday, May 6#blacklivesmatter

We Cannot Talk About Sustainability and Not Talk About Race

The Bougie Aunt | Published 8:00 a.m. E.T. June 24, 2020

 Note: I am not a vegan/vegetarian hater; I just find some of the ideologies pushed out from the diets to be either hypocritical, propaganda, or both. Especially, when  it is used to further sustainability.

Recently, I published an article where I stated post-structuralist geography is the reason for Flint’s Water Crisis. Now, I am back with an additional point on how post-structuralist geography is morphing our environment; it is preventing the phenomenon of sustainability from diffusing to all socioeconomic levels.

The fear-induced search for a way to conserve natural resources but also further industrial development began around the mid-eighteenth century when the Industrial Revolution emerged. Then, figures like Thomas Malthus argued the population was growing geometrically but agriculture was growing arithmetically, so inevitable things like famines would happen. Even though Malthus’s theory has been dismissed because of advances in technology, like the Green Revolution, it has not halted the new trend of sustainability from seizing the attention of multinational corporations and those in a comfortable tax bracket. 

Veganism is one feature stemming from the newfound attention on sustainability. Often, veganism is promoted under false justifications. The justifications usually center around a claim that veganism is the only diet that can wholeheartedly support sustainability. Those who promote it tend to fall under the umbrella of mainstream media influencers. Multinational corporations increasingly became involved in the mix after recognizing the marketability they can receive by adding vegan friendly options to their products. Because veganism has become a staple in Western culture, it has subsequently become more unfathomable for those who choose to live ‘environmentally conscious’ why someone would not live the way they do. Possible reasons like finances and health restrictions fly out the window in replacement of a more sensible reason to them, like the person must not care about the environment or the welfare of animals. 

While those prior reasons might hold true for some people, the bigger picture is not being analyzed. The cost it takes to be vegan is supposedly close or less than prices the average person spends on groceries; however, sustainability’s primary goal is for protecting the entire Earth. So, where are the same debunking research papers for those who are financially below average, so they can also participate? 

This is where post-structuralist geography comes into play for sustainability matters. Because, as discussed in my Flint Water Crisis article, the effects of legislation like the Fair Housing Act upon blacks have not been reversed, reparations have not been given, and their lives are being threatened by negligent actions of those in power. And, those same consequences have transferred into whether a minority group really has the power to ‘vote with their dollar’.

It is a fact that a person’s chances of living in poverty in America, for instance, is largely based on a person’s race, sex, disability, etc. With that knowledge, it is confusing to why proponents of veganism or any diet related to it, do not advocate for the same multinational corporations they support (for including a vegan friendly alternative to their products) to advertise their same sustainable items to those living in areas where poverty is concentrated, like food deserts. 

Food deserts are characterized for being areas in the United States where there is a limited range of stores that supply nutritious food, or the food vegans claim will undo the harm we have been subjugating the Earth to endure. Articles or people who say veganism is inexpensive often disregard the effort that has to be dedicated to the lifestyle day in and day out. 

One essential effort is education; the person has to be educated enough to comprehend food labels; a privilege usually ignored among those in a higher socioeconomic level. A large chunk of food deserts are located in inner-cities where primary and secondary schools do not always have the resources available to teach the students. As a given, comprehension levels are going to be lower compared to areas where education has been funded correctly. If one cannot discern between which item leaves a smaller environmental footprint and why it is important in the first place, how and why would they willingly choose to participate in a lifestyle they will view as mentally-draining?

Moreover, even if they understood the importance of it all, the same person would still be living in a food desert, areas where it is cheaper to purchase fast food because the government subsidizes most of them. One would think someone who believes in the vegan lifestyle would be demanding change from the American government who are perpetuating this issue. But they are not, which makes it so frustrating to hop onto the vegan bandwagon because energy is not spent on issues that could lead to substantial change. 

If you are a vegan, you cannot believe the propaganda of ‘anyone can vote with their dollar’ because it is simply not true. Sustainable practices have evolved from a genuine concern of how to slow down Earth’s global warming crisis to multinational corporations wanting a pat on the back for employing techniques that should have been employed a while ago. And, what is worse is some vegans are falling into their trap and congratulating the companies for doing what is expected.

What vegans and everyone else should be redirecting their attention to is if the sustainable practices they are pushing out are really sustainable, and if they can be done by everyone. Otherwise, it is just another method that will evolve to become elitist overtime.

Do you think the vegan movement is negatively affecting the recent attention placed on sustainability? Let me know what you think in the comments or through my Instagram page, or both!

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