Denmark has a vegan party. And like the unappetizing social event it sounds like, the Vegan Party is unlikely to be affected by the current restrictions on how many people can gather in one place.
Despite being few in number and short in the tooth, they do not seem worried about biting more than they can chew. But why do they think that the meditating Danish monks will let go of their flesh and support them?
High steaks
I would not have backed that horse when I moved here four years ago – and not because of a moral objection to equestrian sports. Vegetarian options were nowhere to be found, and the few Danes who knew what ‘vegan’ meant associated it with a lack of masculinity or health.
There has been a global trend towards meat-free eating since, driven by a growing awareness of the environmental impact of animal husbandry and the nutritional benefits of plant-based diets. And Denmark has reflected this with a wave of vegetarian dishes, vegan eateries and substitutes for meat and dairy products.
The vegan party hopes that postponing the underdog of Denmark’s malicious efficient meat production will stifle this wave by influencing consumer choices made by Danes. Unfortunately, habits and emotions often override knowledge in the decision-making process, especially when it comes to food. Just ask the former Minister of the Environment, Jakob Elleman-Jensen. When Vegan Party founder Henrik Vindfelt asked him if the piglet was on his agenda, he replied: “I really can not express in words how much I love bacon.”
Loving bacon is understandable. Like reluctance or inability to give up something you love, especially if you’ve had a taste for it since early childhood. The moral issue I want to make for non-vegans is not about their choice to consume animal products, but about denying their children the choice not to do so.
The fork digs you up
Some things are okay to impose on children who are too young to decide for themselves, like polio vaccines. Others, like circumcision, not so much. Giving up meat (pun intended) may be easier than growing a new foreskin, but with significant ethical and environmental costs involved and without the practical, nutritional or existential necessity that forces children to develop habits they have to break and love, they have to shake, otherwise I seem immoral to continue to contribute to these costs.
That, of course, is natural. If you are aware of the disadvantages of animal husbandry, yet support it through your consumer behavior, then you are likely to leave some inconvenient truths off the table when serving your children meat and milk. But when you protect your children and your cognitive harmony, you do more harm than good.
I do not suggest you sing about Old McDonald throwing his prize pig or other less pleasant parts of pig farming. All you have to do is tell them what pork is and where it comes from and that the pigs do not enjoy the process. Children love animals, and I suppose they would unsolicitedly never ask to eat a dead one.
Save our bacon
Either way, asking people to be ethical consumers is a lost strategy. It can lead to individual justification, but not systemic change.
Hopefully, the Vegan Party’s confidence is not wrong, because systemic change begins with politics. They have gathered enough signatures to be eligible to compete for parliamentary seats in the next election. Win a few and they may find themselves influencing politics if the Prime Minister’s party finds itself a few seats below a majority.
In a world of climate crises, zoonotic diseases and atrocities on an industrial scale, we need governments that see politics through the lens of environmentalism, ecology and compassion, not profitability, biased politics and a penchant for bacon.
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