Thread on ableism in vegan communities.

I asked the other day if people would be interested in this, and the answer was a resounding yes. I'd like to make some things clear before I start. 1) this thread might be upsetting for disabled/chronically ill people to read /1

so read with caution. 2) If you're vegan and non-disabled/not chronically ill, do not come into this thread and talk over me, a disabled chronically ill vegan. Genuine questions are fine. Arguing, calling me a lesser vegan etc aren't. /2

Anyone being rude will be muted and/or blocked. Ableist hate speech will be reported. If this thread upsets you, you need to ask yourself why. Is it because ableism upsets you, or because you cannot stand constructive criticism? /3

If it's the latter, you have no right to criticise non-vegans, including/especially disabled ones. 3) vegans can be classist, racist, anti-indigenous too. This thread will focus mainly on ableism but I will try to touch on the intersection between these when relevant. /4

I would also like to add that not every vegan is ableist, and that most ableism is unintentional. However, that doesn't make it okay, and if you read this thread and continue to say these things then you are actively ableist /5

Okay, start of the actual thread. Common ableist vegan rhetoric and behaviour to look out for.

A) 'Everyone can go vegan'

This is the most common and is completely false. There are several illnesses and groups of illnesses that make veganism dangerous or impossible /6

Three examples because people always ask for that. MCAS/allergies. Eating disorders. Inflammatory bowel diseases. With the first and third, people often have a list of 'safe foods', which is all they can eat without triggering symptoms/worsening health/dying. /7

These lists of safe foods are often very small and if they contain animal products, then people need to carry on eating those. At this point people might be thinking 'I have an IBD and veganism helped it!' - that's great, but it won't be the case for everyone /8

Generalising from your own personal experience without a statistical/factual basis for that generalisation and using it to dismiss someone's barrier to veganism is an example of lateral ableism. And even if the generalisation is fair, there will almost always be exceptions /9

TW ED

With eating disorders, additional restriction is very dangerous and can be life-threatening as eating disorders have a high mortality rate. Veganism can be used as a justification for restriction by people with EDs which makes them think it's not an ED behaviour /10

Of course, people with EDs can be vegan, but it will not be possible for all, especially those who have a very active, restrictive disorder. E.g. anorexia, orthorexia, bulimia /11

Related to the first point B) 'There are 1000s of plants, you can't be allergic to them all' People with MCAS can be allergic to literally anything, including their own tears. This statement is not true. A lot of vegan staples are also high in histamine /12

Another related point C)'Everyone can reduce their intake of animal products' - I think I was probably laterally ableist and said this at one point, and I'm sorry for that. As I have previously mentioned, if animal products are on a small list of safe food, they have to stay. /13

(I do personally believe that everyone can do one thing in their lifetime to be kinder to animals. E.g. if your friend says 'shall we go to the museum or the zoo?' you could choose the museum. This is an example and won't apply to everybody.) /14

D) I have previously done an entire thread on this, but when someone says they can't go vegan for health reasons, that does not give you the right to question them about their diagnosis. That's rude, invasive, and overly-personal if you don't know them /15

Likewise, doing a quick google search of someone's illness and thinking that supersedes years of lived experience and intense personalised research is ridiculous and you should never do that. Never assume you know more about someone's illness than them, even if you share it /16

Because everyone's experience of illness is different. This is why you should also never say 'My friend has/had X and veganism cured/helped it' /17

E) This one has personally affected me a lot: not recognising that independent vegan restaurants/restaurants with vegan options may not be wheelchair accessible. One time when I had been vegetarian for a few months and was transitioning to veganism, I was struggling /18

To find a restaurant near my hotel that was both wheelchair accessible and vegan-friendly. I asked for recommendations on Twitter and a vegan told me if I can't find anywhere I should just go without food. /19

I can't believe I have to type this, but telling disabled people to starve is not okay. Not even a little bit okay. This has become even harder for me now that I'm soy-intolerant as a lot of vegan options in restaurants are soy-based. /20

Travelling anywhere involves intense research about both physical access, and allergy information. This is a lot of work for an already very ill and busy person. When I was non-vegan I could eat anywhere accessible. Ignoring this burden is ableist /21

F) saying that people aren't real vegans if they take medication tested on or containing animals. In the UK, all medicine is tested on animals, and a lot contains lactose /22

The Vegan Society advice is to look for/ask for a medicine without animal products, but if there is none that suits your medical needs, to take the one containing animal products /23

Taking medication tested on animals still meets the definition of veganism as laid out by the Vegan Society. Telling people not to take their medication is not only ableist, it is dangerous and violent /24

G) Another one is not recognising the intersection between disability and class. Many but not all disabled people are low-income or poor, and that creates an additional barrier to veganism. Yes, you can get cheap vegan food /25

But it is not always easy to get a balanced, nutritious diet on a few cheap staples. The fruit and veg that vegans laud for their calcium and iron etc, are often expensive. Recognising this intersection is important. /26

In the USA in particular, a lot of people live in food deserts. As a disabled person it would be even harder to travel afar to find vegan food. If your local store only has pre-packaged food with milk powder in it, it's going to be hard to be vegan /27

This isn't that common but I've seen it happen and it's happened to me H) saying that chronically ill people make veganism look bad because of the association with poor health. IDK how to even explain how gross this is /28

This is VERY common I) 'If you can't follow a basic recipe you're stupid/not an adult' 'Veganism is easy if you cook from scratch' 'Veganism is only expensive because of pre-packaged food' 'Pre-cut veg is lazy' /29

A lot of disabled people can't follow recipes due to cognitive difficulties. A lot of disabled people can only cook quick easy meals. A lot of disabled can't cook at all or not most of the time. A lot of disabled people rely on ready meals. A lot of disabled ppl can't cut veg /30

J: not recognising that lifestyle vegan products can be more expensive. I have to wear suncream every day due to an increased risk of skin cancer. The cheapest vegan reef-safe suncream my mum could find was £18 for 50ml. My non-vegan one was £8 for 250ml, /31

K: vegan festivals and events not being accessible e.g. wheelchair inaccessible, no sign language interpreter etc. Not to mention a large vegan festival holding one during a pandemic that disproportionately kills disabled ppl /32

L: Anonymous For The Voiceless and other vegans saying that service dogs for disabled people aren't vegan, and being rude to disabled vegans (including me) who challenged this. /33

Just to add, people who can't eat plant-based for health reasons but do all of the lifestyle bits meet the definition of veganism as it is 'as far as is practicable and possible'. Not recognising this is another example of ableism. Thanks to the person who pointed this out. /34

M: calling anti-ableist vegans 'apologists' or saying that they are not really vegan, that they're speciesist etc. /35

N: constantly mocking the ketogenic diet even though it is a medical diet developed for treatment-resistant epilepsy in children, that can also help other illnesses, and can be adapted to a vegan lifestyle /36

O: mocking the intelligence of non-vegans. The implication of low intelligence = bad person is ableist /37

This is a great example of a vegan being ableist. Thank you to this clown for providing a perfect live example. Accusing people of lying about their health is classic ableism. /38
https://twitter.com/LoveOurMother1/status/1293570452351328257?s=20

Anyway, I'm going to leave it there because what is more perfect than a vegan coming onto a thread about ableism in vegan communities and being ableist? A few final thoughts /39

First, please don't take these examples to mean that veganism is inherently ableist. Disabled vegans exist (although of course we can be laterally ableist). Please don't take this to mean that disabled and chronically ill people can never be vegan. Some of us can /40

This is quite controversial, but I also don't think veganism is drastically more ableist than any other movement/the general population. I think ableist vegans are LOUD, they go unchallenged by other non-disabled vegans, and it's super hypocritical /41

The pandemic has taught me that the average person places little to no value on disabled life. I think it reeks so much when vegans are ableist because of the hypocrisy of being part of a movement built on compassion and not having it for disabled people. /42

Honestly, ableist vegans are speciesists too. They value animal life over disabled humans (and often poor, black, and indigenous humans too). Also, the preachiness/high horse thing is infuriating if you're an ableist /43

I really am going to stop now. My two wishes: if you're disabled and non-vegan, know that there are vegans who love and support you. If you are non-disabled and vegan, stand up against ableism in vegan communities or else disabled people will never trust us /44

I know I said I'd stop but just waking up to add that this is a non-exhaustive list. There are countless other examples of ableism and countless other examples of conditions that partially or completely inhibit veganism. Never assume, never interrogate. /45