Vegan Australia - Barriers to Making Veganism Possible

Veganism seems like an un-sellable lifestyle; even vegans claim that it's easier to get people to go 'meat free' or choose 'free-range' than to ask people to go vegan. 

But the unexpressed idea is that the barriers to going vegan are insurmountable.  Well, it can seem that way when we don't stop to talk about what these barriers are and how we might overcome them.  Perhaps it's time to stop believing that veganism is impossible and ask how do we make it possible?

Basic Beliefs - Animal Cruelty Is Wrong

In a speech at Living Green Festival in Canberra on 14 October Greg McFarlane, CEO of Vegan Australia, outlined some points about veganism and vegan advocacy.  In his speech, Greg McFarlane said:

A survey carried out on behalf of the Vegan and Vegetarian Society of Queensland showed that 99% of Australians are opposed to animal cruelty. This is a very important point. Just like children, adults also are basically compassionate. They already believe one of the tenets of veganism - that it is wrong to cause unnecessary suffering to animals. This is wonderful news. Most people have already taken the first step to veganism. Most people can empathise with non human animals, especially pets. And I think many people feel guilty about eating meat when they become aware of the cruelty involved in animal production. Vegan advocacy groups need to research how we can make best use of this fact, how we can most effectively guide people to align their "theoretical" opposition to animal cruelty with their behaviour. We hope that Vegan Australia will be able translate this into effective public education campaigns.

Excellent!  We've moved beyond the assumption that it's impossible. Now we asking how we can make veganism possible.

What Are These Barriers?

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Greg McFarlane is talking about finding ways to weaken or remove some of the common barriers to going vegan.  Some of these barriers (real or perceived) include:  

• that a vegan diet is unhealthy
• that veganism will not be accepted by peers
• that veganism can lead to social isolation 
• that veganism is inconvenient
• that vegan food is not appealing, is hard to find or hard to cook and is expensive.

This is great because it addresses why it's difficult to get Australians to go vegan.  Once we know why it's difficult, we can start asking how we can change it.

Making it Possible

It is hardly a fair analysis of abolitionist vegan ideas to say that promoting veganism is difficult or impossible.  Abolitionists want to know why it appears that way and what we can do about it.  

In his speech, Greg McFarlane offers up campaigns that could help dismantle, or at the very least weaken, some of these barriers. For example, to address the perceived barrier that a vegan diet is unhealthy, McFarlane proposes campaigns that lobby for basic vegan food education in schools and more education for doctors and dieticians on vegan diets.  This, coupled with advertising efforts, can help dismantle the perceived barrier that veganism is unhealthy.

Together, we can make a vegan Australia possible. 

Please read more about Vegan Australia.