Like many of my friends, I’m stranded at home and left to ponder the coronavirus outbreak from a vegan perspective.
There’s been enough said already about how this was all caused by animal exploitation, although even the mainstream press has been rattling on about the wrong types of animals being eaten. The irony isn’t lost on us.
But sometimes vegans themselves express more horror at a bat being eaten than they do over a cow being eaten. This is our chance to highlight the speciesism. It has to be said that many vegan campaigns do highlight the disparity between the different attitudes to dogs and cows or pigs – sadly, people’s views of different animals have been highlighted yet again by the pandemic. Plus, I like bats.
The racism unnerves me a lot though. Something else I read recently, China has a huge number of vegans as talked about here, for some reason this gets overlooked all too often; very often by vegans themselves. Racist behaviour isn’t compatible with veganism. We’re supposed to be compassionate; racism is the opposite of compassion. We complain about prejudice against another species but tolerate towards our own species? That is wrong on every conceivable level. And let’s treat the myth that vegans can’t get coronavirus with the contempt it deserves – the worst fake news in an environment awash with fake news. What a dangerous and idiotic idea!
There have been reports about the increase in quality of the air and the drop in greenhouse gases due to the reduction in human activity. This shows how destructive our modern ways of life have become and how detrimental they are to the natural world.
Animals and birds have been seen in cities where they are not usually spotted now, showing how it is possible to live side by side with nature instead of against it. See the report here. I’ve always said there’s something arrogant about humans who feel the need to ‘manage’ the natural world. It can do that very well itself thank you.
The number of small start-up vegan businesses over the last few years has been truly empowering and to think the lockdown could put many out of business is terrifying. I implore you to support those which have been able to stay open or diversify their business model – for example offering a delivery service.
Animal sanctuaries too are suffering from lost open days, the inability of volunteers to attend and a general drop in financial support – something seen by a large number of charitable organisations. There’s a page where you can donate here.
Many vegans are discovering the advantages of cooking at home and, perhaps, discovering it’s easier and less time consuming than they first thought.
I’m discovering how much less money I spend while under lockdown.
Vegan on a desert island 