5 stereotypes about veganism

Brut America

"Veganism is a cult", "You can only get your protein from meat"...  Brut Nature asked this animal rights activist to respond to stereotypes about veganism. Here is what she had to say.

Transcript

00:00Giving the right to vote to the pool would make no sense.

00:02On the other hand, what we want is a legal account of the interests of one and the other.

00:19Veganism is a sect.

00:23So no, there is no vegan club

00:28where we meet every day to pray the holy big broccoli.

00:31What we need to understand is that today our relationship to animals is based on exploitation.

00:39We consider animals as resources, commodities, at our disposal to satisfy our interests.

00:45And that brings enormous suffering for them.

00:48Veganism is therefore a philosophy of life, a way to establish another relationship with animals,

00:54a relationship that is more benevolent and pacified.

00:57And this is not something new.

00:59It is a reflection that great thinkers such as Pythagoras, Marguerite Fursenart, Victor Hugo

01:05already had in their time.

01:07They were already asking themselves the question of the place of the animal in society

01:11and they were already denouncing the injustice and the violence with which they are treated.

01:19We grew up with the idea that proteins are only in meat,

01:22when in fact they are not.

01:24Proteins can be of animal or plant origin and can be found in almost all foods.

01:30And especially for plant proteins, in legumes, cereals and oleagins.

01:34For calcium, it's the same.

01:36We think it's only in milk. Not at all.

01:38There are some in green vegetables, in oleagins and in yogurts and plant milks.

01:43In general, in France, on vegetarian diet, we are quite behind.

01:48Whereas in other countries, the question is not debated at all.

01:51For example, the American Association of Dietetics and Nutrition,

01:54which still brings together 100,000 health professionals,

01:57says very clearly that a well-conducted vegetarian diet

02:01is completely viable at all stages of life.

02:04And then, not only is it viable, but it's also very good.

02:06It's the food chain.

02:10When we are told that, we have the impression that it is because the human being is at the top of the food chain.

02:16In fact, it's wrong.

02:17If we take the trophic levels, which is a classification

02:20that allows us to determine the place of a species in the food chain,

02:24the human being is actually at the level of the anchovy.

02:28So, very far behind the big predators like the orc or the polar bear.

02:33And by the way, we can wonder if this notion of food chain is even relevant for the human species.

02:39Because, unlike the lion that hunts the gazelle to survive,

02:42we do our shopping in supermarkets, we buy our steaks under empty containers.

02:48So, unlike carnivores, we are omnivores,

02:52which means that we can eat everything, but not that we have to eat everything to be in good health.

02:56We have always eaten meat.

03:00Not because we have always done something, that we must continue to do it.

03:03There are a lot of things that we did before and that we don't do anymore today,

03:06because our way of life has evolved, thanks to technological progress or to our moral considerations.

03:12For example, before, we used to move around naked, for a long time women were not allowed to vote.

03:18Today, we do a Paris-Lyon in two hours, and as a woman, I have the right to vote, and everyone finds that normal.

03:25So, yesterday's lifestyles have nothing to do with today's,

03:28and tomorrow's will be different because society will continue to evolve.

03:32And precisely, one of the challenges of tomorrow's society is food,

03:36because meat consumption poses huge challenges, both ecological and ethical.

03:42Do you want equality between species?

03:46No, we are not saying that a cow equals a hen equals a human being.

03:51Of course, there are differences between species, but there are also similarities,

03:55such as the desire to live or the ability to feel emotions.

03:59And precisely, these are things that we should take into account in our consumption choices.

04:03So, to do that, we can imagine a balance.

04:06On the one hand, there is my desire to eat a steak, and on the other, there is the life of the animal.

04:11Logically, the life of the animal should win over my desire to enjoy myself for five minutes.

04:17So, we are not at all preaching for a pure and simple equality between all species.

04:23Giving the right to vote to the hen would make no sense.

04:25On the other hand, what we want is a legal account of the interests of one and the other.

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