BRIGHT Zine Issue One

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ISSUE ONE

B R I G HT Z I N E .C O

@brightzine

@brightzines

@brightzines

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ISSUE ONE

IN THIS ISSUE - THE EVERYDAY ACTIVIST - PAGE 6 - SPOT THE BANANA - PAGE 8 - DEAR VIVIENNE WESTWOOD - PAGE 10 - VEGAN LONDON: IT’S HERE - PAGE 12 - CHILL TIME WITH KING - PAGE 16 - FED BY WATER GO FULL VEGAN - PAGE 22 - GREENBAY VEGAN SUPERMARKET - PAGE 23 -

- WHERE’S MY COMMUNITY? - PAGE 24 - HOW TO BECOME A VEGAN QUEEN - PAGE 26 - WHY FEMINISM NEEDS VEGANISM - PAGE 28 - VEGAN SIDEKICK - PAGE 37 - COOL SHIT - PAGE 38 - ‘GOOGLE SAY’ BY SEA SHARP - PAGE 40 - ‘FLIGHT’ BY ROXANE DEWAR - PAGE 43 - SEE YOU NEXT TIME - PAGE 44 -

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Laura Callan Editor / Writer Laura is a writer, teacher and vegan queen from London.

Laura loves bears.

™lauralollipop .

Tamsin Callan Creative Collaborator Tamsin is an animal behaviour student from London.

Tamsin loves donkeys.

™tamsinrose .

Roxane Dewar Illustrator Roxane is an artist and illustrator from London.

Roxane loves cats.

™roxane_dewar .

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- LET TER FROM THE EDITOR Hello and welcome to Bright Zine Issue One. Thank you for picking up our first ever issue, we are very happy to be here.

Our aim is to talk about different things that affect people in our community. Vegans, young people, people living in London, ethically-minded people, whoever you are, I hope you find something enjoyable and engaging here.

This issue we’ve started as we mean to go on, talking about real issues. I loved looking deeper into feminism and the links between the movement and the vegan / animal rights movements. I hope you find the result as interesting as I did in researching it.

At Bright Zine we want to talk about things that affect vegans and the young UK vegan community, particularly in London, which we have focused on in this issue. We have loved seeing the growing vegan community in the UK, and Bright Zine is in part a dedication to it.

And so I formally invite you to join in. Contact us if you want to write for us, collaborate on a project or event, or if you have something in mind that you want us to write about or explore. We are here for the vegan community, so let’s talk.

I want to give a huge thank you to illustrator Roxane Dewar for her tireless work in producing beautiful art for this issue. Also to Tamsin Callan for all the fantastic creative ideas and direction, Sea Sharp for contributing a wonderful and thought-provoking poem, and everyone else that contributed and got involved.

I hope you enjoy reading Issue One as much as we enjoyed creating it. See you in Issue Two. Laura Callan, Bright Zine ™@lauralollipop @brightzine

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THE EVERYDAY ACTIVIST Most of us care about things, we’d change them if we could, and we want to do more. We want to do more to stop injustice, to help animals, help people, the environment, the world, but many of us don’t know where to start. Or maybe we’re busy managing our work lives, family lives and social lives and we feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do anything else. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

There are plenty of ways to bring activism into your general life without having to quit your job and never see your friends again. There are ways to make a difference and introduce activism into your life, whatever your circumstances.

We each have tremendous power to be activists and make a difference.

If you care about something, you can find a way to do something about it. This is just the beginning.

BE A PART TIME ACTIVIST

If you’ve got some spare time on weekends, in evenings, etc, find out what protests and campaigns there are that need your help. Organisations like Animal Equality do regular outreach work with demonstrations, information stalls, leafletting and vegan food giveaways on weekends. Find the causes and organisations that resonate with you and spend some time working with them and helping them develop.

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MAKE USE OF YOUR SKILLS

BECOME AN E WARRIOR

We all have skills in our personal and professional lives, now we can find a way to use them to support activism and causes we care about. You can freelance outside of your job, or volunteer your skills to a charity or grassroots campaign. Whatever you’re good at, use it! Put your own graphic design, illustration, accounting, engineering, building skills to use for a cause you care about. Plenty of small charities rely on volunteers and ‘street teamers’, if you’ve got even a small amount of spare time, get in touch and see how you can help.

Don’t underestimate the power of online actions, letter writing and petitions. The world of internet activism goes far beyond the screen, shedding light on great social injustices, effecting changes and mobilising thousands of people into action and protest across the globe. Someone’s gone to the trouble of setting one up, and it only takes a few clicks to sign. Easy as that.

Is there something you care about that nobody is talking about? Write about it yourself, starting a petition is straightforward with websites like Change.org and care2.

VOTE WITH YOUR WALLET

SUPPORT A FULL TIME ACTIVIST

Don’t like the way animals are treated in animal agriculture? Don’t pay for it to happen by buying animal products. Don’t like a company’s sexist / homophobic / misogynistic / etc advertising? Don’t buy from that company any more. It’s that simple, if you don’t like it, don’t pay for it.

Similarly, support the companies whose ethics and morals do align with your own, and let them know that’s why you shop with them.

If you see a full time activist, be they a campaigner, YouTuber, filmmaker, etc, that inspires you, support them. Many full time activists have given up regular jobs and careers to campaign, write, make videos, and so on about the issues they care about, which doesn’t make a lot of money.

Many activists have Patreon accounts, where you can ‘sponsor’ them with a monthly amount of your choice, the same way you’d pay to Amnesty or WWF. You may not have time to be an activist, but if you like the work someone is doing, and can afford to donate to support them, this is a great way to contribute.

SHARE INFORMATION The social network around you is a powerful thing. Use it. Share informative articles and videos about the issues you care about. Write tweets, status updates, post Instagram pictures. You may have a few heated Facebook discussions, but if you’re passionate, do your research and be ready to educate. You never know whose eyes you may open.

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DO SOMETHING We all have things we care about. So if you care about stuff, talk about it, do some research, find out what you can do to help, or to enact change. You have power.

Whatever you do, do something.

SPOT THE BANANA

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DEAR - AN OPEN LETTER -

I have followed your brand for years. I have loved the wild and daring designs and the more simple, fashionable and monochrome creations. I fell in love with the brand early, and was thrilled to see more alternative punkinspired fashion in the fashion world. But what was most important to me was your anti-fur stance. In a fashion world full of designers continually bringing real animal furs into their lines, you denounced fur and stuck with it.

You stood your ground and created beautiful fur-free fashion and have stayed true in years since. I have your non-leather handbags and more of your jewellery than I’d like to admit for the sake of my bank account. But I feel that my love affair with your work has hit a severe road block.

I felt genuinely lucky to watch you give a talk in 2010 and see you tell the audience to “Get a life,” a term that has come to be a powerful catchphrase and mantra you spread to your followers. I was right there with you. Yes, get a life, go out and care about something, care about the environment, care about the world, make a difference.

I love seeing the Vivienne Westwood ‘Climate Revolution’, ‘I am not a terrorist’ and ‘Save the Arctic’ T shirts promoting such important causes. You are truly using your platform in the public eye for good, but as much I want to support this, I struggle to avoid seeing the hypocrisy in espousing a message of fighting climate change, when the various Vivienne

Westwood labels contain many items made with leather. Looking only briefly over your ranges it’s very easy to spot the many men’s and women’s shoes, belts and bags made with leather. There are some non-leather items too, the kind that I usually look for, but the amount of leather is overwhelming. I can’t help but question; if you can make great items with non-leather materials, and you want to be an eco-friendly company, why use leather at all?

I know that you are personally vegetarian, and have openly promoted vegetarianism as ethical as well as a way to combat climate change and save the planet. And you’re right, animal agriculture, particularly livestock and their byproducts produces 51% of global greenhouse gas emissions that leads to climate change. Leather production itself has a large carbon footprint, as well as polluting the earth with a range of toxic substances.

This dichotomy has bothered me for a while, but the final instance that really made this stand out to me however came from a slightly different angle. I saw that you had come out with a new range of items using the “Get A Life” phrase and was excited to see what you’d put out. I saw a great looking range of bags with “Get A Life” emblazoned across them and was delighted momentarily, until I saw the item details.

“100% Leather.” I was shocked. Not that you’d released new leather bags, but that you’d

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chosen to tie these two things together, to put that message on a leather bag.

Writing “Get A Life” across a bag made of the skin of someone who had a life, and who had their life taken from them to make this very bag, the sheer hypocrisy of it was jarring. I could not, and still cannot see how putting the two together could have made sense. I can’t see the “Get A Life” phrase the same way.

If fur was taken out of your fashion labels permanently for ethical reasons, then why not go the whole ethical route and take out leather, and wool and silk too? All are unethical, and have negative effects on the environment too. What is the real difference between killing a cow for her skin and killing a mink for hers? We’re educated enough now to know that leather isn’t really a byproduct of the meat industry. And as a vegetarian, surely you would stand against the meat industry anyway, one would presume.

Believe me, I don’t presume to know the hard decisions involved in running a high-end fashion brand. I know that many customers will expect leather from high end fashion and see leather as synonymous with quality, but if you truly want to make a statement about climate change, what better way than to make your brand truly reflect that?

I’m writing this to implore you to truly put your values where your mouth is. To quit leather and continue to produce high quality nonleather items that are cruelty free.

To tell people to “Get A Life” without taking the lives of any more animals.

DAME VIV, YOU WERE MY QUEEN, DO I HAVE TO LET YOU GO?

I love your message and want to see more of it, but with a full ethical and responsible backing. Maybe I want too much, or maybe I just want you to be more of the ethical eco warrior I know you are.

Kindly yours, Laura Callan, Bright Zine

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#VEGAN

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LONDON

VEGAN LONDON: IT’S HERE Written by Laura Callan Map Illustration by Roxane Dewar

B R I G HT Over the past few years, we’ve seen the UK vegan community grow like never before. The Vegan Society reported in May that the vegan population has increased over 350% in the past decade, with over half a million vegans now in the UK. Stats aside, many vegans in the UK will likely have personally seen an increase in veganism and vegan acceptance and accommodation in their cities, towns and communities, as I certainly have done.

A few years ago I felt pretty alone as a vegan. I knew one other vegan person who lived across the country, got into a rhythm of eating the same things I could source from Holland & Barrett and supermarket ‘Free From’ sections, and of course struggled with ‘veganising’ items on restaurant menus.

I visited Berlin in early 2014 and felt immediately enamoured with the city and sadly begrudged my far less vegan-friendly hometown. I was genuinely excited by vegan cafes, diners and even kebab shops in every district, vegan options advertised in windows, and of course, the Veganz allvegan supermarket. What was I doing living in London when this vegan paradise existed just a two hour flight away?

But in the years since, to my joy, London has started to give Berlin a run for its money.

It took me a little while to notice, but it’s happening. Apparently 22% of UK vegans live in London. That’s almost 120,000 people, and the city is now catering for them. Look at our special edition Vegan London map if you don’t believe me, it’s lit up with fully-vegan places to eat. This year we’ve even had our very own 100% vegan supermarket (Green Bay @greenbay_uk) and an all vegan ice cream shop (Yorica @yoricamoments) add to the growing list of vegan establishments.

I feel like we’ve been quietly growing, simmering under the surface and now we’re really seeing the growth that the UK, and London has been needing for so long.

Cook Daily and Home in Shoreditch’s Boxpark have fast become the mecca of vegan eating in London, celebrated and enjoyed by vegans and non-vegans alike. I spoke to the man

behind the food, King (@kingcookdaily) about the increasing emergence of veganism in London, Cook Daily’s first year feeding London and how we build our own vegan community from here.

King’s restaurants in Boxpark have become host to some of the LDN VGN Meet Ups, social events held monthly for vegans to meet, hang out and make new friends. This is a good thing, King says, but there’s work to do.

“We’re doing a good job so far, it’s all happening. I think we just need more community based organisations. The meet ups we’ve had here are great, I think meet ups are very important for people to connect with each other.” But King is concerned with bringing the different sections of the vegan community together.

“I think it all has to be more mixed and more multicultural, I see a lot of different groups from different backgrounds, and it would be great if we all got together. I cater for vegan muslims, the black community that are vegans, the white community, a small percentage of asians that are vegan, and it would be great if they all got together.

“This is still the early stages, Cook Daily is still early, Home is early, the new London vegan scene is still very early. We can enjoy it but there’s room for improvement, and we’ll get there. It’s happening now but I think 2017 will be a big change and it’ll be one community, and that is gonna be beautiful man for real.”

VEGAN MAP OF LONDON This issue we’ve included a poster of our very own Bright Zine Vegan London Map. Created and produced exclusively for Bright Zine Issue One with illustrator Roxane Dewar, the map shows all of the 100% vegan eateries currently feeding us and keeping us in vegan goods in London. Keep your map, stick it up somewhere, and make sure you add your own vegan markers as you find more vegan places popping up around the city.

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“I DON’T NEED AN ANIMAL TO DIE FOR ME TO HAVE A SNACK”

KING @kingcookdaily

Interview and photos

by Laura Callan

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CHILL TIME WITH KING, COOK DAILY @kingcookdaily Fresh from chatting about the London vegan scene, I caught up with the man himself, to talk about the first year of Cook Daily, starting up a vegan business and promoting veganism to the masses.

Your businesses are hugely successful in the growing vegan scene, what prompted you to start a vegan business?

I would say it was by demand. I was just posting my breakfast and my lunch, the way we eat at home. Then all of a sudden me and my wife at home are seeing all these comments of people going crazy, and all we’ve done is cooked a meal. I thought “Wow people are really eating shit out there aren’t they?” Let’s be honest, vegans get happy when Tesco release a new vegan falafel because back then especially there was not always a lot out there.

I took a break from cooking, I started training with Chaka Bars (@chakabars) and just enjoyed life a bit more on the spiritual side. I started meditating and attending the Buddhist centre, then I just realised it was time.

How have you found the first year of feeding London?

I knew I would open and there would be a change, but I didn’t know it would be this quick. Normally when you open a business it takes time to pick up, but within a week that was it, we were here. We’ve been here a year now.

I got used to everything so quick. I opened and the first day, second day, sold out, sold out, sold out. After that I knew there was

Portrait by Jacob Everett

no quiet time. We’re here now, we’re doing it and that’s it. And then not long after we opened Home.

Have you felt support from the vegan scene?

I always knew that vegans would feel it and travel to us, that was the main thing when we opened. If vegans didn’t know about us I would’ve been struggling to pay the rent because the locals weren’t ready yet. The Shoreditch offces w eren’t r eady y et. H ere � I’m surrounded by Dirty Burger, Porky’s, Fish and Chips, that’s where their flare is in Shoreditch, so with the support of the vegan scene and social media, Instagram, people came and showed love from all over. I didn’t realise how far people would travel, not just from South London or West London, people were coming from Brighton, Leicester, Birmingham, Manchester, and even from abroad. People would plan their trips around coming to Cook Daily. That’s massive in itself.

Who are your main customers now?

Some creative people from around Shoreditch. Artists, tattoo artists, musicians, just creative individuals. It’s cool to really connect with them because we’re doing something different like the way they’re doing something different in the world.

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Slowly the locals started understanding us, like, “What’s all this fuss about?” They’d try it once, and think “You know what? It’s alright!”

Now our lunch trade is mainly offce people.

But for me, having young kids in tracksuits pass through and connecting with me, that’s what I wanted to see. I felt like it would take time for that to happen, but it happened straight away. As soon as industry people started coming and tweeting and posting about it on Instagram, (see Jme, Professor Green, Black The Ripper to name but a few) I had like, “roadmen.” Kids from the ends came in and wouldn’t know what to order, so they had the fake chick’n made from soy protein, tried that with the High Grade and that connected with them. The High Grade dish is all about marijuana and they dig that, that’s my signature dish, that’s the best seller here. Seeing them come through made me realise we are part of London now.

And do you find that food is the best way to get through to people about veganism?

The way I see it, it’s like a step. People come here and connect with me through food and that’s the first thing. Sometimes they might talk to me and ask me a few things and that’s where the ethics come into play, that’s when I drop it on them. I just say, “Look, I don’t need an animal to die for me to have a snack. I’m in London in 2016, I’m not in a jungle or a desert or an island by myself. If I was, that crocodile would get killed for sure, but it’s not that.” I connect with them in that way.

I see where they’re coming from, I have to get on their level and talk to them about their hot wings, like “Yeah it does taste amazing, I’m not denying that, but, it’s bigger than taste.” And that’s the way I would approach people like that. And people that are already on a level we connect just instantly, then we talk about mad things, we start talking about the world and politics and shit like that.

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music speaks for itself. People can connect with that and understand it. He did eat McDonalds three times a day, that’s a fact, and now it’s like Cook Daily three times a day. It’s changed. When you feed the leaders it’s so much easier to get through to the youth. It’s so important, because there’s too many chicken shops around. That’s what we’re surrounded by especially in East London. We need change and Cook Daily is a part of that, and we want to be a part of that for sure.

You just see what level people are and meet them where they’re at. And with veganism, I think it’s about the right time for people.

If they’re passing through here but they’re still saying “I can’t give up my meat”, which a lot of them say, they’re still here, there’s something in there already. Whether they’re being shy or proud, there’s something there.

It might be the food or that they’ve seen their favourite artist here, but they’re here, that’s something.

Especially the young kids that want to know more, I just say to them that it’s the next level, just join us, join me. You’ve got it, let’s make that change. And you know what? The most rewarding thing is when they come back like “Yeah mate I’ve been vegan for three weeks now, my girlfriend’s on it, my Mum’s got a juicer now,” and I can see it, it works.

What’s the way forward to promote veganism to the masses?

Some people are vegan and have a big following but don’t promote it much, but people like Jme he does his thing and his

And what’s the way forward for you now?

To have more Cook Dailys. To get my voice heard. The vegan chef industry is missing someone that’s real. Not sugar coated, someone that’s really real and from London and just doing it, speaking from real experience, so real people can connect.

I know what I’m trying to do. Game changing moves, that’s what it’s about. As a chef, that’s what I’ve done, because that’s what needed to happen. I could’ve opened juice bar style with a few salads, but that wasn’t my purpose.

People doubted me, saying “It’s not gonna work. To pay the rent you need to sell chicken.” But nah man, the game’s changing.

You have to see the future, I kinda learnt that from a lot of musicians too, like Skepta. You have to believe in the direction you’re going in and see it. You have to see it, because if you don’t that little 1% of doubt can fuck you up and make you think it’s not gonna work.

I’ve done 10 bowls on this menu and 9 in Home and I’m not changing that. It’s about quality not quantity. Game changing menus.

And that’s when people commit to you hard.

It’s like the home cooked food outdoors, that they’ve never had before. It’s new and you commit to it because your body’s saying “Yes!” Do yourself a favour and get down to Cook Daily and Home in Boxpark, Shoreditch Units 53 & 55, Boxpark, 2-10 Bethnal Green Rd, E1 6GY. cookdaily.co.uk

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FED BY WATER GO FULL VEGAN

When did FED by Water first open?

15 August 2014 What is your customer base like? Lots of vegans or a mixture?

Today our customer base is around 70% vegan and the remaining 30% Vegetarian / Omnivores Did you plan to be an omnivorous restaurant with lots of vegan options, or did you always aim to go full vegan one day?

We started with a multi offer Omni / Veggie / Vegan as we wanted to understand the market. This choice was also made considering FED was founded by an Omni and a Veggie (who switched to vegan after few months from the opening).

After a great response from the Vegan community and after letting the Omni funder go, FED decided to go fully vegan! ?

When did you officially go full vegan?

On 21st May 2016, and the date is right next to the funder’s birthday!

How have you found the response to the change? Have you felt support from the vegan community?

The response has been overwhelming.

Definitely a double thumbs up! And a major THANK YOU to the vegan community for their daily support on site and on the internet. Today FED is a well known reality worldwide in the vegan community as customers come from all over the planet For anyone that’s not come across you before, what’s Fed By Water all about?

FED by Water is about Italian, plant based, healthy gourmet. A project based on sustainability, quality and love for pure water, tasty food, animals and mainly the planet.

Also FED is about lifestyle and entertainment, something which will be revealed pretty soon.

Fed By Water is open 11am - 11pm daily.

64 Kingsland High Street, E8 2LX fedbywater.co.uk ™fedbywater 020 7249 6242 / 07437 473 046

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GREENBAY

LONDON GETS ITS FIRST VEGAN GROCERY STORE GreenBay is a 100% plant based supermarket just opened up in West Kensington, London. This is the one-stop shop vegan Londoners have been dreaming of.

Stocked with fresh fruit and breads, vegan cheeses and fridge foods, convenience foods, tinned and packaged groceries, grains and more.

And for founders Paula Alcalde and Anderson Caicedo this is just the beginning. Even though the premises of this first store are relatively small, they plan to open more in the near future.

10% OFF WITH BRIGHT ZINE

Bring your copy of Bright Zine Issue One into GreenBay for an exclusive 10% off your first purchase. Valid until September 30th 2016. In store only. This offer may be withdrawn at any time at GreenBay’s discretion.

Greenbay is open 8am-7.30pm weekdays, 9am-8pm Saturday and 10am-5pm Sunday.

Photos by Robbie Lockie ™@tomhawkeye

228 North End Road, West Kensington, London, W14 9NU greenbaysupermarket.co.uk

™greenbay_uk t greenbay_uk F GreenBays

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WHERE’S MY COMMUNITY? LONDON EDITION

VEGANS OF LDN

Vegans of London is a website, Instagram and Twitter delivering the latest places to eat in London, as well as competitions, giveaways and a few decent recipes on their blog. vegansofldn.com ™vegansofldn t vegansofldn

LONDON VEGAN MEETUPS - LDN VGN

London vegan meet ups are held roughly every month for social events. Keep up to date with their events on their Facebook page LDN VGN and group LDN VGN MEET UPS. F LDNVGN

LONDON VEGAN MEETUP

This group was established in 2007 and claims to be the largest vegan group in the world with over 5000 members. They have very regular meet ups throughout the week, with socials and events across a range of activities. See meetup.com/londonvegan t veganmeetup

KABARET AT KARAMEL

A fully vegan restaurant and bar with the aim of “creating vegan culture.” This cool eatery, venue and gallery in Wood Green puts on lots of interesting events and music shows, offers a vegan Sunday roast and a pretty impressive drinks menu. t KabaretKaramel F kabaret.karamel

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INSTA HEROES

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“

YOU CANNOT TRULY UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF OPPRESSION AS LONG AS YOU ARE IGNORING SOME OF THE MOST OPPRESSED PERSONS IN OUR SOCIETY.

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WHY FEMINISM NEEDS VEGANISM

A deeper look into the connections between veganism and feminism, the debate around it and why all social movements need to embrace intersectionality.

Written by Laura Callan

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DISCLAIMER:

We wish to make clear that we acknowledge that not all females have the same physiology and experiences. We acknowledge that intersex, transgender, agender and other gender fluid persons can experience the sexism discussed in this essay.

TRIGGER WARNING:

Discussions of sexual abuse, animal industry practices.

I’ve been vegan for almost a decade, and have always had feminist leanings. For me, feminism has it’s place alongside anti-racism, it’s all about equality, fairness and kindness to others. In my reasoning we’re all born equal and should be afforded the same rights and compassion.

After following a few different feminist organisations in more recent years I was surprised, and I can’t deny it, disappointed, to see posts by non-vegan feminists criticising vegan feminism, attempting to explain veganism and why the two social justice movements are not connected.

I stumbled across a video put out by Everyday Feminism entitled ‘Does Feminism Require Vegetarianism or Veganism?’, where a feminist argued articulately that you don’t have to be vegan (or a vegetarian) to be a feminist, and listed a range of reasons why.

I was perplexed by the fact that a feminist herself was approving of the meat and dairy industries while in the same breath stating that they oppress females by virtue of their femaleness. I was even more mystified by the reasons she gave against being vegan.

This really took me by surprise. If you are fighting against one type of oppression would you not then have sympathies at the very least towards other oppressed persons?

Unsatisfied, I went searching for answers.

Historically, feminism has strong links with vegetarianism and veganism. Many

suffragists in the late 19th century were ethical vegetarians who stayed vegetarian even while imprisoned and took part in the anti-vivisection movement. Veganism as a concept wasn’t as formulated as it is today, but many suffragists saw meat as a product of violence. At the time, women were typically the cooks in their households, and so were the ones to handle and prepare flesh for food, for which the man of the house was first priority. Denouncing meat and preparing only plant based food was liberating While leading suffragists adhered to and promoted a vegetarian diet, leading vegetarian societies and publications made room for women’s voices in what was a politically challenging time to do so. So the two movements were certainly strongly linked in the years of early feminism, but how is the relationship now? Should the two continue to be linked and parallel movements?

The Everyday Feminism video was a very typical example of the rhetoric you hear against veganism, unfortunately laced with cliched assumptions and misinformation.

This isn’t an attempt to call out Everyday Feminism or their contributors, but rather to bring to light the common assumptions and misguided arguments given against veganism in a range of media in different political arenas.

First off, we have the issue of health. Some claim that not everyone can be vegan

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because of potential health risks. This may be the most uninformed of all arguments against veganism, as studies again and again show that a plant-based diet is healthier than eating omnivorously.

Large studies in England and Germany showed that vegetarians (not even vegans) were about 40% less likely to develop cancer compared to meat eaters.

A diet free from animal products is virtually cholesterol-free and has been seen to reverse severe health issues such as heart disease and diabetes, among many others.

As well as containing bacteria, animal products contain antibiotics, hormones fed to the animals to promote rapid growth or vastly unnatural milk or egg production.

Animal proteins, particularly from meat and dairy are continually found to be linked to diseases such as heart disease and different types of cancer, including colon, stomach and bowel cancers, being some of the most common.

In fact, studies on diabetes have shown meat to cause the same if not a higher spike in insulin levels as sugar, and diabetes sufferers are often told to cut animal products from their diets as they have no dietary fibre.

Milk is often thought of being a staple source of calcium, but calcium from animal products actually leeches calcium from the bones, milk creates an acidic environment in the body that weakens bones, causing a higher likelihood of developing osteoporosis.

Milk is also high in fat and contains somatic cells (think pus) from the very sore and often infected udders of the dairy cows it was taken from. Eggs aren’t excluded from this discussion either, as they have also been linked to diabetes, as well as high cholesterol, heart disease and stroke. Some of the many reasons why egg industry can’t actually refer to their products as ‘healthy’.

There is a wealth of information on how eating animal products causes a wide range of deadly diseases on humans, this is just scratching the surface. NutritionFacts.org is

THE SUFFRAGETTES WERE VEGETARIAN? In London, suffragists regularly held meetings at vegetarian restaurants. The central Covent Garden area was the heart of militant suffrage, and home to both The Gardenia Restaurant at 6 Catherine Street and Eustace Miles Restaurant at 40-42 Chandos Place.

a great resource for factual, science based nutrition information.

The second argument people use with regards to veganism is that in some cultures, it is customary to kill and eat animals. This, like many arguments is quite specific, but it’s also somewhat offensive to people in such cultures to say that they are not capable of change. Everyone is capable of change, and cultures worldwide have evolved over time and developed more moral practices.

A defence of ‘it’s their culture’ has been historically problematic and continues to be so. The general public are happy to speak out against things happening in some cultures if they are particularly extreme. I don’t hear many people calling out “It’s their culture,” when it comes to female genital mutilation or child brides, yet this point comes up repeatedly when giving reasons against adopting a vegan lifestyle.

A third argument commonly pitted against veganism is in regards to cost. There seems to be a huge overshadowing idea that a vegan diet, which often consists of staple foods such as rice, potatoes, beans and vegetables as being extortionately expensive. A little research and talking to vegans from a range of background will quickly assure you otherwise. Yes there

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may be vegans who eat exclusively organic food and go to expensive vegan restaurants regularly, but there are likely many also eating a healthy and varied diet prepared at home, inexpensively. In most places, taking meat and animal products off your shopping list and replacing them with vegetables and grains will actually save you money.

One counter-argument against this is the idea of “food deserts”, where people are unable to grow or buy fresh fruit and vegetables or grains at all, or are unable to without high cost. This is a very specific and somewhat ‘niche’ situation described, but with the huge detriment to your health that consuming animal products causes, as we have just discussed, I would be very concerned about the long-term health of these people. I struggle to imagine that people in food deserts live on only animal products, but if there are people living on such diets due to their geographical, social, economic status or otherwise, I am hardly going to push my vegan ideology to them first and foremost. I would however reach out to them to try and incorporate some veggies and grains for the good of their health.

A linked argument to this is the notion of privilege. Some argue that veganism is only accessible to people with privilege, and such a moral ideal shouldn’t be just for those privileged. This is an incredibly problematic statement, and completely disregards all the non-privileged people who are already vegan and working against oppression.

With regards to people in the world that have no or limited access to water and food, those that are perhaps least privileged, it is important to point out how wasteful and damaging to the planet the animal agriculture industries are. These industries destroy land, pay for mass deforestation and pollute the earth with harmful chemicals. Livestock in animal agriculture produce 51% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, leading to climate change which research suggests is causing worsening situations of drought and extreme weather conditions. If you

care about people living in extreme cases of deprivation without access to food and water, think about keeping animal products off your plate and by extension reducing your carbon footprint by 50%.

In regards to all these arguments, I think it’s fair to say that most people who are vegan and feminist are not trying to knock down the doors of non-privileged people, marginalised groups and specific cultures and demand they become vegan feminists too. Anyone can be a vegan, anyone can be a feminist, and anyone can be both. Those promoting a vegan lifestyle are usually looking at the biggest picture, trying to spread awareness to the masses. By talking about it in person, wearing t shirts, posting online, they are promoting vegan feminism to the community around them, those that have access to the internet, watch YouTube videos, read articles on health, spirituality, food and social justice or are in linked social networks. They are not (usually, from what I have seen) singling people or groups out and making demands.

To paraphrase Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation among many other texts, this is about being as ethical as possible, about causing the least amount of suffering possible, about minimising harm. If someone is inspired by the vegan message and lifestyle but can’t commit fully because of any of the above reasons, maybe they are not ready yet, and they can make what small steps they can. They may well find the ethical lifestyle that works for them with some time.

I spoke to Dr Corey Wrenn, Sociologist and Social Justice Activist and founder of the Vegan Feminist Network. Dr Wrenn wrote about animal rights regularly, and interestingly, founded the Vegan Feminist Network in 2013 in response what she described as a “patriarchal space where we want to celebrate what men do, and we only want to recognise what men are doing.” When Dr Wrenn brought feminist theory into her animal rights work, she was met with harsh resistance, harassment

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and misogynistic comments from the maledominated area of academia. Corey wanted to make a space to bring attention to current, modern, digital-age vegan and feminist issues, giving platform to other women and marginalised groups who were not getting recognition. And so the Vegan Feminist Network was born.

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months afterwards, before the impregnation process starts again. This cycle lasts for up to four years until she is unable to produce milk due to exhaustion from producing such unnatural amounts. She is then sent to slaughter for the meat industry. This is also typical treatment for goats in production of goats milk and cheese.

THIS IS ABOUT BEING AS ETHICAL AS POSSIBLE, ABOUT CAUSING THE LEAST AMOUNT OF SUFFERING POSSIBLE, ABOUT MINIMISING HARM.

As a sociologist specialising in social justice movements, what does Dr Wrenn think of the state of affairs between the two movements?

Dr Wrenn sees one particular problem arising across different social justice movements, where they struggle to think outside of the particular movement they are so passionate about and see their links to other movements. “It’s endemic to all social movements,” she tells me, “and it’s because we think so single-issue and we cant think intersectionally.” So it’s not just feminism and veganism that need some help in joining together to fight oppression, it’s a common problem in different areas of social justice: combating racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, ageism and so on.

But what is it explicitly that makes the links between feminism and veganism so evident that this argument continues to come up?

On a very basic level, it is plain to see that female animals in agricultural industries are exploited by virtue of their female reproductive systems. A dairy cow lives in a cycle of being impregnated by a “rape rack” (industry term), giving birth to a calf that is taken away from her often immediately, leaving her traumatised and having her milk pumped out of her udder by machines for

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Similarly, eggs are essentially the unfertilised menstrual cycle of female chickens. These chickens are bred to produce an unnatural 300 eggs per year, with exhausting detriment to their health, before they either die, as many do, from ill health and exhaustion, or are sold to slaughter for the meat industry.

These animals are exploited because they are female and their reproductive systems produce bodily secretions that are of value to agricultural industries.

This is not to disregard in any way the suffering of male animals in these industries.

Male calfs are taken from their mothers at birth and, traumatised from separation, are forced to live a very short life stuck in a crate no bigger than 30x72inches which stop them exercising and growing regular muscles to keep their meat ‘tender’. Sexual abuse in the dairy industry is not limited to females either, bulls, boars, rams and other males are held in contraptions and force masturbated to produce semen for insemination of dairy cows and other dairy producers. In some cases farmers use an “electroejaculator” which shocks the animal and can leave them writhing in pain. Male chicks are seen as surplus to demand as they do not lay eggs, and are killed in grinders, piled into bins

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WE SIMPLY CANNOT BE SINGLE-ISSUE ABOUT UNDERSTANDING INEQUALITY, BECAUSE IT IS NOT SINGLE-ISSUE.

and buckets to be crushed and suffocated or meet an equally unkind death by other means.

Aside from the exploitation of female animals specifically, there are strong links between the oppression of women and the oppression of animals, from a sociological standpoint. Sociologists use a framework to understand systems of power, oppression and inequality generally within the capitalist framework, and Dr Wrenn notes a clear parallel of these systems being used.

“We have the same mechanisms of oppression happening for non human animals that we have happening for women, for people of colour, for older people, for disabled people, etc. The same very mechanisms are at work.

“We objectify, we ‘other’ise, we create hierarchies, we create hierarchies of moral concern in work - who is at the top, who has privilege, and who is at the bottom creating that privilege, and who’s being made vulnerable in order to sustain this system of inequality.”

So the same framework that oppresses women, people of colour, people with disabilities and other oppressed human groups, is also used in oppressing and using nonhuman animals.

When it comes to both human and nonhuman female oppression, we use the same objectification, the same otherness and the same exploitation. Animals are regularly reduced to their parts; breasts, legs, thighs, and women are often reduced

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to the same. We’ve all heard the term “legs man” or “boobs man” to describe a man who favours different parts of a woman. This use of language continues, as many offensive terms directed at women are also directed at animals, or derived from them.

“The female body is especially of value in the capitalist system, and this is one reason why it’s a feminist issue.” Says Dr Wrenn, for her the case is clear; “If as a feminist you care about state violence and industry violence on female bodies, you need to include nonhuman animals. You need to consider a vegan ethic.”

What’s important here is the nature of oppression. Veganism and feminism are linked by the very way these groups are oppressed, and therefore so is racism, ageism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, sexism and other varying forms of discrimination. Oppression is wide-ranging and connected.

“It’s not just a feminist issue, you can say the same process is happening to uphold ableism, to uphold racism, etc. ” says Dr Wrenn.

Vegan feminists have been outspoken about pushing back and including the oppression of species because it is the same argument.

As Dr Wrenn stated, “You cannot truly understand the nature of oppression as long as you are ignoring some of the most oppressed persons in our society.”

Nonhuman animals are at the very bottom, and as long as we have a society and a framework that supports their oppression,

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that framework will continue to hurt other humans, even though they are more privileged in comparison to nonhuman animals.

Something that is easily overlooked in this whole debate of oppression and frameworks and different marginalised groups, is that nonhuman animals themselves experience a form of oppression and discrimination that is wholly their own. It’s not that they are oppressed or exploited like women, or like people of colour, they are exploited because they are animals in their own different and unique ways.

Non vegan feminists talking about veganism in critical ways “erases and invisiblises” the work of vegan feminists in this field, says Dr Wrenn. “It’s just one more way to write it off and seem like they have the upper hand. It’s not just erasing women’s work in the animal rights movement, but also completely erasing the fact that nonhuman animals are persons too and they suffer as well. It’s completely unacceptable to just write that off.”

So what did I find out about feminism, veganism and oppression?

Many will argue, myself included, that if you care about feminism, the oppression of females, you should by extension care about the oppression of people of colour, of older people, of disabled people, of other marginalised people, and of animals.

Oppression is not a single issue, yet social movements continue to struggle to think intersectionally, to their detriment.

As Dr Wrenn explained: “Being single-issue is seriously disempowering to social justice movements and until we start thinking as a society that we cannot be single-issue, all of these problems of racism, classism, sexism, speciesism, they are all going to continue.

The feminist movement is not alone in this regard.”

We need to think intersectionally and push back against all systems of oppression, working to empower all oppressed groups.

If we want equality we need to work towards equality for all, including the most oppressed of all; animals. We simply cannot be singleissue about understanding inequality, because it is not single-issue.

Dr Corey Wrenn Ph.D is a Lecturer of Sociology with Monmouth University specialising in Social Movement Theory.

She is the author of A Rational Approach to Animal Rights: Extensions in Abolitionist Theory (2016) and founder of Vegan Feminist Network .com.

Further reading: Vegan Feminist Network .com has an extensive list of readings and videos on feminism, veganism, and intersectionality.

Rational Approach to Animal Rights: Extensions in Abolitionist Theory, (2015), Dr. Corey Wrenn.

Ecofeminism: Feminist Intersections with Other Animals and the Earth. (2014 Edition). Edited by Carol Adams.

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VEGAN SIDEKICK Vegan Sidekick Makes comics which explain why it is absurd to defend animal abuse.

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A portion of sales go to The Seeing Eye organisation too, training seeing eye dogs for the visually impaired. eone-time.com

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Soy ones of course. And who doesn’t like skulls? If you don’t then you can stop reading. But you shouldn’t.

These handmade skull candles are so buff I need one for every room in my house. Made by Hampshirebased sister team ‘Christina Marie’ they are handmade to order and you can choose your colours, and add a scent. A #gothqueen essential. And unbelievably, the skull candles start from only £3. cmhandmade.co.uk

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Treat yo self. jorgobe.co.uk

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COOL SHIT CURATOR TAMSIN CALLAN BRINGS YOU THE BEST VEGAN FINDS THIS ISSUE. YOU’RE WELCOME.

- SHOES -

- MUSIC -

- DRINK -

These have been my favourite shoes this summer.

Superga have become a bit of a go-to for those looking for decent nonleather shoes. These 2790 Flatforms are perfect for dressing up or dressing down, and the white or grey ones are cute with a dress in summer. Most of the Superga range uses canvas or PU leather and their glue is vegan. If you do wear the white ones, avoid puddles.

This summer marked a dark time for British metal music when songwriter, guitarist and founder of Architects Tom Searle lost a three year battle with cancer. The Brighton band released their seventh studio album ‘All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us’ back in May, a heavy, djent-tinged record fine-tuning their own iconic sound and cementing their place as one of the UK’s most exciting bands. The future of the Sea Shepherdsupporting band isn’t clear, but this album showcases just what Architects have created and achieved. architectsofficial.com

Drinking water that’s practically opaque black might not feel right at first, but it’s certainly right for your body. blk water is fulvic infused mineral water that contains 77 minerals including 18 aminos that help your hair, skin and metabolism. It is full of electrolytes and balances your internal pH. And let’s face it, it looks fucking cool.

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GOOGLE SAY: FOR VEGANS TOO AFRAID TO ADMIT #BLACKLIVESMATTER TOO A POEM BY SEA SHARP

Sea Sharp is an Afro-Native American poet who immigrated to England in 2012.

Sharp is a Pushcart Prize winner (2017), Prairie Seed Poetry Prize winner (2015/16) and a Kansas State University graduate with qualifications in Creative Writing, Literature, Theatre, and Women’s Studies. They are passionate about dismantling intersectional oppressions and promoting compassionate behaviour and lifestyles. seathepoet.com ™@seathepoet PA G E 4 0

Google say: Vegans are white.

Google don’t lie. Google say: Vegans are white and perfect.

They are beautiful too. Google say: They are sexy and happy and perfect and white. And perfect.

And Google don’t lie. Google say: And vegans are compassionate and vegans are passionate about animal’s rights so just forget your civil rights. Google say: When your vegan friends start comparing your murdered family to slaughtered animals,

DO NOT BITE YOUR TONGUE AND JUST AGREE

patiently explain that Google say: Melanated folks have always been compared to wild apes, reduced, dehumanised, humiliated, misappropriated, oppressed and Google don’t lie and all your vegan friends are white.

So tell them Google say: This is demeaning.

So tell them Google say: This is disrespectful.

So tell them Google say: Stop this, say: Change this, say: Fight this. Tell them Google say: Shit’s not okay and

THAT WHITE SUPREMACIST SHIT IS STILL NOT OKAY Or so Google say and you know Google don’t lie.

Today, Google say: Your brown butt can be vegan too (lucky you), but you gotta squeeze your activism to fit a one dimensional issue and (don’t look at me) Google say: The suffering of animals is considered far more severe than all those black bodies piling in the streets and the black kids getting shot in fear and vegans are far too weak to tackle another tough problem (especially if it’s one that doesn’t really bother them).

So Google asks: What do you expect? Just lie yourself down, spread out your brown skin until it’s nearly perfectly wafer thin.

Peel off all your blackness, your queerness, your Third Wave Feminism, until you can no longer recognise yourself and just walk away. Hide them. Deny them. Then leave them.

And please, if you can, please don’t crumble. Google say: Try to be a vegan. Google say: Vegans are white, but you should try too (vegans say too). And anyone can do it, but only in the white-washed sort of way and Google don’t lie. And Google knows bigotry cannot infect a healthy vegan (or the wonderfully white privileged).

And things like preserving black lives shouldn’t have to wait, but negro, what really matters to a vegan is whatever is on their plant-based plate. And Google don’t lie and this what Google say.

A WORD FROM SEA SHARP Throughout my process of assembling my first “vegan poetry” submission, I learned something very important about myself: My race/ ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexuality, nationalities, and approaches to veganism (or compassionate living) are all irrevocably connected to each other in numerous ways; none of my identities can be dissected from the others. Additionally, all of these identities are important to me.

They determine how others perceive me, how I perceive myself, and how I cope in a society that quickly dismisses and marginalises me.

Diversity is severely lacking in the vegan community. Let’s not fool ourselves; not every person is born equal and not all people are treated as equals. This applies both inside and outside the vegan community.

Many of us are not cisgender, heterosexual, or white. However, good luck finding mainstream vegan representatives who deviate from this “normality”. As a result, my perspectives and experiences are inherently and intensely unique in comparison to the otherwise typically “white” experience called veganism. However, I have noticed for example that when POC turn to veganism and inevitably connect their distinctive experiences to it, it can make non-POC vegans uncomfortable.

I have been told on numerous occasions by white vegans that I shouldn’t “separate” myself from other vegans by calling myself a “vegan of colour” or a “feminist vegan” or an “black vegan”. My response: Why can’t white vegans embrace my differences and help support the other issues that directly affect oppressed peoples? Why am I asked to abandon something important to me? Why should I adjust my values to make them more comfortable?

Let’s consider how impossible it would be to formulate opinions (or submit a collection of poetry) with JUST a vegan’s perspective and without any consideration of your other valid identities. I cannot JUST be vegan. I cannot JUST be a Midwestern poet. I cannot JUST be genderqueer, or black, or Native American, or able bodied, or pansexual, or a “mixed race couple” etc. I am ALL of these identities at once. I interact within our world wearing all these identities at once. Some of them I could deny for your comfort and some of them would be impossible to.

However, within a community that pats its own back for being ultra-compassionate, I should have no reason to hide in order to receive rightful access to compassion and dignity. I hope one day the mainstream vegan community will recognise this too.

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“Flight” by Roxane Dewar roxanedewar.co.uk

™roxane_dewar .

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Treasure me. Keep me on your coffee table. And when you’re done with me, give me to a friend, leave me in a cafe or in a library, or recycle me.

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