I often find myself questioning whether my perception of the popularity of veganism is, in fact, warped by the fact I work in a majority-vegan office, or from following so many vegans on Instagram and Twitter. Of course, the reality is that only seven per cent of the British population labelled themselves as vegan in 2018, according to a survey by comparethemarket.com, but this number is rising by the day. With veganism constantly gaining momentum, it’s imperative that we reflect on the crueltyfree community and the many forms of activism that are helping it grow.
Something that caught my eye last week was a short altercation between two vegans on Twitter. The first, exasperated, claimed that she couldn’t believe she’d missed a vegan event that had taken place locally to her the weekend prior. The other vegan, also local, replied: ‘We could believe it — as we’ve never seen you at a single vegan event!’ Ructions ensued; the vast majority of bystanders came to the defence of the first vegan, claiming that choosing not to attend public events did not make you any less of a vegan. The offending tweet was soon deleted, but a thought lingered with me — are some forms of activism more valid than others?