I grew up in an Orthodox Christian family in Eastern Europe. While I rarely eat meat, simply because I do not like it as much as I like my ratatouille, my father suffers greatly when I cook a vegetarian lasagna: “Isn’t this also made with meat?”. Few Romanians are vegan. Our culinary culture revolves around pork and lamb: the essentials for Christmas and Easter. Some Romanians search for vegan recipes in desperation only during Lent, a fasting period when we are supposed to give up all animal products. Most of these people mistake “giving up” with “replacing with soy”.
Other cultures have been practicing veganism for centuries or have vast vegetarian populations: India, Brazil, Taiwan, Jamaica, Mexico and Vietnam are places where veganism is well established. Vegans originating from these countries are rarely featured in the media’s health and diet scene. A search for the vegan hashtag on Instagram leads you to thousands of pictures posted by white people. “So?” you’ll ask, “What’s wrong with a bunch of white people choosing a healthy lifestyle and preaching it on social media?” The problem isn’t that being vegan is popular; more people giving up animal products is good for both the environment and our health. The main issue lies in the fact that most of the white people who preach veganism fail to recognize and raise awareness about how some populations suffer from the mass production of popular vegan foods.
Take quinoa, for instance. It was originally cultivated on a small-scale in Peru and Bolivia, but as it began to be recognized as a superfood, the entire world grew an insatiable hunger for it. This meant that the price for quinoa soared and the populations that initially enjoyed its benefits could no longer afford it. The locals turned to cheaper, imported food instead of the precious grain photographed by influencers at brunch.