Dear White Vegans, Stop Appropriating Food

Most of us are familiar with the term cultural appropriation. If you aren’t, in basic terms, it is the adoption of an element or elements of one culture by members of another culture. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from disadvantaged minority cultures.

According to critics of the practice, cultural appropriation differs from acculturation, assimilation, or equal cultural exchange in that this appropriation is a form of colonialism. When cultural elements are copied from a minority culture by members of a dominant culture, these elements are used outside of their original cultural context, sometimes even against the expressly stated wishes of members of the originating culture.

If you are wondering what this has to do with white vegans, you’re not alone. We had no idea that the majority of vegans aren’t even white or that they appropriated this concept of eating from another culture.

This Vice News story sheds a ton of light on this subject. You’ll be surprised, maybe even shocked, when you learn about the true roots of veganism and how it is being appropriated.