Imo the EA take on veganism should be “It’s one way of doing good, by not directly consuming animals and by establishing that as a norm, and it’s a supportive practice for your altruism not to benefit from animal torture and death. Like any practice or intervention, its costs and benefits should be openly weighed.”
Sometimes the problems with veganism get excessive attention from people who do not like it, but we can just raise the bar and care about everyone’s nutrition (or respect how much they are willing to risk with an informed decision about whatever diet).
It is harder to be vegan if you’re constantly weighing whether it’s okay or even necessary to bend the rules, and I imagine that’s where a lot of the well-meaning responses that don’t want to talk about vegan nutrition issues are coming from.
I was vegan for 15 years (now in a moral trade where I eat dairy and husband limits meat intake— net reduction in animal suffering). Even in my early years in EA, I viewed veganism as if it were free— something that everyone else should do on top of their other altruism. It took me a lot of reflection on costs and tradeoffs to see veganism as an intervention like any other other and that for some people it would not be part of their good-maximizing path.
Imo the EA take on veganism should be “It’s one way of doing good, by not directly consuming animals and by establishing that as a norm, and it’s a supportive practice for your altruism not to benefit from animal torture and death. Like any practice or intervention, its costs and benefits should be openly weighed.”
Sometimes the problems with veganism get excessive attention from people who do not like it, but we can just raise the bar and care about everyone’s nutrition (or respect how much they are willing to risk with an informed decision about whatever diet).
It is harder to be vegan if you’re constantly weighing whether it’s okay or even necessary to bend the rules, and I imagine that’s where a lot of the well-meaning responses that don’t want to talk about vegan nutrition issues are coming from.
I was vegan for 15 years (now in a moral trade where I eat dairy and husband limits meat intake— net reduction in animal suffering). Even in my early years in EA, I viewed veganism as if it were free— something that everyone else should do on top of their other altruism. It took me a lot of reflection on costs and tradeoffs to see veganism as an intervention like any other other and that for some people it would not be part of their good-maximizing path.