After seeing the uproar on my social media feed tonight after Beyonce declared she will be following a vegan diet, I felt I needed to say something.
I don't normally become involved in these types of conversations anymore, mainly because I find vegans can become so obsessed with labels that they lose the understanding of a bigger picture thus rendering a conversation pointless.
I think that Beyonce following a vegan diet is great for the following reasons:
1) Anything that reduces suffering is a GOOD thing
Anything that raises awareness in this cruel heartless world is a good thing. A GOOD thing. Everyone does not need to go abolitionist vegan or nothing. We should always support ANY positive step anyone makes in their life which directly reduces the suffering to a living being. Not being supportive is counter productive to the movement.
2) Beyonce's influence is HUGE
Her millions of followers will see that she is trying to be vegan (whether it be for health is irrelevant) it will raise awareness about the topic and get people thinking on some level - which is more than any of these keyboard warriors can do.
3) But I have seen her wearing fur!!!!
Fur is disgusting. So is leather, meat and dairy. Any product from an industry that tortures and hurts animals is disgusting. However, it seems there is a focus on the fur. Anyway, lets roll with that assumption that fur is the worst. How is it relevant to the conversation? She has worn fur and is now choosing to publicly announce a vegan diet. Keyword here is DIET, she has not said 'I have become a vegan!!' - she is choosing it for health reasons as a diet only. Perhaps this decision may create an onflow effect as she learns more about it and becomes an ethical vegan. Her choice should be supported (or atleast not burnt down), because the positive effects outweigh anything else.
She is now partnering with the 22 Day Diet author to develop a Vegan meal delivery service, certainly a positive outcome.
