Health shaming in the vegan movement

Healthshaming in the vegan movement, part #5842…

These are my thoughts on a post by Nicky Aspey on Facebook, January 7, 2021 , in which she states that her “personal goal as a vegan activist is to be always healthy, fit, positive and educative.” and that “I see that most people who are unhealthy, overweight or think eating animals is fine or necessary are doing so because they are misinformed and miseducated. I’ve been there too!” . And one of the comments which by Nicky Aspey which reads : “if you are an unhealthy vegan, you are showing to non vegans that the vegan lifestyle is not a good choice.” (NOTE: comment has meanwhile been deleted).

1) First of all, veganism is not a diet, but a lifestyle with respect for animal rights.

2) Next to diet, other factors also play a role for health: lifestyle, genetic predisposition, environmental factors, access to health care (and think of how socio-economic factors intersect here).
Yes, a plantbased diet, and certainly a WFPB diet can reduce the risk for certain conditions, like hypertension, diabetes type 2 and certain cancers, but a plantbased diet is no guarantee or a magical bullet for good health.
Saying that ‘most people who are unhealthy or overweight are misinformed or uneducated’ is out of line and unfounded.

3) Good or bad health does not automatically translate into physical appearance. There are many ‘invisible illnesses’.

4) Being a good advocate for other animals doesn’t and shouldn’t depend on one’s health status or ‘looking’ healthy or not.
This marginalises chronically ill vegans or vegans whose health is otherwise compromised and also fails to appreciate their activism efforts.

Facebook post Link here.