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VEGANISM/VEGETARIANISM

Many anarchists have taken up veganism or vegetarianism as one more act of resistance against the insanity we call civilization.  Animals are systematically held in concentration camps grown only to be slaughtered.  They are fed hormones, antibiotics, chemicals, and many other unhealthy products.  They are slaughtered en masse, by a complex system of unskilled and immigrant workers who face low wages, dangerous work conditions, and exploitation.  The meat that is created from these animals' murdered bodies goes to be sold to a variety of corporations who also exploit their workers, drive local competitors out of business, and spread their business worldwide.  These same corporations subsidize the "production" of meat, and therefore the clearing of forests for grazing land, the mass slaughter, as well as the worker exploitation itself.  It would be only natural to become a vegetarian in response to a tragedy such as this.

However, many vegans/vegetarians have allowed their resistance to become a stagnant moral position, one which is considered morally superior, and one that has blinded them to the destruction and exploitation they are participating in.  The choice to go veg can only be made inside of civilization, where thousands and thousands of acres of soybeans and other vegetables are grown to meet their demands.  Obviously the farms that grow these crops replace forests and other natural ecosystems, ensuring the deaths of countless animals.  As an example, soybeans (for tofu, vegetable oil, and other products) are among the world's top crops, and therefore their excessive production  to meet the demand is leading to the excessive destruction and loss of plant and animal life worldwide.  These facts are often over looked by self-righteous vegans and vegetarians who take an uncritical look at their own lifestyle.

Gatherer-hunters were not vegetarians.  While a high amount of there diet was vegetable and plant based (around 70%), they still consumed wild meat. There are certain nutrients that humans need that are found only in animals.  Among these are omega- 3s and vitamin B- 12 (vegetarian and synthetic sources are available, though not in a sufficient quantity).  As an animal species, it is only natural that we are omnivores.  While the consumption of domesticated plants and animals is highly unhealthy, especially because the relationship between us and our food becomes mediated and alienated, the consumption of wild plants and animals is healthy and is more closely attuned to what we are meant to eat, as our bodies are still designed as if we were living in the Paleolithic.  A diet such as this puts us in direct connection with our food and thus the plants and animals in our world.  

We support vegetarianism as a personal choice, but we understand that when given the chance, a diet based on wild plants and animals (hunted or scavenged) is a far wiser choice, and one which acts outside of civilization.  While a natural and ancestral diet is becoming a fad (Paleodiet, Neaderthin, etc.), it is nonetheless a more healthy choice, for us as humans, and for the planet itself.