Vent: encountered a elite vegan group and got censored for calling them out.
Hi guys,
I am a 25-year-old Delhite who turned vegan last year. Need to vent, so kindly hear me out.
I joined this WA group a couple of months back. It's a group that claims to be vegan, but it's just elite socialites of Delhi posting about their plant-based product businesses mainly and some peripheral discussions on cruelty-free FMCG products. They hold Vegan potlucks, where the highlights are usually businesses providing free samples of the products that they otherwise charge for.
They are so myopic on the whole vegan debate that I had to speak up today. Here is what happened.
A couple of days ago, a business owner posted an 'accepting orders' post that slated a single piece of ladoo to be for 67 rs per piece. Someone politely posted that it is expensive, as it is. Then came a barrage of messages from other business owners shaming this person for being concerned about the cost. I ignored things until this point, thinking "chalo, small businesses h, expensive hoga". This even though I too go vegan cooking (check my previous posts on this sub) and they are very accessible - both in terms of labour hours spent and cost.
But but but, then comes this comment from the tone-deaf admin Ki**n B S*a*I - "we are proud to be exclusivist". And implied that the other lady is poor. That triggered me big time because she was just validating the stereotype that veganism is only for Western White rich men and that it's too elitist and no one can follow it. Is that the purpose of that Vegan group? Or any Vegan group for that matter? Isn't it to educate and make veganism more accessible?
So I responded with a long message explaining how their expensive and elitist stance is defeating the purpose of this group. Then she proceeds to say that people who can't afford expensive things don't have the will to buy them? (Logic left the chat 🤦♀️🤦♀️). When I responded with some educational articles about Classism and Veganism, the admin, Sha****k, censored it. I mean, what even? Living so high up in your ivory tower that their almond flour and avocado toast is not reaching the masses.
Maen it was a wake-up call. Not all vegans are educated on veganism. Some are here only to promote their businesses. To gatekeep recipes. They call themselves "Vegan Ally's".
The irony of the matter is that they kept their last potluck in JNU.😂😂😂😂 One of the most non-elitist spaces in the country.
It's not the first time, even. Last week, on another group, a lady was posting about the adoption of the Dachshund puppies she had bred. She was from Panchsheel Enclave. When 1 person objected that pedigree breeding is antithetical to veganism, she retorted by saying that it's bullying and dictatorship and that the other lady was being "classist". (WTF even 😂😂)
Man, I have learnt that I will have to choose my circles more cautiously. Can't be a part of these "vegan-washing" circles anymore.
TL;DR: I learnt that not all vegans are there to care for the environment and the voiceless. Some are here just for the business and the elite vibe of the "trend". They will ban-censor any difference of opinion.
