#disabled vegans

[acti-veg]

Do you have any advice on staying vegan when disabled relying on parents as caregivers in a way or at home nurses who help with meals who often imply or often outright say vegan food isn’t healthy worsening my state of health. When I’m in a hospital how to stay vegan too ? Often have to ask for a patient advocate for help when hospitalized or talks with the dietitian. I find myself struggling so I’m just sos 

Hey anon, I did some research myself but felt this was really out of my experience so I got in touch with a friend of mine who is disabled and vegan, she has navigated a lot of these issues herself and she gave some tips I hope you’ll find helpful.

Hospitals/carers have to cater to veganism as much as they do for religious dietary requirements in most places, though she’s not sure if that stands where you are. Regarding parents and carers, she advises to seize more autonomy if you can and stand firm. Even if it was the case that veganism was somehow exacerbating your condition, that would still be your choice to make, you have that right. They gone get to decide that for you.

For general tips she recommends batch cooking, using canned/frozen veggies, so that there isn’t a daily worry about what you’ll eat and she always has at least one back up meal in the freezer but ideally a few. She also advises keeping go bag filled with snacks and electrolyte drinks for when you do have to go to hospital.

Finally, she has said that if for some reason you’re not able to eat fully plant-based in hospital or while being cared for, there would be nothing wrong with eating animal products when you don’t really have any other options. Likewise if you can’t meet your nutritional requirements while eating plant-based then there would be nothing wrong with introducing some animal products.

Remember to stand firm about your own interests and beliefs, but it’s about doing whatever is possible and practicable, so be gentle with yourself if you can’t always eat plant-based all the time. Take care of yourself anon, and feel free to reach out if you want to talk about any of it.

[hashtagveganfacts]

all vegans are rich, white women just doing it for fun and to take all the agave from the indigenous people.

if you're vegan and disabled, poor, male, black, or brown you're just invisible.

please use your invisibility for good!

and yes, that means bisexual vegans are double invisible which means you don't have to use your invisibility for good and you can do mischief. the world needs bisexual mischief vegans right now.

tag yourself if you're invisible!

[sofitlolz]

tips for disabled people who cannot go vegan

I’m disabled & vegan,  w/epilepsy, so I’m fine on a plant-based diet, but I am aware that there’s a lot of people who cannot go vegetarian or vegan, so here’s just a wee list of things you can do if you’re keen on animal activism

Get involved & raise awareness! Sign up for any protests etc for animal rights in your area, maybe talk to abled/neurotypical friends and family, and get them to cut down some of their animal product consumption!

Veganism is about doing what is possible, not what is going to harm you! So never be too hard on yourself

When you hear people in the vegan community calling meat-eaters animal abusers/carnists, etc, keep in mind that this refers to people who can change but won’t. It’s kind of like when I talk about straight people. If I say that straight people are homophobic, I don’t mean every singe straight person is (I’m comparing here, not equating. sexuality has nothing to do with eating meat/disability)

Don’t let people on either side use you as an excuse. Don’t let vegans say that x disabled person can be vegan therefore all disabled people can be vegan, but also don’t let abled meat-eaters use you (a.k.a “I have a friend”) as an excuse to keep eating meat. 

If there is any animal product you can cut down on, then definitely cut down! Tiny steps have a massive impact on supply&demand.

Don’t buy leather, fur, silk, wool, etc (this does not mean that you should get rid of all your clothes. If you have to buy a new jacket, look for one made with faux leather!)

If you’re rich (lol what) , buy from local farms. 

If you’re getting a pet, adopt! My cat is from a shelter and he is the most wonderful baby. I love him. 

And again, don’t be too hard on yourself. You aren’t the problem here

There’s probably loads more, so feel free to add! 

[opinionatedvegan]

If you're going to argue with a vegan and pull out every trick in the book ("but people have allergies", "but people have malabsorption", "but people are poor", etc.) and then you end it with "well I like meat and you can't force me not to eat it", then you're actually just showing your true motives for eating meat, and it's really transparent. You don't actually care about food insecurity, environmental issues, poverty, starvation, people's disabilities, or any of that. You just want to use other people's problems and reasons why they can't as an excuse to justify the fact that you only eat meat because you're lazy and you like the way it tastes. Knock that shit off, get off your high fucking horse, just be honest, and get straight to the point next time.

[acti-veg]

You guys want to dismiss veganism as “expensive,” or “privileged” but you’re desperate to criticise any accessible vegan alternative which isn’t ethically perfect. We can’t buy faux leather because it’s plastic, we can’t buy soy because it’s destroying the rainforest, despite the fact that most of it is grown to feed farmed animals, we can’t eat quinoa because it was (falsely) claimed that it’s hurting Bolivian farmers and now we can’t eat rice because it uses too much water.

It seems to me that you’re telling us we need to make veganism more accessible, while simultaneously shaming poor vegans for choosing their cheapest options. So what do you actually want? Do you genuinely expect vegan options to be both accessible and 100% morally pure? Do all of your cheapest purchases meet that impossibly high standard? Or is it just that you want to discourage people from accessing these low cost, low energy alternatives so that you can keep pretending that all vegans are rich, able-bodied white people?

[acti-veg]

Disability and Veganism

A guest post discussing some of the issues disabled vegans face, and offering some helpful tips to overcome them.

I was really excited to get this post up from @severelynerdysheep; she’s been doing some great work on tumblr and I’m happy to have her featured on acti-veg.com. In this piece she discusses some of the issues she faces as a disabled vegan, and offers some valuable insights on how to overcome them.

[opinionatedvegan]

Uh, fuck you buddy. As someone with a history of protein deficiency, anemia, and anorexia, fuck you. Not everyone can enter your fucking cult, so stop shoving it down people's throats when all they wanted was to make their own choices. I bet you're deficient in everything and don't even know it. You're actually sickening.

So… you come into my inbox naming off all these reasons why you can’t go vegan, but then proceed to end it with calling veganism a cult, and saying I’m “shoving my views down people’s throats” and that I should let people “make their own choices”. This is very telling to me.

This first says to me that you’re not willing to do even the smallest part. Not only are you ignoring and erasing the experiences of vegans that are disabled, of which there are plenty, but you’re also missing the point that veganism is a lifestyle, not a diet. You personally may not be able to adopt a plant-based diet at this time; that’s fine, not everyone can, but you can still abstain from non-food related animal exploitation. Avoid going to zoos, aquariums, circuses, etc. Avoid leather, fur, and wool. Avoid buying products tested on or made from animals. You can still do something to help.

Secondly, this says to me that you only seek to justify yourself. If you truly can’t, then why do you even bother to send me a message? If you truly can’t, why get offended, especially since I often make it very clear that my posts about veganism don’t apply to those that can’t? Most importantly, why use your position to try and erase the vegans that have still remained vegan despite adversity in their own lives?

One last thing; are vegans sickly, malnourished, and deficient in everything, or are we ableist scum that hate disabled and sick people? You can’t have both, lmao. Pick one and stick with it.

[opinionatedvegan]

Pick one and stick with it

Carnists: "Vegans are sick, malnourished, and weak"

Also carnists: "Vegans are ableist scum that hate disabled/sick people"