The Plant-Based Shift: Supporting or undermining veganism?
The news media fails to make the distinction between 'plant-based' and 'vegan', confusing the central ideals of both movements. By using plant-based terminology, the news media has side-lined an important justice movement with a personal diet choice, omitting arguments that favor selflessness and altruism, and reproducing speciesism. The detrimental effects of this are seen mainly in the dispersion of the ethical animal rights meaning of the term vegan.
ANNA BOARDMAN: Veganism questions human-animal relationships and gives moral consideration to non-human animals, primarily through advocating the elimination of human consumption and use of animal products. The Vegan Society defines veganism as: ‘A philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude – as far as is possible and practicable – all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animalfree alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment’.
In the mid 2010’s, a shift in terminology from ‘vegan’ to ‘plant-based’ occurred through a supply-side framing change which hoped to enable vegan consumption to reach mainstream appeal. Since 2011, UK consumption of plant-based alternatives has more than doubled and is accelerating. This acceleration has been confounded by events surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic which highlighted the unsafe practices of the meat industry and relation to zoonotic outbreaks.
However, the framing of vegan food as plant-based arguably reduces the ideological dimensions of veganism to merely a dietary choice. Although the definition of veganism is contended, there is consensus that veganism refers not only to the consumption of plant-based foods, but also to the abstinence from paying for or participating in any activity which exploits animals, human and non-human (The Vegan Society). The term plant-based, by contrast, has looser connotations, mainly referring to a diet of entirely or mainly plants. As a result, the term plant-based is not a substitute for the more political and philosophical definition of vegan and does not account for the avoidance of all unnecessary exploitative practices towards sentient beings.
Considering that these two terms should not be seen as substitutes, this thesis will explore the extent to which arguments and frames included in discussions differ between plant-based diets and veganism in the UK news media, what is included and excluded in each discussion, and whether this is significant for progressing veganism. Through a quantitative content analysis followed by a qualitative framing analysis, the study utilises a mixed methods approach to assess and extrapolate the frames used by UK news media organizations to shape the two discussions. This thesis finds that the increase of plant-based terminology and the framings that follow work to de-stigmatise the vegan diet, but at the expense of the arguments which support the long-term growth of veganism as an ideology…
This research paper aimed to find whether the movement towards the term ‘plant-based’ is leading to a reduction in the arguments that can sustain the growth of veganism. The expansion of the relatively new term brings with it the potential for new meanings to be attached to the vegan cause, and the news media plays a significant role in constructing and disseminating these narratives, framing concepts and movements which in turn create meanings and shape public knowledge. Through a mixed method approach, this paper has found that the UK news media positively framed the discussion regarding plant-based diets, with the discussion on veganism five times more likely to be negatively presented. We therefore found that the negative stereotypes associated with veganism are not found nearly as much when the news media uses the term plant-based, giving it an advantage over veganism as a term when used in popular discourse. However, we also found that the plant-based discussion lacks the crucial animal ethics frames which are integral to the ideology of veganism, as recommended by scholars of Vegan Studies, and instead utilises significantly more flexitarian framing that favours moderation, individual choice, and freedom.
We argue therefore that eating plant-based has been substantially normalised by the news media using positive campaign frames. This could be beneficial to progress veganism through resisting and exposing the norms of meat eating and providing a viable alternative for consumers, therefore achieving some reduction of meat and dairy consumption, which is of benefit for vegan and environmental activists. However, we argue that this normalisation without inclusion of all necessary arguments for veganism, could de-politicise the movement. Using plant-based terminology, the news media has side-lined an important justice movement with a personal diet choice, omitting arguments that favour selflessness and altruism, and reproducing speciesism.
In conclusion, this paper has found evidence to suggest that the rise of the term plant-based is largely associated with reducitarian and flexitarian framings, and distances itself from the critical arguments for veganism. Given that plant-based trend is accelerating, we expect that these critical frames for veganism will decrease further. Resultantly, the terms plant-based and vegan should be thought of as different projects with differing aims. Currently, the news media fails to make this distinction, confusing the central ideals of both movements, however, the detrimental effects of this are seen mainly in the dispersion of the ethical animal rights meaning of the term vegan. Therefore, overall, the rise in plant-based as a popular term, although attractively non-confrontational, can be seen as reproducing speciesist narratives which damage long-term animal rights and environmental goals. Resultantly, the mission for vegan and environmental activists to reinforce the ethical goals of veganism remains an important one. SOURCE…
RELATED VIDEOS: