By Hope Bohanec
Right now, someone in our community is being confined against her will, subjected to forced pregnancy, and enduring painful body mutilations without pain relief. When her baby is born, he will be taken from her. She will suffer psychological and physical anguish from her ordeal, and it will end not in freedom but in death, long before her natural lifespan.
She is not alone. There are millions like her in Oregon. This is not a distant injustice; it is normalized, institutionalized and hidden in plain sight in animal farming.
For some, veganism is seen simply as a dietary choice. But for many, it is a justice movement and a refusal to participate in a system of violence. At its core, veganism is an economic boycott of an unjust and unsustainable industry, but there are also broader implications that are ethical, philosophical and for some even spiritual.
Living as a vegan challenges the systematic exploitation of billions of sentient beings and calls for a more just and environmentally sustainable food system. Yet animal liberation is frequently pushed to the margins of social justice — if it is recognized as a legitimate movement at all. Why?
Part of the answer lies in speciesism, the belief that one species is inherently more valuable than others. Like racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and other systems of structural oppression, speciesism is embedded in our culture and shapes assumptions we rarely question. It creates the widespread exploitation and killing of animals on a staggering scale.
Once we acknowledge that animals are harmed through commodification, it becomes difficult to avoid the conclusion that veganism is inherently political. Animals matter morally, ethically and politically and animal liberation belongs within the broader social justice tapestry.
A shift toward a vegan ethic would dramatically reduce animal suffering, but it would also alleviate significant forms of human suffering. Industrial animal agriculture is connected to climate change, food insecurity, public health crises and corporate control of our food system. Our fate is intertwined with how we treat other beings.
Scientific research, along with common sense, clearly shows that non-human animals experience pain, anxiety, and trauma and that they are also deeply emotional and sentient. They grieve, they rejoice and they value their lives. Farmed animals endure profound psychological distress from standard industry practices such as confinement, deprivation, separation of family and friends and the denial of agency.
Recognizing speciesism can be uncomfortable because it challenges deeply ingrained norms. Even compassionate, progressive people can fall into the cultural trap of perceived human superiority and have speciesist tendencies and practices. Advocates for immigrant rights, racial justice, climate action and global human rights often recognize that their work is part of a broader struggle against systems of domination. Even some animal advocates fail to recognize that these struggles are interconnected — animal liberation belongs within this shared framework.
Resistance to this idea often stems from what comes after recognition: responsibility. To recognize animal exploitation as a justice issue is to confront our own participation in it. Veganism asks that we examine every day what we eat, buy, wear and normalize.
These changes reach into our habits and social relationships, forcing us to confront uncomfortable truths about our behaviors and practices. At the same time, this is precisely what makes it so powerful, because individuals are inspired to create meaningful change through everyday actions.
Our food choices are not trivial, they shape industries, ecosystems and lives. Choosing animal-free products is one of the most immediate and impactful ways to reduce harm — to animals and our planet. It offers an opportunity to expand our circle of compassion and to challenge a long-standing paradigm of domination.
Veganism reveals speciesism as a system of oppression and invites us to imagine a different kind of world, one in which no being is exploited, confined or killed for profit simply because they belong to another species.
Plant-based is the global future of food, and it starts locally. The second annual Eugene VeganFest on Sunday, May 3, at the Lane Events Center offers a space to visualize that future in tangible ways. With local vendors offering the best vegan food in the area, animal rescues, eco-forward businesses and more, the event provides a glimpse of a more sustainable and compassionate future and an opportunity to help create a healthier and kinder community for all.
Hope Bohanec is the organizer of the Eugene VeganFest, 10 am to 3 pm, Sunday, May 3, at Lane Events Center, EugeneVeganFest.org, and the executive director of Compassionate Living. Find out more at Compassionate-living.org.