- 2月2日
- 讀畢需時 2 分鐘
Political and Ideological challenges for Vegan
Our UK ESG Watch noticed that The London Standard reported on 29 January 2026 that veganism is facing multifaceted challenges apart from the rising costs, political and ideological oppositions came into the picture. Here below are some of the quotes:
These days, the picture looks slightly different. Beyond Meat’s sales shrunk by 13 per cent this year (mostly in the US), for which it blamed “weak category demand”; Heck has scaled back its vegan product lines and Oatly has withdrawn its vegan ice cream range. Innocent Smoothies withdrew its dairy alternative drinks in 2023, saying, “we wanted to say a big thanks for buying them. We really appreciate all five of you.” In other words, the bubble had burst.
At the same time, with a tidal wave of right-wing populism sweeping the planet, public and political opinion seems to be turning against veganism. American political heavyweights like RFK Junior have certainly not helped things by introducing new meat-heavy eating guidelines with the promise to ‘Make America Healthy Again’; this has been further fuelled by the rise of ‘meatfluencers’ espousing a meat-only diet.
"Yes, most of them are in the US, but that doesn’t mean people in the UK aren’t trying to follow suit. People like Olivia Khwaja have developed followings off the back of training people to be ‘low sugar’ and meat-heavy, while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage regularly complains about “left wing” dairy alternatives and “vegan tampons”, framing planet-friendly options as degenerate leftist symbols.
Negative chatter about veganism – that plant milk is bad for you, that meat-alternatives are ultra-processed, and therefore also bad, that vegans can’t build muscle – dominates pages and pages of both newsprint and social media feeds, giving people yet another excuse to be sceptical about the movement, even if most of these ideas have been roundly debunked online.
“I absolutely think veganism has become very associated with leftist ideals,” Phoebe, who runs the Instagram profile East London Vegan, tells me. “I've noticed a shift: the attitude to veganism before was maybe more curiosity, whereas now I think in recent years it's actually animosity. People are angry at us.”
“I do feel like the social aspect is, in my opinion, a massive reason why people aren't vegan anymore,” Phoebe adds. “You’ve got a new boyfriend; you're going home to meet the parents. Being vegan makes it all more awkward and makes everything feel like an inconvenience.
“I feel like people's reactions to veganism and fear around how they're going to be perceived when they tell people they're vegan – in my opinion, I think that's quite a big factor. People just don't want the hassle.”
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