BK Veggie and Veganism's Growing Pains

BK Veggie and Veganism's Growing Pains
by John Beske

We vegan activists are an impatient lot. Here we are, at the helm of one of the most monumental shifts in the history of human consciousness -- working to change not only what a good share of the world's six billion people consider to be their natural diet, but also asking entire societies to fundamentally rethink the relationship between humans and animals, and, by extension, reexamine all of the ways that humankind fits into the hierarchy of the world.

In order to achieve universal acceptance of the vegan diet and lifestyle, we will have to challenge many basic cultural, political, and economic structures. Some of the world's largest industries will have to radically alter their practices or shut down operations altogether. Many religions will have to consider different interpretations of some of their most sacred texts. We'll need to develop a whole new approach to philosophy, parenting, education, health care, and scientific research. Millions of square miles of land will need to be converted to different uses. In short, we'll need to reject core beliefs, customs, and principles that have been in place at least as long as civilization itself.

Faced with the immensity of this task, it's sometimes easy to forget just how much progress we've already made. During the last decade, the vegan movement has been rapidly insinuating itself into the human consciousness. Now there are meat substitutes in every supermarket, shelves full of vegan cookbooks, and vegan groups in every city and nearly every campus in the United States. Most decent restaurants now serve vegan meals or at least meals that can at least be modified to suit vegans. Vegan references regularly pop up on television shows and daily comic strips. Celebrities are proudly announcing how healthy and vital they feel since swearing off animal products. There are vegan business leaders, teachers, doctors, even members of Congress. And, perhaps most significantly, most people no longer see us as pale, sickly wraiths on the brink of self-induced starvation, but rather as pompous health freaks bent on forcing normal people to abandon their normal diet.

In spite of this success, most vegans I know consider the rate of positive change to be excruciatingly glacial. The digital age and its corresponding leaps in technology and expanses of information have compressed our notion of time to such an extent that events from even a couple of years ago seem prehistoric. Younger activists, for whom ten years is half or more of their lifespan, feel a particularly urgent need for fast results in their quick cut, rapidly evolving lives. This urgency is underscored by the overwhelming money and power of the multinational agribusiness, chemical, and fast food corporations who wish to send the world careening in the opposite direction from our vision. This powerful counterforce, combined with the already huge challenge before us, makes our many small gains often appear to be entirely inconsequential, and even large advances in cruelty-free consciousness seem minor at best.

Then there is our own inherent tendency toward vegan snootiness. As each of us advances along the path to vegan purity, we find our definitions of positive action sliding along with us. While we might have been shocked and delighted to find soymilk in our grocer's dairy case ten years ago, now we feel discouraged if we happen into a coffeehouse or convenience store that doesn't carry it. Those of us fortunate enough to have found communities of like-minded people become particularly myopic. Our friends are with the program, so we assume that the rest of society is there too, and we're disappointed when we find out it's not.

So when PeTA recently began sending out missives touting their support of the new quasi-vegan BK Veggie burger on the menu at Burger King, it's understandable that many of us tempered our celebration with some ambivalence. On the one hand, this is one of those large advances we should all be celebrating. The BK Veggie is the first veggie burger on the permanent menu at every location of a major fast food restaurant. And thanks to Subway's Veggie Delite sandwich, Taco Bell's Bean Burrito, and Wendy's salad bar and baked potatoes, a semi-strict vegan can now get at least some kind of a meal at each of the largest fast food chains except McDonald's (their crappy salad in a cup doesn't count). More importantly, Burger King is actually alleging that they are going to vigorously promote the BK Veggie. And even though I haven't seen any ads yet, and the only mention of it on their website as of the end of March, 2002 is a single press release, I'll take them at their word (part of their site is currently under construction and I don't watch a lot of television).

If the BK Veggie takes off, this may one day be considered to be an historic moment. It certainly will put a comparatively animal-friendly sandwich in the hands of a lot of people who would otherwise probably eat the remains of some poor creature who lived a pitiful life and died a horrible death.

At the same time, millions of animals will still die horrible deaths to satisfy the cravings of Burger King's customers and pay the salaries of their employees. And not even the most optimistic among us believe that this sandwich will do much to reduce this slaughter.

Besides, the BK Veggie is not quite vegan enough to meet the standards of the most zealous among us. The patty is vegan, and it's served with all vegan condiments save for a mayonnaise that one can ask them leave off. And Burger King claims they will microwave the sandwich for people who don't want to eat something that shares grill space with their animal flesh burger patties (though testimonials from would-be customers circulating around the Internet suggest a reluctance or refusal among some Burger King staffers to honor this request. However the bun allegedly contains a "miniscule" amount of dairy -- enough to make it taboo for the diehards. When Vegan.com author Erik Marcus delivered an impassioned editorial where he demonstrated his support for the sandwich by actually consuming one, the reaction from one of my friends was that he was "very brave" to threaten his status as a leader in the vegan community by making such a compromise.

Alas, though I sincerely wish the BK Veggie success, I'm still torn about how much I should embrace their move. My reluctance isn't based the possible animal ingredients in the bun. I have probably inadvertently eaten some animal ingredients now and then during the seven years I've been vegan. I like to patronize restaurants that are taking steps to provide for their vegan clientele even if much or most of their income comes from the sale of animal flesh, because I want to encourage them to move in the right direction, and I want vegans to have as many dining choices as possible, so more people will find the lifestyle easier to adopt.

At the same time, though, I just can't abide by the corporate fast food model that has unapologetically caused so much animal suffering, environmental degradation, labor abuses, child exploitation, and heart disease, just because one of them feels they can make a profit selling something vegan. The BK Veggie is a step in the right direction, but it hardly mitigates Burger King's other sins. Part of me even feels that vegan leaders are being duped into helping a multi-billion dollar company shill their "animal friendly" sandwich, so they don't have to divert funds away from the promotion of their more typical fare. This concern alone has kept me from rushing out to try one.

Still, as we continue on our long quest for a healthy, sustainable, and compassionate world, we should pause to honor this moment. One of the world's major purveyors of meat has recognized the value of appealing to those who wish to eat an animal-free diet. Let's take a moment to celebrate this achievement, even if it doesn't completely sit right in our stomachs.

I'd love to hear what you think about all this. Please send me a message.

photo from PeTA

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