“We’re here to overcome the systematic effects of a discriminatory food system that needs urgent change.” – Yvette Baker, Liberation 360
Beyond Veganism: The Intersection of Animal Rights and Social Justice
When I first connected with Yvette, it was through her personal Instagram account, Vegan_Abolitionniste where her message for total liberation drew me in. It was clear that part of her mission as an Afro-Indigenous woman was to call out oppression, for everyone. And while some outside of the vegan community could see it as a radical stance, to me it translated as consistent. It is the type of passion that could seem intimidating from afar. But when my toddler and I crossed paths with Yvette in person at the local farmer’s market, her warmth only drew us in more. She’s the perfect combination of brilliant and passionate, and her dedication to her path as a total liberation activist is impressive. It was a pleasure to interview her about her work with Liberation 360.
An Interview with Full-Time Activist Yvette Baker
LM: Before we get into Liberation360, tell us a bit about yourself and your vegan journey.
YB: I’m a Los Angeles-based writer, social critic, and total liberation activist. My work and activism have been devoted to exposing and critically analyzing the intersections of human and nonhuman oppression through an Afro-Indigenous lens, aiming to empower the vegan movement as a movement for total liberation. I believe that highlighting where various resistance movements overlap is one of the most effective ways to build bridges and work together toward common goals.
“There can be a lot of noise in “veganism”, with most attention garnered for celebrity vegans, lifestyle glamor, and what is referred to as single-issue veganism”
I’ve been a lifelong social justice advocate, but only about 7 years ago did I recognize animal liberation as not only inseparable from the liberation we seek for ourselves but may very well lie at the roots of digging up and eradicating unjust hierarchies. Only in the past couple of years did I become more engaged with the grassroots animal rights community, regularly involving myself in pressure campaigns, and educating myself on tactics of activism that would make more of a systemic impact, rather than just a wavering cultural one. There can be a lot of noise in “veganism”, with most attention garnered for celebrity vegans, lifestyle glamor, and what is referred to as single-issue veganism, whose proponents insist that including human rights within the scope of our movement does nothing but detract from other animals.
“Unlike most folks, my vegan journey didn’t start with a dietary shift”
Unlike most folks, my vegan journey didn’t start with a dietary shift; what I put on my plate was the last puzzle piece I needed to come to terms with. I was raised in a household infused with a lot of Native American culture, so I was taught to regard other animals as community members. I did some animal rights activism as a child and can’t remember ever having the mindset that animals should have to suffer for fashion or our entertainment. But it wasn’t until about 15 years into my career in the food and hospitality space that I helped open an upscale plant-based restaurant. I was eating well, feeling the best I had ever felt, and meeting new vegans daily. It all came quickly, my realization that there was no justification for causing more harm when I had the option to cause less.
“My activism journey is ever evolving”
My activism journey is ever evolving. I’m perpetually caught between wanting to learn as much as I can about systems of oppression to guide and empower us to harness our efforts where they would hit the hardest and organizing for a radical overhaul of all colonialist frameworks. For now, I certainly do both.
LM: If you could recommend 3 resources to someone who may be vegan curious, who or which material would you recommend?
YB: For many reasons, I prefer to support those approaching veganism with a consistent anti-oppression framework, meaning, those who not only quote Fannie Lou Hamer, but walk the walk in their activism – “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” However, purely due to providing educational tools and critical thought geared toward the vegan curious, I have to say that Earthling Ed uses his various platforms to provide the most comprehensive answers to all of the most common and fundamental questions pre-vegans may have. He really covers a wide range of angles as to why someone would (and should, if possible) go vegan in the first place.
I also recommend a book called ‘Five Essays for Freedom: A political primer for animal rights advocates’ by Kristy Alger. Despite the title, it’s quite appropriate for those who are not yet vegan (or may never be) as it provides insight into the animal rights movement as belonging within the scope of social justice and draws in-depth parallels between institutions of power founded in white supremacy. Anyone who is an advocate against any socio-political injustice would stand to gain a lot from what she has detailed, and subsequently end up with a much better understanding as to why animal oppression should be considered as well.
Finally, I’d recommend the work of Christopher Sebastian. He uses a multidisciplinary approach to animal liberation and focuses on how human relationships with other animals shapes our attitudes about racial, sexual, and political identity. His lectures and interviews are always completely engaging, and his written work follows suit, with some of the most thought-provoking analyses I’ve yet to come across.
LM: Now, let’s get into Liberation360. Please share with us some of the services you provide and how you are working towards changing the current food system.
YB: Liberation 360 is both an education tool as well as an organization that allows us to get into our communities to mitigate the effects of a discriminatory food system.
“we try to demystify the history and functioning of our food system”
On the educational side, we try to demystify the history and functioning of our food system. We know that focusing our energy solely into protesting and trying to get people to go vegan one by one only keeps our movement running in place. With the mega farms of the animal agricultural industries receiving massive government issued subsidies, bailouts, and insurances, vegans and their spending power may grow, but a rigged and corrupt system doesn’t grant us a fair supply/demand fight.
“we hope to see many more vegans getting involved in activism that can make more direct systemic change”
So, we hope to see many more vegans getting involved in activism that can make more direct systemic change. We educate on food policy, break down relevant current events, data/stats, and animal ag-related concepts that are essential to keeping us abreast of what exactly we’re going up against. (The founder of Liberation 360, Connie Spence, has the right expertise in our food system that guides our organization.) We do this solely to empower others to join the systemic fight, to collectively change federal food policy and legislation, become active in vegan lobbying (see Agricultural Fairness Alliance), and to get plant-based food subsidized.
“we support our affected communities by addressing food insecurity”
On the ground, until subsidies change and make plant-based food more accessible, we support our affected communities by addressing food insecurity, inaccessibility, food waste, and we provide food and financial help in the form of groceries to children and young adults—an otherwise unsupported group who would like to be vegan but lacks the autonomy to do so with grocery decisions made by their parents, or just generally lacking the funds or options in their neighborhoods. We do this through our program called ‘Fed Up’. In the process, we are supporting small farmers as well as Black and Brown vegan food businesses, that are many times underfunded and need support and additional marketing.
LM: We would love to know more about your Fed Up program. Tell us more about it and how we may be able to support if interested.
YB: Fed Up’ is our first direct food-to-community initiative that has been made possible by receiving a grant, community donations, and the relationships we’ve built with our local farmers and food vendors throughout our various local farmers’ markets. We’ve also been able to partner with the Vegans of L.A. Food Bank. When we think food waste, we don’t initially think about farmers markets but in fact, without community-led food initiatives in the area, a startling amount of unsold produce and other foods can end up getting tossed out; perfectly good food that producers can’t justify letting age another full week before having the opportunity to sell again.
“Support is always appreciated and greatly impactful”
In our program, a child or young adult gets nominated, by someone they may or may know, to receive a monthly grocery card of $100. If the recipient is local to our organization, we can additionally supply them with fresh, local produce and local vegan items such as dairy-free cheeses. Support is always appreciated and greatly impactful: One can go to liberation360.org and select ‘Children’s Feed Card’ from our menu and make a monetary donation of any amount. They can also email us or send us a direct message through Instagram to nominate a child or young adult in need. So far our recipients have all been young activists, passionate about making change, between the ages of 7-13.
LM: With your expertise as a full-time activist and your position of Developer Relations at Liberation360, can you share with us examples of how we as individuals can make a difference when it comes to changing the current food system?
“systemic changes to the current food system can be approached at both the local and federal level”
YB: It’s first worth mentioning that the desire to change the food system is certainly not just a vegan issue. Globally, we face a corporate food regime by which its current policies and mechanisms allow little to no control from those who produce, distribute, and consume the food. Its discriminatory and unjust practices are in no way beneficial to its workers, small farms, plant-based farmers, or the environment, as industrial livestock production continues to decimate land, poison waters, air, and contribute to climate change at an unsustainable rate. That said, systemic changes to the current food system can be approached at both the local and federal level.
“we can also choose to mitigate the effects of our food system by directly helping those most affected”
Locally, we can get our feet on the ground—for example, getting involved in our city council or school system food programs. And because pushing for plant-based foods to become subsidized is a slower process, we can also choose to mitigate the effects of our food system by directly helping those most affected. That could look like helping amass and distribute surplus goods or unsold foods, helping support initiatives to get healthier and more affordable produce options into food desserts, contributing to community gardens or food pantries, or volunteering with any orgs that have food initiatives rooted in providing communities with more access to and education about the importance of plant-based eating.
“there aren’t a lot of vegan-backed lobbying groups in the U.S. The Agricultural Fairness Alliance is one of the only ones. I would highly recommend becoming an AFA member.”
At the federal level, there’s no way to romanticize how federal policy gets changed: We pay for people to speak on our behalf. Meaning, registered lobbyists buttering up politicians and inserting them on behalf of a particular group’s area(s) of interest. Becoming a lobbying member would make a difference because that’s the structure of how politicians at the federal level make changes; that’s basically the playbook. And for now, there aren’t a lot of vegan-backed lobbying groups in the U.S. The Agricultural Fairness Alliance is one of the only ones.
“it would be immensely beneficial to have every vegan adult in the U.S. be accounted for”
I would highly recommend becoming an AFA member. They’re working to gather and centralize vegan votership with a Vegan Voter Hub to get our movement’s voices counted and heard. But whether you choose to become a member, it would be immensely beneficial to have every vegan adult in the U.S. be accounted for, inputting that they are vegan, mapped to their specific district in this Hub. It’s a means by which to work directly with our House Reps. And any time AFA is speaking to politicians, they can then quickly show them that there is a constituent in their district that supports AFA’s work. Aside from that, we can also submit testimonials to the White House when they’re asking the American public for input on future food initiatives.
“I believe the best thing we can do toward systemic change is to get food-system-educated and spreading that knowledge”
Additionally, we can get our initiatives Qualified for Ballot, which starts with a petition, such as demanding higher animal ag welfare standards that the producers may in turn find difficult, if not impossible to meet while remaining profitable. This is not to glorify anyone losing their jobs, but rather, to lean hard into the fact that the planet can no longer sustain industrialized animal agriculture. And as such, one of our priorities should be to help animal farmers transition into regenerative, non-exploitative plant-based farming.
“We can’t be afraid to not speak up”
But maybe above all, no matter your country, I believe the best thing we can do toward systemic change is to get food-system-educated and spreading that knowledge. There’s dire need for all of us to show up to systemic activism with the same energy we do for new vegan menu options or for food bloggers. We can’t be afraid to not speak up and end the prominent, false narrative that our vegan consumerism equates to any animals being saved. It just isn’t so. And the sooner more of us accept this, the sooner we have a more powerful force hitting these industries where we can make the biggest difference, which is through policy. We level the playing field first, and then supply/demand has a fighting chance.
LM: Anything else we should know? Please share.
“As much as it may pain me personally, I don’t realistically envision a completely vegan world”
YB: As much as it may pain me personally, I don’t realistically envision a completely vegan world and you’ll never find me standing in the way of anyone’s fight for food sovereignty. In fact, it behooves everyone to stand in solidarity with those fighting for Indigenous sovereignty as Indigenous conservation wisdom, ethics, and land management would result in infinitely less trauma and destruction to our ecosystems and all inhabitants. So long the globalized food system continues growing in corporate concentration, power, and governance, we may never see the equitable livelihoods, sustainability, or total liberation. So, as we continue to fight for an ethical, plant-based food system, we absolutely must be willing to challenge issues related to workers’ rights, small farmer support, vegan capitalism, sustainability, environmental racism, and food accessibility.
“the ill-considered notion of vegan food as “cruelty-free” can certainly be harmful”
There’s a lot of work to do and the ill-considered notion of vegan food as “cruelty-free” can certainly be harmful and sorely misguided. As I find the mainstream vegan community implicitly agreeing to dictate an otherness to the suffering of humans, even when caused by the same institutionalized systems of oppression and sanctions of violence that commodify nonhumans, we remain hard-pressed to build bridges and move forward with more external support for our movement.
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Connect with Yvette:
- On Instagram: @Vegan_Abolitionniste & @Liberation_360
- At Liberation360.org
Interview by Lezlie Mitchell. Photography, courtesy of Yvette Baker.
