American progressives, we often have occasion to reflect, don’t seem altogether happy. The reasons for their unhappiness are many—they live in a center-right country that often refuses to heed their counsel—but surely the chief reason for their grief is this: that in the progressive mindset, everything is political. Consider, for instance, the coverage of cultural and otherwise nonpolitical subjects in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, or the Washington Post. You can hardly read about a pop album or the discovery of an ancient manuscript or a new method for making coffee without also learning how these things relate to Donald Trump or the GOP tax bill or American foreign policy.
These reflections occurred to us this week when we happened upon a feature story in the New York Times titled “Meatless and Motivated.” The subhead: “Black Americans are going vegan in growing numbers, driven by issues of health, politics and more.”
The story introduces us to Aph Ko, 28, a vegan cook. “The black vegan movement,” says Ko, “is one of the most diverse, decolonial, complex and creative movements.” (Decolonial?) The Times continues: “Vegan cooking and eating are having a renaissance among black Americans, driven in part by movements like Black Lives Matter, documentaries like ‘What the Health,’ and a growing cadre of people who connect personal health, animal welfare and social justice with the fight for racial equality.”
We don’t begrudge anybody choosing the vegan diet and accompanying lifestyle; indeed, we ourselves are tending more in a leafy-green direction in our latter years. But speaking only for ourselves, when we enter our kitchen to try a recipe, the last thing we want to think about is any sort of political ideology or fight for justice. Quiche and conservatism, clam chowder and classical liberalism—each of these things is wonderful in its place, but please don’t make us combine them.
