Why are there so few vegan manual workers ?

[thestoatyone]

I wasn't really thinking about class when I asked the question.
I don't think of someone who works in a garage or building site as being a different class to someone who works in an office or shop, I was just thinking about the manual aspect of the job they do.

And "they" say American's are myopic to class divisions existing...........no offense BGW

The UK's heading that way, we're all middle class now. Not really though; what used to be middle class has merged with the working class in terms of control over work, stability of tenure in job, workers rights etc while the uber-wealthy are so far removed no-one is able to compare to them.

Case in point; someone wrote into one of the more "liberal" (in an American sense) newspapers here recently to point out that the top 1000 wealthiest individuals in the country could pay off the national debt of the UK, and still have 30 billion between them. Even split a thousand ways, I genuinely don't think anyone I know could truly comprehend what you could do with wealth like that. Mad.

Anyway, rant over: I work in a white collar job, so I'm gunna sit the fuck down.

[mabli]

Maybe rural Wales is different but round here there are plenty of vegan manual workers. Its not about affordability, i know 2 vegan plumbers and they're raking it in.

Ive been surprised at how many "normal" folk are vegan these days. I know folk who work on the tills in supermarkets, bin men, decorators, cafe workers, gardeners, factory workers... But like i say possibly thats just a rural Wales situation plus as i run the local vegan group i get to meet folk from different walks of life, some of whom have never met or communicated with other vegans before.

Its amazing just how many vegans have never met or had any contact with any other vegan. The guy who donated £2k for our welsh3,000s being a case in point. So many people struggle as a lonely outsider in an omnivore world when there's a whole community of like minded folk. When folk contact me they just want to talk and talk and talk about veganism, they've never done that before.

[JP]

I work as a machine operator. Does that count?

it does traditionally, but when i was working at a metal factory as a machine operator it was WAY less physical than your average caretaker or kitchen job

Was just standing there in my overalls looking cool and pressing buttons

[lobsteriffic]

plus as i run the local vegan group i get to meet folk from different walks of life

That's a really good point.

My views are going to be skewed because I tend to have friends from similar walks of life as myself. It's nothing personal, just most of my adulthood friends I've met during university, grad school, and work. I just don't have a chance to meet manual workers very often. So when I say I don't know of any vegan manual workers, I'm actually working from a really, really small sample.

[Mufflon]

Class and culture and not mutually exclusive. But I would still contend that eating vegan is not cheap. Yes, you can have cheap rice and beans and potatoes, but eating a diet with leafy greens will cost you.

But this is only in North-America and UK...

And Germany. At least if you buy non-organic meat, eggs and dairy. A diet high in fresh vegetables is more expensive than a diet without much fresh fruit and veggies, regardless of being vegan or not.

[loveliberate]

Me: Grew up fairly poor - by US, "white" standards anyway. I don't consider myself a manual laborer but certainly - proudly! - consider myself working-class. Again: by US, "white" standards as by world standards the vast majority of us here are likely to be extremely privileged financially. I did not complete high school (fairly proud of that too) and have only had a minimal amount of college level education. That said, I work in a semi-professional medical / social work job where the majority of my co-workers have bachelors degrees - I still get paid the same!

As for "ambition" - I aim high! I work to be happy, healthy & to leave the world a better place as a result of my time here. The size of my paycheck is NOT a primary consideration for me, particularly if/when increased pay means less time to enjoy the people & activities I care about, or involves greater ethical compromise.

I meet/know vegans from a wide variety of socio-economic backgrounds & present jobs.

[Sid Delicious]

I work as a machine operator. Does that count?

it does traditionally, but when i was working at a metal factory as a machine operator it was WAY less physical than your average caretaker or kitchen job

Was just standing there in my overalls looking cool and pressing buttons

Ha ha, I used to work in a metal factory too, making oil filters and bending bits of metal for roller doors. It mostly involved standing at a big metal press machine or sitting at a spot welder. Not that physically demanding but very boring! I work in construction now.
Most people I know who become vege/vegan do so when they are young. Often they are either in jobs that they are doing until they find something they want to make a career out of (eg working in a cafe until they find something better) or are students or unemployed. I knew one guy who got into punk then became a vegan and anarchist. He then became a socialist and started eating meat as he claimed that working class people eat meat and only middle class people are vegetarian. What a dick!
I don't think personal economy has much to do with whether you can be vege/vegan. I've been vege and vegan for 25 years and have always worked in jobs at the lower end of the wage scale. Meat and cheese are expensive. I think personal economy comes into the equation when you eat a lot of processed foods if you are vegan. But then you could say that a meatatarian diet is really expensive if you ate only deli cuts an d wierd expensive cheeses. One of my construction co-workers said he went vegan when he lived in the UK but found it too expensive here in NZ. But he tended to eat pre-made vege-burgers, sausages etc, whereas I tend to buy basic ingredients to cook with (as in I make my own vegeburgers, way cheaper).
I think if you work in white collar jobs you are far less likely to be hassled or ridiculed for not eating meat. Working in such a male world as construction I get a little bit of that, but generally they are ok. Factory work is much the same attitude.

[Goob]

I do manual labor

Also, it is cheap to be vegan. I eat TONS of greens, and even a fair amount of organic foods on a very small income (a homeless guy I know actually makes more than me.) I'd probably have a worse diet if I made more money actually, because I'd be eating more take out curries and chinese. If it is expensive for you, then you are buying lots of unnecessary things.

[Ombah]

I work as a machine operator. Does that count?

it does traditionally, but when i was working at a metal factory as a machine operator it was WAY less physical than your average caretaker or kitchen job

Was just standing there in my overalls looking cool and pressing buttons

Yeah, most days are like that, but sometimes when I'm changing product I have to do a lot of handy work in the machine. It really makes the day go faster!