Dr Ellie Atayee-Bennett is part of a growing number of scholars exploring the relationship between religion and veganism, not as separate domains, but as mutually shaping ways of life. Her work challenges the assumption that concern for animals sits at the margins of religious faith, rather than at its heart.
In this interview, she introduces the concept of ‘faith veganism’, a term she developed through her doctoral research and forthcoming book Faith Veganism: Animal Ethics, Sustainability, and Abrahamic Religiosity in the UK. Rather than a lifestyle that sits alongside belief, it describes a way of taking religious commitment seriously in everyday life, shaping how people eat, shop and relate to other creatures.
What follows is a thoughtful and grounded reflection drawn from lived experience as well as theological insight.
You have described faith veganism not simply as a lifestyle that sits alongside religion, but as a way of taking Christian belief more seriously in everyday practice. For Christians in particular, what does faith veganism help to clarify that is often missed in church conversations about food and animals?
While veganism is often described as an all-encompassing lifestyle, it is wrongly assumed to be independent of faith. My research reveals the two to be mutually constitutive: veganism encourages one to articulate religion in a vegan way while religion encourages one to infuse veganism with faith. A fascinating finding from my research was how faith veganism could make the mundane religious. This is most notable where shopping, cooking, and eating are concerned. Several times a day, Christian vegans are reminded of their ethical decision-making and can more consciously embody the roles of the good steward and loving neighbour. In many ways then, faith veganism shows that there are different ways to be Christian, that Christianity can be articulated through the mundane, and that God’s love reaches and applies to everything in this world, even those things like food and animals that are often seen as irrelevant or unconnected. It also clarifies an ethical way of being, one that rejects dominion in favour of stewardship, considers animals part of discipleship, and promotes a more just way of life, just as Jesus taught us to live.
Many Christians appeal to biblical permission to eat animals as a way of closing down ethical questioning. How does your research help reframe the difference between what Scripture permits and what it might call us towards?
Permission is not the same as obligation. There are things that are permitted but may not be favoured by God. We can turn to Numbers 11, the story of the Israelites in the desert who grew tired of manna and demanded quail meat from God, to see how God’s granting of their demand was not necessarily pleasing to Him and ultimately invited His wrath. This highlights the important difference between law and ethics. The faith vegans in my study sought to go beyond the law and instead live an ethical Christian life. This often required an application of Christian ethics and an interpretation of Scripture rather than a literal reading of Scripture; one of my participants said she would read the Bible with her “vegan glasses on”. This is important as another point emphasised by my participants was the changing context. Jesus in a small fishing boat cannot be compared to the massive trawlers sent out to sea decimating fish populations and destroying the ocean floor. If we want to live a Christian life, a literal reading of Scripture could well take us further from that aspiration in today’s world than an ethical and reflexive engagement with Scripture would.
Several people in your research described veganism not as a personal preference, but as a deepening of their religious practice. What does this suggest about how Christians might think about discipleship in relation to animals?
Christianity, like any religion, exists within a broader social structure, and for a long time this structure has prioritised the white, the male, and the human. As such, dominant Christian narratives have also prioritised these; animals have rarely been considered. However, as society changes and begins to ask difficult questions and amplify long-sidelined voices, the opportunity arises for Christians to pursue a discipleship that includes animals within our moral responsibility (see Rev. Prof. Andrew Linzey’s Animal Theology as an example). A first step in this may be to interrogate the term ‘neighbour’. When Jesus told us to love our neighbour, did he only mean humans? Why not consider animals and nature as our neighbours too? Faith veganism invites us to broaden our circle of concern and expand our understanding of who our neighbour is and what discipleship includes.
Faith vegans often describe feeling marginal both within churches and within vegan spaces. What kinds of support or recognition do you think Christian communities need to offer if they are to take animal concerns seriously?
This begins with awareness. Christian communities need to firstly be aware that veganism is not anti-Christian or irreligious and secondly, aware of the ways in which animals are harmed in society (often in ways that could indeed be considered anti-Christian and irreligious!) Fostering a culture of tolerance and non-judgement is important too as it facilitates the creation of safe, faith-based spaces where education can be shared and ethical questioning can take place. Beyond this, simple things like offering plant-based milk at coffee mornings or a vegan food option go a long way in making Christian vegans feel included and comfortable enough to share their knowledge relating to animal concerns.
Christian practices such as church hospitality and shared meals often involve animal products. How do faith vegans navigate these tensions without retreating from community or conviction?
Faith vegans respond in very individual ways. Most of my research participants sought to communicate their preferences and, if comfortable, gently shared their reasons in order to educate, while others took their own food or opted against partaking in shared meals. Some, however, were newly vegan and, since I conducted my data collection toward the end of the Covid restrictions, had not yet navigated these tensions. Some spoke of feeling anxious and suspected that they would retreat from the community, while others felt confident enough to take their own food or milk to events. Encouragingly though, some found their church communities to be hugely inclusive. For example, one Christian recounted moving to a new area and joining a new church. The first time she went to this church there was nothing she could consume, but the following week she was delighted to see that vegan cake and plant-based milk had been provided in case she returned.
If churches were to take faith veganism seriously, what kinds of changes might we expect to see, not just in individual behaviour but in the wider culture of Christian communities?
A likely first step would be the provision of plant-based options at catered events, followed by an increase in the number of sermons discussing animal ethics. It would be great to see more conversation around the harms of factory farming, meat consumption, animal experimentation, animals in entertainment, and even issues such as climate change and health. A perfect starting point would be for more churches to host animal services (and be sure to include farmed animals) around 4 October to coincide with St. Francis of Assisi’s feast day.
Dr Ellie Atayee-Bennett is a Lecturer in Sociology at Southampton Solent University and a vegan studies scholar interested in religion, culture, veganism, animal ethics, and everyday sustainable practices. You can follow her work at www.ellieatayeebennett.com.
