Tenth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

This study asks how and why veganism has won popularity among Israeli millennials to a point that is has turned into a generational feature and a means of constructing generational identities and worldviews. In this paper, I wish to argue that veganism enables millennials to constitute a mode of thought that differentiates them from preceding generations through three interrelated practices: 1) replacing evidence-based knowledge with other types of information, based on personal experience and consensual agreement among peers; 2) constructing an Israeli identity that shifts commitment from national issues to global ones; and 3) establishing spaces of consumption that provide vegan products and operate according to marketing strategies meant to socialise practitioners into becoming critical consumers while participating in a young urban lifestyle. All of these position veganism as a means by which millennials exert control where they can, in an increasingly complex world, while refraining from challenging the political and economic systems.