In recent years, the vegan movement has grown tremendously. A Bloomberg Intelligence report predicts that the plant-based food market could increase fivefold by 2030. Plant-based diets, non-dairy milk and alternative food options have gained massive popularity in the U.S.
On paper, a healthy and balanced diet seems preferable, but not everyone has the resources to access this type of lifestyle. Unfortunately, modern veganism has become a catapult of elitism and luxury. 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that more than 53 million Americans, or more than 17% of the population, have restricted access to healthy foods in low-income areas. 
“American consumers no longer view health benefits as an extra that should be paid for, but as a manufacturer’s essential responsibility,” wrote Food & Beverage Insider staffer Keegan Bradford.
What should be available to everyone- healthy foods- in reality is used as a barrier between the poor and the rich. Inaccessible foods are only the tip of the iceberg for problems concerning veganism.  
Several issues have emerged as a result of mainstream veganism, also known as “white veganism.” Veganism as we think of it today was founded in 1944 by animal rights activist Donald Watson, but the roots of this diet go back much farther in time.
Vegetarian and vegan practices have a rich history in Southeast Asia, several parts of Africa and with the Indigenous people of North America. This much is often forgotten because of the sheer elitism associated with vegans in America. 
Black and Indigenous people of color play a huge role in what veganism is today, but their contribution is widely ignored. White vegans have erased contributions from other cultures and rebranded the practice as their own. White, wealthy people are inevitably the face of the movement, but they also happen to be at the center of the movement’s racial components. 
Don’t get me wrong, anyone can eat however they’d like, but profiting off of and erasing other people’s culture is simply unethical. 
In addition to cultural appropriation, white vegans sometimes demonize native practices of eating meat. Modern day veganism is rooted in environmentalism and the preservation of animals. Many mainstream vegans will argue that the consumption of meat is completely wrong, ignoring the fact that meat and other foods are simply a part of cultural practices.
As a means for survival, certain tribes hunt seals, bison, beluga whales, fish and other animals. These cultural practices are wrongly conflated with the overexploitation of the U.S. meat industry, and, as a result, vegans protest these survival methods.
This disguised hatred does nothing to advance the vegan movement, but rather discourages people from trying veganism and gives the diet a bad name.
Encouraging people to live a certain way is by no means a crime, but going to extreme lengths or passing judgment on others doesn’t help the cause. Modern vegans should address issues around food access and cultural appropriation before trying to influence others.  
Jemiah Clemons is an 18-year-old kinesiology freshman from Miami, Florida.