When eating cake becomes activism: An anthropological study on the vegan movement in Berlin explaining the relation between food and social change and the role of the sharing of food in this relation

Abstract

Since food has become increasingly political over the last few years, it is interesting to investigate why food and social change relate to each other. The aim of this thesis is to explain how food and social change are related for vegans in Berlin. Furthermore, the role of the sharing of food in this relation is examined and how the vegan movement in Berlin takes shape. It is argued that vegans create meaning through their everyday lifestyle practices, because they serve as a means to perform a certain activism. Due to the focus on individual lifestyle change for creating social change, it is argued that the vegan movement can be considered a lifestyle movement.