Can Vegans Eat Dessert

Bibliographic Data

ID12228366
AuthorsKyle York (0000-0001-8103-9828, University of Colorado Boulder, corresponding author)
Year2026
Pages1-19
Publication date2026-03-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueUtilitas (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0953-8208 • E-ISSN: 1741-6183
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0953820826100302
OpenAlexW7140378489
LanguageEN
References cited41

Vegans face a problem, at least if they base their arguments upon principles against causing harm. As Donald Bruckner (2020) has pointed out, these same principles risk ruling out a great many other practices – even eating dessert. Eating dessert risks being impermissible because of the crop deaths associated with agricultural practices, especially the use of insecticides and rodenticides. I suggest that the extent to which this problem emerges depends on the exact principle vegans appeal to. Under some principles against causing harm, the problem indeed stands. I suggest that the vegan has a couple of options for escaping this problem. She might appeal to a principle that doesn’t have such implications. Alternatively, she might simply bite the bullet and accept that morality really is much more demanding here than we might have thought. I’ll give some reasons why biting this bullet isn’t as bad an option as one might suppose

Appeal · Face (sociological concept · Morality · Slippery slope · Wish · Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact · Climate Change and Geoengineering · Environmental Philosophy and Ethics

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access