Home » News » Public spending, Vegan | Storm after vegan debate: – Completely irrelevant that they should receive state support

Public spending, Vegan | Storm after vegan debate: – Completely irrelevant that they should receive state support

After a vegan storm, SP politician and meat lover Jenny Klinge takes up the matter with Minister of Culture Abid Raja.

It boiled over for the Center Party politician Jenny Klinge when she read that the Norwegian vegan society will apply for state support as a philosophy organization. She called the organization a gang of “fanatical meat haters.”

But it was not just Klinge that ran over, immediately afterwards there were sharp reactions from the vegan community.

The seas: Vegans want state support: – A bunch of fanatical meat haters

The Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombudsman has already recognized “veganism” as a way of life. Thus, public institutions are required to facilitate the diet of vegans. But so far they have not received a grant as a religious community.

– If Klinge is opposed to religious and philosophical communities receiving state support in Norway, it is the legal sections she should work with, not the application to the Norwegian vegan community, writes board member Henrik Kjellmo Larsen in the Norwegian vegan community.

What makes vegans different from vegetarians is that they do not eat or use anything that comes from animals. In other words, it is not only meat that is cut out, but also leather, fur, wool, silk and down – to name a few.

Comment: Veganism is about ethics, not politics

– Undermines the whole scheme

One of the things vegans have reacted to is that Klinge was shocked that veganism is recognized as a way of life already. Thus, she has decided to raise the matter with Minister of Culture Abid Raja, and has sent a written question to clarify the matter.

– I am concerned with preventing the Norwegian vegan community from receiving religious support, because I believe this will not be in line with the purpose behind this support scheme. If the Norwegian vegan society receives such faith support, it will in my opinion undermine the entire scheme, Klinge tells Nettavisen.

She has thus sent questions to the Minister of Culture Abid Raja where she asks if it is not outside the purpose of the scheme to provide religious support to the Norwegian vegan community.

– Here we have an organization with a clear political agenda that tackles the Norwegian way of life and the Norwegian diet. In addition, they justify the application for faith support with the fact that they can take away the membership fee if they receive this support, and say outright that they can compete with the meat lobby, says Klinge.

The seas: 1.5 million for art project: – Why must everything new be ugly?

The SP politician believes it is clear that they want a conflict with Norwegian agriculture and food producers.

However, Klinge has taken the invitation from the vegans to look at the legislation, and she tells Nettavisen that they will change the regulations if it turns out that such an organization receives religious support.

– If the rules now allow for them to receive money, the Center Party will ask the government to reconsider the scheme. The purpose is then to change the conditions to prevent the Norwegian vegan community from receiving support, she says.

– Distorts the truth

Vegan and animal rights activist Berit Helberg writes in The online newspaper that the SP politician “distorts the truth”.

– To my knowledge, most people eat bread for breakfast, and for dinner there is usually some potatoes for the food, salad and cooked vegetables. Occasionally for lunch or brunch, or whatever you want to call it, an apple or a pear, plums or other fruit grown from Norwegian soil – but completely overlooked in Jenny Klinge’s perception of what food is, she writes in a reader post.

In the post addressed directly to Klinge, she writes that it is a pity animals cannot vote, because then the Center Party would not exist. Helberg believes that Klinge does not take into account all vegetable farmers in Norway when she emphasizes meat in this way.

Posts: The vegan community is a political movement

– Do you not forget all the farmers who do not produce meat?

– No, that’s when they have misunderstood, Klinge says to Nettavisen.

– What I am interested in is diversity in the diet, and which I am fully aware of, in contrast to the vegan community, it is impossible to grow so many vegetables and legumes that we keep five million Norwegians alive. Especially if you are not going to eat eggs, milk or fish, she says.

She believes that if all Norwegians switched to a vegan diet, there would be far fewer Norwegians.

– What this boils down to for me is that when the purpose is so clearly political to get Norwegians to stop what is absolutely necessary to feed the Norwegian population, it is just nonsense, and not something to be given faith support, says Klinge.

The SP politician emphasizes that there should be better animal welfare, and points out that the Center Party wants more small and medium-sized farms that have better time to take care of the animals.

– Is about ethics

The Norwegian vegan community itself believes that the debate is all too often about food, and not about the ethics behind it.

– Veganism is first and foremost about ethics and moral philosophy; Should humans exploit animals to the extent we do today, or to some extent at all? Should we include them – to a greater extent – in our own moral compass and have as a reason that we should not unnecessarily exploit and kill animals? We mean it, and by registering as a philosophical society, we try to reverse the tendency that any debate about veganism is mostly just about food, says board member Henrik Kjellmo Larsen.


Henrik Kjellmo Larsen in the Norwegian vegan community.
Photo: Norwegian vegan community

– Regardless of the regulations – do you think it is right that you should receive state aid?

– As we have a subsidy scheme in Norway that gives philosophical communities the opportunity to apply for state support, it is natural for us to apply for these funds as veganism is a philosophy of life, he answers.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.