The Quiet Ones

The quiet ones. That’s how the falafel-maker at the Durban conference‘s outdoor food court described himself and other vegans and vegetarian food-producers. The loud ones, he said, are KFC and McDonald’s and other meat and dairy-heavy fast-food chains. But, he said, he’d done very well at the conference. Falafel sales surpassed his expectations due, he thought, to the international nature of the . . . conference attendees.

KFC and McDonald’s do loom large here, and market themselves intensively. That was a point made at a panel on veganism and the environment at the people’s forum at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Effectively, they’re so loud that people almost don’t hear much else. A small bag of sweet potatoes here in Durban costs more than a meal at KFC, an anthropology graduate student confirmed. Amplification’s needed. Fueled by falafel, perhaps.

Photo by PJ Chmiel