love ♥ living ♥ vegan
Following a plant-based or vegan lifestyle, is about food, drink, clothes, shoes, body treatments, hair products and more.
It's a conscious decision to think, walk and possibly, talk a better lifestyle.
I support individuals who are thinking about making the shift, as well as, those who have already begun their plant-based journey.
“Is there anything wrong with eating eggs from 'happy' hens that are free?”
I’ve been asked this question a few times and depending on who’s asking and what’s going on for me, I am not always able to articulate the reasons for not eating these eggs. So I’m hoping that this article will help others who find themselves in a similar position.
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Are the eggs we eat the result of 'chicken periods'?
I’ve heard this analogy many times and thought that it might be useful to write about it so that we can better understand why chickens laying eggs is not the result of them menstruating.
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This article focuses on:
how we use labels to make life smoother and simpler in daily life
the purpose of labels
why using the ‘right’ term is important
In this article, you’ll find out why Compassion in World Farming believes that from the perspective of human health, environmental sustainability and animal welfare, everyone should be eating less meat, fish, dairy and eggs.
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Although there isn’t a definite answer, it’s worth reading this article and knowing how people define the term plant-based, how it varies and how it continues to change!
Read MoreIs there a connection between cardiovascular disease and diet?
At the bottom of this article, you'll find a short recording in which Dr. Mehta talks about cardiovascular disease and diet. He refers to a few studies, but to keep the content short, he lists others in his document of references, so that we can read them when we have more time.
A summary of a range of studies that looked at the potential link between diet and cardiovascular disease
Here, you'll find a brief look at a range of studies. For each one I've shared some information consistently e.g. the number of subjects, the results, the duration of the study. I've done this to make it easier for you to compare the results from each one.
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Created by Joshua Wold | http://veganfoodpyramid.com/
Are you being bombarded by all the would-be 'nutritionists' you know who are concerned about you going, or staying, vegan? Are you worried about the scary information they're sharing, which is a case for, vegan diets resulting in poor health and illness? Do you feel stifled as a result? Don't worry any more. Harpreet (Nutrition graduate) will help debunk some myths, share nutritional facts and make practical suggestions that will bring you peace of mind!
Read MoreI wrote this definition to create a tool to communicate what you are willing to consume, so that it's easier on you and others.
There are loads of different terms for people to remember.
- Those who eat fish but no other meat of any sort are Pescetarians.
- If you eat chicken and no other meat, you're a Pollo vegetarian.
- If someone says they are vegan but they eat meat, fish, honey, eggs etc. i.e. the only thing they have excluded from their diet is dairy; they are not vegan. They fall under the dairy-free category.
A vegan diet includes any item that has not come from a living being e.g. an animal or insect. Examples of excluded foods are honey, eggs, fish, meat and products using the milk from an animal e.g. cream, milk, cheese, yogurt, butter etc. Vegan foods include vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, pulses and grains. Alternatives to dairy products can be made from oats, rice, soya or nuts.
A friend of mine made a chart to show the differences between what a vegan would eat and what a 'pure' vegetarian would eat. I hope you find it helpful.
"The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each is different."
Hippocrates
Here's a rap about lots of things but if you fast forward to 3 minutes and 28 seconds you'll hear some lyrics about what Promoe thinks we should and shouldn't use and consume.
No alcohol
No weed
No cigarettes
No E's
No milk
No cheese
No eggs
No meat
Just meditation and peace
Red lentils
Chick peas
Good workout
Good sleep
More sun shine....
"It's my firm intention to whop cancer into submission and I truly believe I've given myself the best start possible by radically overhauling my diet and by staying true to my motto, which is: Don't worry, be happy, feel good. The first thing I did when I was diagnosed was to turn vegan."
- Larry Hagman
One argument I came across several times was, hens produce eggs naturally. Moreover, if they're not fertilised, nothing will come of it the contents, so why not eat it?
This paints an illusion. It made me image a field where the hens are free. They go off to lay their eggs but we know they're not fertilised so we take them and there's no harm done!
But it's not like that at all.
There's been a lot of debate about whether eggs are detrimental to good health or not. Those who want to control calorie intake, often don't eat eggs. It has been said that, people on high sugar and high carbohydrate diets, shouldn't eat eggs because there's a higher risk of suffering from many diseases.
The quotes below are from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s report, "Livestock’s Long Shadow" and the United Nations News Centre's article about the report:
Livestock now use 30 per cent of the earth’s entire land surface, mostly permanent pasture but also including 33 per cent of the global arable land used to producing feed for livestock.
As forests are cleared to create new pastures, it is a major driver of deforestation, especially in Latin America where, for example, some 70 per cent of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing.
The livestock business is among the most damaging sectors to the earth’s increasingly scarce water resources, contributing among other things to water pollution from animal wastes, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and the pesticides used to spray feed crops.
(The livestock sector) is probably the largest sectoral source of water pollution, contributing to eutrophication, "dead" zones in coastal areas, degradation of coral reefs, human health problems, emergence of antibiotic resistance and many others. The major sources of pollution are from animal wastes, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and pesticides used for feedcrops, and sediments from eroded pastures.
Some vegans don't eat eggs because they can't stomach the way the hens are kept. They may have a 'whole' cage to themselves but the cages are so tiny that they can't turn around or move in any way at all.
In cages so small that they can't even turn around
An alternative which many vegans aren't any more comfortable with is, chickens being kept in an 'open' space which is null and void because there are so many chickens, that it's not an open space at all!
No cages but are they free and able to move?
Others knows that if fertilised, the consumer would be eating what could have become a chick. This is meant to be a rare occurrence but nevertheless; too high a risk for some.
Some vegans don't want to be part of the egg producing industry because for those that do hatch, the males aren't needed. Why? Chickens don't need a male to lay an egg.
Some sources state that they are thrown in the bin and left for dead or they are ground up alive. Of course the motivation here, is to avoid 'wasting' money on sedating them. Killing them humanely isn't on the agenda.
Other information suggests that there is a huge demand for male chicks as they are used to feed reptiles, birds of prey etc. Some sources state that they are gassed and then fed to them whole.
There are many vegans who are uncomfortable with either of these scenarios and therefore they do not eat eggs.
Huge numbers of male chicks are disposed of. They're not dead.
Disposal
Some people who follow a plant-based diet don't agree any animals being exploited, enslaved, trapped, stolen from, hurt and killed; possibly for being the 'wrong' gender.
Watching their efforts being taken away
In an earlier post, I mentioned that I ate eggs as a vegetarian because nobody could tell me why I shouldn't. Now that I know and understand what happens within the industry, I am not willing to eat eggs.
“We are not encouraged, on a daily basis, to pay careful attention to the animals we eat. On the contrary, the meat, dairy, and egg industries all actively encourage us to give thought to our own immediate interest (taste, for example, or cheap food) but not to the real suffering involved. They do so by deliberately withholding information and by cynically presenting us with idealized images of happy animals in beautiful landscapes, scenes of bucolic happiness that do not correspond to anything in the real world. The animals involved suffer agony because of our ignorance. The least we owe them is to lessen that ignorance.”
Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
This poem defines a vegan diet.
You are diseased in understanding and religion. Come to me, that you may hear something of sound truth.
Do not unjustly eat fish the water has given up, And do not desire as food the flesh of slaughtered animals, Or the white milk of mothers who intended its pure draught for their young, not noble ladies.
And do not grieve the unsuspecting birds by taking eggs; for injustice is the worst of crimes.
And spare the honey which the bees get industriously from the flowers of fragrant plants; For they did not store it that it might belong to others, Nor did they gather it for bounty and gifts.
I washed my hands of all this; and wish that I Perceived my way before my hair went gray!
Al-Ma’arri (973-1057), Baghdad (modern Iraq)
Source - Beautiful Vegan
"Veganism is not about giving anything up or losing anything; it is about gaining the peace within yourself that comes from embracing non-violence and refusing to participate in the exploitation of the vulnerable"
Gary L. Francione