How I define a vegan diet

Why is it helpful to have a definition of what veganism?

I wrote this definition to create a tool to communicate what you are willing to consume, so that it's easier on you and others.

Confusion about the many terms regarding what people eat

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.

The definition of a vegan diet

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 tool to help illustrate what vegans eat

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.

Related posts

Why vegans don't consume honey
Why don't vegans eat eggs?

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"The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each is different."
Hippocrates

Can you use this chart to help others understand what you eat better?

Have you ever got frustrated with others not understanding what you can/can't/will/won't eat?

I recall someone telling me she was vegetarian but she ate fish. She is actually categorised as a Pescetarian!

I remember another person saying he was vegetarian but ate chicken. He is actually a Pollo vegetarian.

Then there are those who have said they're vegan but they eat meat, fish, honey, eggs etc. The only thing they have excluded from their diet is dairy. This group of people would fall under the dairy-free category.

A friend of mine created this after being repeatedly asked if he would eat fish after he told them he followed a vegan diet.

I hope it can help you in some way.

Vegan Information Sheet by Heena R Modi

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"I became a vegan the day I watched a video of a calf being born on a factory farm. The baby was dragged away from his mother before he hit the ground. The helpless calf strained its head backwards to find his mother. The mother bolted after her son and exploded into a rage when the rancher slammed the gate on her. She wailed the saddest noise I’d ever heard an animal make, and then thrashed and ...dug into the ground, burying her face in the muddy placenta. I had no idea what was happening respecting brain chemistry, animal instinct, or whatever. I just knew that this was deeply wrong. I just knew that such suffering could never be worth the taste of milk and veal. I empathized with the cow and the calf and, in so doing, my life changed."
James McWilliams

Why don't vegans consume honey?

I wanted my journey from vegan diet, to following a fuller plant-based lifestyle, to be based on research and reflection, rather than, hearsay. Although I learned about some things which made me feel remorse, I was glad that I could make informed decisions about what I will and will not be part of.

Is honey healthy?

Honey is rich in fructose, which is unhealthy. However, it is also rich in various antioxidants, which is healthy. It is at healthier than sugar but whether it is good for you/safe to eat will depend on the individual. It will also be determined by which, if any, conditions they suffer from.

The myths about honey

Bees produce lots of honey and they don't need it all. We're doing them a favour by taking some of it. They can replace what we take quickly so it doesn't bother them.

Theft and poor quality food substitution for the bees

One of the reasons that vegans don't consume honey, is that bees spend many hours to make it. They make for themselves to consume, so some vegans feel that taking it from them is stealing. Pollen is the honeybee's primary source of nutrition but honey is their only food source, which they depend on during the cold weather. Large commercial operations often take all the honey instead of leaving enough for the bees to get through the winter. The honey is then replaced with a cheap sugar substitute, which isn't as good for the bees.

The harm done to the bees in the beehive

Others don't like the harm that occurs when the honey is removed. Bees are often squashed and killed in the process. Also, during 'unproductive' months some bee-keepers starve their bees to death or burn the hive to save on costs. In order to prevent the queen bee from leaving the hive, some honey producers cut their wings off.

Artificial insemination and disposal of queen bees

Some vegans don't approve of manipulating living beings. One of the ways that bees are manipulated and controlled involves killing the queen bees to prevent swarming, aggression, mite infestation, and to keep honey production to a maximum. Queens are chosen by the keepers and they are artificially inseminated. Queens often live for half as long as they would naturally, because many commercial bee-keepers dispose of them early on.

Why I won't use honey

The conclusion I came to after finding out about the processes above, is that we don't need honey to survive and there's too much harm involved, for me to be alright with it.

Related posts

Earthling Ed on Instagram: "What’s the deal with honey and why do vegans reject it? And is there an ethical and environmentally friendly way to consume #honey after…"
What the Vegan Society has to say about the honey industry
Why don't vegans eat eggs? 
How I define a vegan diet

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"Bees are hardworking animals who deserve to keep the labour of their work. Stealing products from them is a form of exploitation, which should and can be easily avoided. Honey can be replaced by rice syrup, barley malt, maple syrup, molasses, sorghum or fruit concentrates."
Vegan Peace

Why don't vegans eat eggs?

There's nothing wrong with eating non-fertilised eggs

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.

Are eggs good for your health or not?

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.

Does the production of eggs have a negative effect on the environment?

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.

A tight fit!

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

Eggs are OK because the chickens aren't in a cage!

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?

It would have been a chick!

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.

No male chicks needed!

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 

Are there any other reasons why vegans don't use eggs?

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

Why I won't eat eggs

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.

Related posts

Why don't vegans eat honey?
How I define a plant-based diet
What about eating the eggs of hens that I look after in my home?

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“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

1000 year old poem about veganism

This poem defines a vegan diet.

I No Longer Steal From Nature

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

Related content 

How I define a vegan diet

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"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