100% Vegetal | Cuisine Vegan

camillesteemer (12)in #vegan • 6 years ago

100% Vegetal | Cuisine Vegan

Short lexicon to navigate

Vegetarian : do not eat meat or fish (or crustaceans and shellfish) but not animal by-products that have killed animals such as gelatin or rennet from certain cheeses.

Vegan : do not eat any animal products, so no milk, eggs or honey.

Vegan : a vegan does not use any product or material derived from animal exploitation and that beyond food (fur, wool, leather ..), it does not consume products tested on animals, chosen to not go to the circus or the zoo, he refuses all that is a form of exploitation of animals.

Antispecialist : Speciesism is discrimination according to the species. If you think that humans have "naturally" more rights than animals, that they are superior to them and that it justifies them to exploit them and kill them, you are a speciesist. Antispecists argue against one or more species being superior to others.

Carnism : it is the ideology according to which it is normal, natural and necessary to eat meat, highlighted by the psychologist Melanie Joy .

Abolitionist : is abolitionist who advocates for the abolition of animal exploitation

welfarist Wellfariste is going to fight for better living conditions for animals, but is not opposed to their exploitation if they are well treated. (* wellfare = well being)

100% Vegan defends a vegan, antispecist and abolitionist way of life

Why eat 100% vegetal / be vegan?

If I had to give only one answer to this question, it would be obvious: for animals. We humans, living beings evolved, intelligent and tending constantly towards progress, have not yet integrated this evidence: animals do not belong to us. Their life belongs to them, just as the life of a human being belongs to no one but himself. The superiority that we are self-attributed to other species does not give us any rights over them. The animals with whom we share this planet have few means to assert their most fundamental interests (to live, not to suffer, not to be exploited, tortured ...), we allow ourselves to consider them as our properties all just fit to suffer and die for our pleasure or profit.

Of course, we were once forced to hunt, breed animals and kill to eat or dress, but this state of survival is fortunately exceeded today in many countries and especially in all developed countries. While we know how to produce healthy and abundant food, we make the choice to raise tens of millions of sentient beings in appalling conditions, to end their short lives at the slaughterhouse. It is precisely today, when we can do otherwise that we kill and exploit more animals than ever before. We raise barbarism to the rank of culture (with corrida for example), of gastronomy, claiming that taste and pleasure justify all horrors and injustice, that without all this we would be dispossessed of our identity, our traditions, to see even according to some of our freedom, of our "right to do what we want". But which society puts before the interest of one being to live that of another to take pleasure?

However, it seems that the characteristic of humans, its fundamental characteristic, which differentiates it from other animals, is precisely its ability to evolve and modify its environment, to evolve its social behavior voluntarily. It is high time to take the turn of this evolution there. In the same way that we must continue to fight against all forms of racism and slavery (because yes, there is still a damn job) and to give women the same rights as men (because no is not really completely acquired) we must recognize to animals the right to live by and for themselves, the right to be no longer possessed, to no longer suffer, not to exist solely to serve the interests of humans. Equality and respect for the fundamental rights of everyone, whatever their species, can only be the objectives of a more just and united world, of a peaceful world of equality. Of a world where the life of all has the same value and on which we can not put a price.

Education, family or cultural traditions have everything to gain by taking a new path, a new way of thinking about our relationship to non-human living beings that inhabit this planet. The profound respect for life and for all that this intellectual revolution imposes will be only beneficial to us, including in our relations with other human beings.

What are the benefits of a vegetable diet?

When we mention the words "vegetarian", "vegan" or "vegan", we immediately face many misconceptions, unfortunately still conveyed today by the media and some health professionals. We are predicting deficiencies, a hard diet to obtain without a diploma of nutritionist, when it is not a certain death by malnutrition according to some! Among all the information available, not easy to sort out, especially when official diet recommendations encourage us to consume animal protein and dairy products every day.

However, there are health professionals who go beyond the perfectly formatted speech for the needs of the agri-food industry and sometimes totally outdated that is still taught today. In France, the Apsares , or in the United States, the PCRM brings together doctors, dieticians or other actors of the health world, totally independent, around a more responsible diet or medicine practice. The American Dietetic Association, which brings together thousands of practitioners, clearly positions itself on vegetarian and vegan diets: " Well-designed vegetarian (including vegan) diets are good for health, nutritionally adequate and can beneficial for the prevention and treatment of certain diseases Well-designed vegetarian diets are appropriate for all ages of life, including during pregnancy, breastfeeding, infancy, childhood, and adolescence only for athletes. "

Many studies have shown that meat and other animal products such as dairy products are far from being as good for our health as we would like to believe. It would be more the opposite. Colon cancer, obesity, diabetes, cholesterol, these ailments are directly related to the consumption of meat and dairy products, overconsumption of animal protein in our countries. While consuming more plants, on the contrary, improves our health, and our longevity. Even the sacrosanct speech "Dairy = good for the bones" is questioned, the WHO / FAO point the finger at the " paradox of calcium ": the countries where we consume the most dairy products are those who have the highest fracture rates of the hip. The suspected cause is too much protein consumption induced by overconsumption of dairy products. Basing on a consumption of plants for calcium intake is therefore far from a far-fetched idea, especially since it is very well assimilated.

The dramatic consequences of livestock farming on the environment, on drinking water resources, massive deforestation with the aim of creating livestock and feed for cattle should strongly tip the balance towards a diet that excludes these products. The emissions of greenhouse gases from livestock are even higher than those of all transport (cars, airplanes, buses ...) of the world. Our food choices have a catastrophic impact on our planet, it is high time to opt for food that does not destroy our environment. ( more info here )

Finally, if the world population increases dramatically, the consumption of animal products is blowing up all the records. The result: if we continue this way we will simply not have enough to feed the planet in a few decades. What if instead of giving grain to fatten animals it was used to feed humans? If we used water to cultivate and drink instead of wasting it for breeding so greedy drinking water? Our resources are precious, it is essential to change course in order to simply continue to live. Opting for a vegan diet also means choosing resources more equitably with other humans.

It's very nice but it's not so easy!

Of course, to make such a change in our lives, our habits are not necessarily so easy. But if you're questioning vegans, it's a safe bet that many will tell you that eventually it's easier than it sounds. The most difficult is often to embark. To change one's habits, some of which date back to childhood, are full of history and memories. It is important to make these changes by being aware of the reasons why you want to change your lifestyle or diet. The idea is not at all to deprive oneself, to sacrifice to the pleasure of eating, to share, nor to abandon one's bearings or roots. But to do otherwise. To transform, to adapt. Family rituals can perfectly adapt to a vegan lifestyle, one can keep his favorite recipes by replacing meat or dairy products with alternatives. To build a fairer world today. And pass on to future generations a heritage that has been able to adapt, integrate more compassion and justice.

On my side the awareness was difficult, I spent many evenings before documentaries or films (like Earthlings ) hard enough to watch. But I wanted to see reality in the face. And this reality is deeply revolting, depressing and disturbing. This is the kind of reality that we often prefer to continue to ignore. Yet when I became vegan, a new feeling settled: every day I knew that not only did I not participate in all that, but that the simple fact of eating was a way to participate in the change. Living in accord with our ideas brings an incredible sense of fulfillment. One does not become happy because one becomes vegan, but the coherence of this choice in front of our deepest values, reconciles us often with ourselves, with the one who at the bottom of us revolts against the harm done to the others, against destruction, injustice and especially against the inevitability we are inculcated at a very young age. NO, the world is not dedicated to staying as it is, it's people like you and me who help change it every day. The power of consumers and citizens is immense, it is up to us to seize it. And sometimes this simple idea can be enough to give us the courage to undertake what frightens us the most: change.

If change everything at all seems impossible, start with what seems to you the simplest! Replace meat, transform meals at home, go shopping in organic stores, taste new products, go to an event like Sustainable Flavors or a vegan salon, attend a cooking workshop, join an association ... Take advice around you, and if no one in your circle is yet committed to this change, why not meet people already comfortable in this new way of life? Forum, social networks, meeting groups, associations, lots of people eager to meet new people and get rich will be ready to welcome you. Try to find your gateway, go through your own steps one by one to feel comfortable in your new way of life. All vegans did not become overnight. For me this journey took me about a year and a half between my last bite of meat and a life 100% vegan. 5 or 10 years ago there was a lot less info, workshops, vegan products and alternatives than today. It has never been easier to change diet and consume differently. And that's good, it has never been so urgent to get started!

Why go beyond food?

The exploitation of animals in a world where we have all the cards in our hands to do otherwise is not justifiable. If we can eat differently, we can also avoid exploiting, killing and harming animals to dress, make beautiful or entertain us. Refuse the animal on our plate but wear fur or leather? It does not make sense ! Today, there are materials that imitate them perfectly and ethical fashion brands are more and more numerous. Designer Stella McCartney has even decided to ban animal materials from her collections!

Unfortunately, animals are still used today for laboratory tests, for the cosmetics industry, household products and the pharmaceutical industry, while alternatives to animal testing exist. And many scientists strongly criticize relying on the animal to extrapolate results to humans. Drugs that have been validated following animal testing have been shown to be dangerous to humans after they have been placed on the market. In organic stores, we find very easily, cosmetics and household products, not tested on animals and labeled "vegan".

Shows using animals such as bullfighting or circuses are unworthy of an advanced society. Maltreatment of animals is punishable by law, yet some derogations permit the organization of shows where animals are beaten, locked up in cages, forced to perform tricks under the threat of whipping and even tortured to death in the case of animals. bullfighting. By refusing to be complicit in these shows and by asking our elected officials on this subject we can ban these cruel practices. Catalonia has banned bullfights and circuses with animals are
now banned in England. Things are changing, so why not here? Why not thanks to you? The world is not frozen, it's up to us to change it!

This post as well as its images are released under a CC BY 4.0 License