RE: "veganism" from a vegan's perspective
Awesome post, DRutter! I've been vegetarian for like 6 years now, and eat almost entirely vegan. With that said, I think there's something to the argument that "there's no such thing as being entirely vegan" due to grain combines killing small mammals, as well as the fact that tires, plastic bags, crayons and condoms all containing animal biproducts (and I'm sure the list goes on)
Additionally, some vegan products (like palm oil) devastate animals habitats.
I guess what I'm saying is: Do your best, avoid animal cruelty whenever possible, and eat a plant based diet, but don't dedicate your entire life to pursuing whether or not the batteries in your TV remote are gelatin free, acknowledge nuance and understand that noone's perfect.
Society will catch up eventually, and more and more things will become available. I've seen enormous changes in the past 6 years alone that lead me to believe vegan food will only get better and more widely available, if for no other reason than market pressure.
Hoping they have Beyond Meat in Canada. That shit's next level!
Cheers,
Chris
Hey Chris, big love and respect fam! Thanks for your post :)
I'm in complete agreement about doing our best and not wasting too much time worrying about micro-nuances. It's why I have issues with the definitions of vegan and vegetarian. And why I said most readers would consider me a vegan but I'm not by the dictionary definition. For example I'd eat honey from natural honeybees, but I don't actually need to because I have a great source of organic agave nectar and it's delicious. I also don't believe bird eggs are inherently harm-causing. Eggs from birds kept as pets and/or insect-control on a homestead, for example. Those would be natural, organic, harm-free sources of protein and nutrients. But that's SO not vegan. I wonder, would a true vegan kill off a bedbug infestation, or just move to avoid having to harm an animal? You can't get rid of them without killing them, because they need to nest close to where YOU nest (your bed, couch, etc). They're parasites, essentially small crawling vampires, that visit in the night for blood, then return home to have sex and digest blood. They carry illnesses and cause infection and other complications. They're not like mosquitoes where you can just run away, or shoo it outside. You're a bedbug's only food source. They won't leave unless you do, or you kill them. They're essentially a land version of prawn, with a little nervous system, a gut, and so on. What's a vegan to do?
So yeah, a lot of it is pointless. The main thing for me is preventing as much harm as possible. Hopefully posts like this help!
I'm definitely palm oil free though. Companies are learning buyers skip palm oil products now, and are coming out with truly vegan conscious products in a mainstream way. At least around here!