Vegan Cliché: Veganism Isn’t Extreme - Eating Meat is Extreme

Vegan abolitionists have a reason to wake up today — Gary L. Francione published a new blog entry. It’s called “No, Ethical Veganism is Not Extreme”:

Dear Colleagues:

There is nothing extreme about ethical veganism.

What is extreme is eating decomposing flesh and animal secretions.

What is extreme is that we regard some animals as members of our family while, at the same time, we stick forks into the corpses of other animals.

And so on. I expect better from the leader of a school of vegan thought. All Francione has done is rephrase a cliché that vegans rephrase all the time. It’s the “Veganism isn’t extreme, meat eating is” cliché:

digging through the dirt: People who profit from animal exploitation like to call animal-rights advocates “extreme.” But what’s extreme about not wanting to see animals suffer? … Eating plants is innocuous, but hanging a chicken upside-down, slitting her throat and throwing her into scalding-hot water is extreme.

Vegan Chai: it bothers me when people accuse me of being “extreme,” because i think it’s much more “extreme” to (pay someone to) torture and kill an animal rather than to just eat a peanut butter sandwich.

Silentmanu: [E]very once in a while I’m accused of being an extremist just because I’m a vegan … What about those who insist it is perfectly alright to endlessly devour murdered animals, and demand stuff derived from exploiting them? Who are the true extremists?

Dan Cudahy: The animal exploitation industry’s front groups often call vegans who want to abolish animal exploitation “extremists”. But let’s take a glance at the so-called ‘extremism’ of abolitionist vegans in contrast to the real and violent extremism of industry and a ‘civilized’ society that permits such violent extremism. In the United States alone, ten billion innocent nonhumans are tortured and intentionally killed for trivial food preferences, and that does not include sentient marine life or sentient life from fresh water. … That’s extreme.

the veg blog: Veganism is not extreme. Eating dozens of animals a year (even more if you’re into chicken rather than beef) is extreme.

A lot of what vegans posit as extreme behaviors compared to eating only plants are factory farming practices, and it’s hard to argue that dumping hundreds of baby chickens into a plastic bag and suffocating them isn’t extreme. But this cliché usually suggests that the act of eating an animal is in itself extreme. This perspective can only make sense in a civilization that affords plenty of detachment from the natural world. There could seem to be something strange about eating the body of an animal when we are used to thinking that food is the processed granules that you pour out of a box, and the way you hunt it is to put on a tie or heels and type stuff on a computer. 

Since most of our hours are spent in clothing, interacting with others from somewhat of a distance, sexual abstinence advocates could make a similar argument for another activity that is arguably at odds with being rational, civilized modern folk.

“Abstinence Isn’t Extreme — Sex is Extreme”:

Going to a church dance isn’t extreme. Stripping all your clothes off and inserting a weird looking part of your body into a weird looking part of someone else’s body and releasing a sticky white fluid into them is extreme.

Eating a bowl of cereal isn’t extreme. Putting someone else’s genitals into your mouth until they lose all their rationality and self-control and scream as they release a sticky white fluid into your mouth is extreme.

Reading a book about ethics while fully clothed isn’t extreme. Risking emotional pain, pregnancy, disease or even death for fleeting pleasure is extreme.

Are you an extremist?

--Tagged under: Vegan Cliches--

Does Going Vegan Increase Dietary Variety?

We all know that veganism saves the animals, the planet and you… but did you know that cutting out all animal products and anything containing even trace amounts of them means you’ll be eating a wider variety of foods too? 

A poll on VeganForum.com asked “Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat & dairy?” Of the 276 voters, 251 (90.94%) said that they eat more varied food as vegans. Eclectic_one summed up this counterintuitive logic best: “I think I read in one of my vegetarian cookbooks that vegetarians eat a much more varied diet than meat-eaters. I’d bet that vegans eat even more variety than vegetarians.”

Any takers on that one? Do macrobiotics eat more variety than standard vegans, and do fruititarians eat even more variety than that? When you prune away one food, do three more shoot up in its place?

It is not only anonymous message board vegans who see it this way. Veg*an leaders agree:

Read More

--Tagged under: Vegan Cliches--

--Tagged under: Vegan Food--

“Even the Conservative American Dietetic Association Supports Veganism.” Or Does It?

There are three sources vegans tend to cite to prove that veganism is a healthy diet: The American Dietetic Association (which they often refer to as “the conservative ADA” to boost its credibility), The China Study and the Adventist Health Studies. However, “the conservative ADA” seems to be the vegan favorite:

Ryan M: Women can be perfectly healthy on a vegan diet throughout pregnancy and during nursing, as even the conservative ADA has said. Thanks for sharing your story, but you can hang onto the advice.

Vegan Street: By the way, the conservative ADA has acknowledged for years that it is possible to be healthy on a plant-based diet.

NYCVeg: To be honest, I’m a little concerned that your midwife seems so ignorant about vegetarian diets. Even the notoriously conservative ADA says that vegetarian (and vegan) diets are healthy for all stages of life, including pregnancy.

Kathy Freston: Even the very conservative ADA (American Dietetic Association) says:

Vegetarian diets are often associated with a number of health advantages, including lower blood cholesterol levels, lower risk of heart disease, lower blood pressure levels, and lower risk of hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Vegetarians tend to have a lower body mass index (BMI) .. and lower overall cancer rates.

Spartacus: Even the pretty conservative ADA (American Dietetic Association) has the following to say about this:

It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes.

Alan Benedict: Readers interested in an objective assessment of the facts by an authoritative source need only review the well documented position of the nutritionally conservative American Dietetic Association…

Alex: Your argument has been refuted by the conservative American Dietetic Association (ADA), arguing, as it does, that veganism is healthy at all stages of the life cycle.

Virginia Messina [co-author of the 1997 and 2003 ADA position papers on a vegetarian diet, as well as a reviewer for the 1993 and 2009 vegetarian position papers]: It’s a safe bet that Angelina didn’t understand healthful vegan eating, though. After all, even the conservative American Dietetic Association says that a vegan diet is safe and healthful.

It’s true that the American Dietetic Association has published positive position papers on vegetarianism since 1988, shortly after the formation of the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group, which has been in charge of the ADA’s vegetarian position papers since that time. Yet despite the cohesive image the ADA likes to present of its members, there seems to be a slight schism between what the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group members (most of whom are vegetarians or vegans themselves) think of a vegan diet, and what the other “conservative” ADA members think.

Here are a few quotes from non-vegan ADA spokespeople who seem less enthusiastic about veganism than they are supposed to be:

Keri Gans

(NY Daily News):

“You can meet a child’s nutritional needs with a vegan diet, but it is very difficult,” says Keri Gans, RD, MS, CDN, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. “When you take away dairy food, you have to worry about how the child will get calcium and vitamin D.”

And while it’s possible to ensure that a child gets these nutrients from other sources, it’s hard - unless your kid absolutely loves vegetables. To get the calcium in one cup of milk, a child would need to consume four cups of broccoli, Gans points out.

Another risk with a vegan diet is that a child may not get enough protein - or at least the complete protein that is offered by meat and dairy products.

Non-meat protein sources don’t necessarily have all the amino acids, pediatric dietitian Helen Wilcock, a member of the British Dietetic Association, told The Guardian.

“If a child eats meat or fish, it’s easy to get all the right amino acids,” she says. “But if a child is getting protein from pulses [beans], the problem is that one type of bean might not provide every amino acid, so there has to be a good balance of pulses.” A kid who eats meat gets all the amino acids, she notes, but a kid who consumes just one type of bean will not.

Other nutritional deficiencies that can crop up with a vegan diet include not getting enough iron or omega 3s, Gans points out. Those omega 3s are essential for cardiovascular health as well as brain development, she says.

While a vegan diet can work for an adult, a child’s growing body requires many nutrients if he or she is to thrive, Gans says. “If the family knows what they are doing, works with a professional and gets the proper supplements, the needs could be met,” she says.

In general, kids on vegan diets tend to be a little smaller than other kids. Part of the problem with feeding them stems from the fact that a lot of the foods they eat just are not that calorie-dense, so they need to eat a lot in order to get enough calories.

A PR rep from The American Dietetic Association disowned Gans’ statements here, saying they were taken out of context. I emailed the reporter of this article to see if she had a transcript of their conversation, but she didn’t respond. Judging from other Keri Gans quotes and paraphrases in the media, though, the above seems close enough to her true views:

(ABC News):

But as American Dietetic Association spokeswoman Keri Gans noted, vegetarianism must be done right to reap the benefits. … Specifically, vegetarians must find sources other than meat for protein. Those who opt to go vegan must be even more vigilant when it comes to finding substitutes for other nutrients, such as the calcium that they might otherwise get from dairy products.

(USA Today):

“A lot of individuals are interested in trying [veganism],” says Keri Gans, a registered dietitian in New York City and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association (ADA). “Unfortunately, they don’t all do the necessary research that can make it a healthy choice.”

Gans says some under-informed newbie vegans end up just plain hungry, attempting to subsist on salads and soy milk. Others “end up gaining weight because they eat too many carbohydrates from pasta and rice or too many fatty nuts and seeds,” says Tara Gidus, a registered dietitian in Orlando, who also is an ADA spokeswoman.

Dawn Jackson Blatner

(CBS News):

“A vegan lifestyle can be healthy, but it takes more planning than most other types of diets to ensure no deficiencies, especially of protein, iron, zinc, calcium, Vitamin-D, B12 and omega-three fatty acids,” said Blatner, who is also a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

(The Seattle Times):

Dawn Jackson Blatner, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, approves of the vegan-before-6 idea. But like full-time vegans and vegetarians, part-timers need to be aware of getting enough of certain nutrients, she says. Among these are Vitamin B12 (found mostly in meats), protein, iron and zinc (all of which are in beans), calcium and vitamin D (mostly in dairy products, and in fortified soy and almond milks), and omega-3 fats (in fish, flax seed and walnuts).

Blatner also cautions that while Bittman lost weight through his new way of eating, it’s easy for vegans and vegetarians to consume too many calories. “You can do it wrong,” she says. “You could overeat olive oil, nuts and seeds, or over-portion peanut butter, so you’d eat too many calories.”

(WebMD):

Blatner thinks [vegan] dieters would benefit from having nutrition information and a nutrient analysis of recipes and meals, because vegetarian diets can be lacking in protein, iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin D, riboflavin, vitamin B12, omega 3 fatty acids, and iodine.

Dave Grotto

(Park City Daily News):

“With tenacity and proper planning, a vegan diet can meet the needs of 10-year-olds,” said registered dietitian Dave Grotto, a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association. … The most common potential problems for vegetarians include a reduced intake of iron, calcium and vitamin B-12. Grotto, who advocates plant-based foods but doesn’t believe vegan diets are optimal for children because they require constant monitoring, recommends taking a multivitamin that contains iron and zinc as a safety net. But even this is tricky because certain compounds can decrease iron and zinc absorption.

Jackie Newgent

(The Day):

“This is particularly a problem among teen vegetarians,” says dietitian Jackie Newgent, a New York spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, because teenagers require more calcium and iron than adults do.

“It’s possible to still get these nutrients from vegetarian sources-you can drink calcium fortified orange juice and include legumes, dark, leafy greens and iron-fortiried cereals and breads in your diet. But you need to plan your diet properly in order to get these essential vitamins and minerals.”

Shareen Marshall

(St. Paul Business Journal):

Shareen Marshall, a dietitian at St. Louis Park-based Park Nicollet Health Services [and a member of the American Dietetic Association], said vegetarian diets may be healthy. But the diets, especially vegan diets, can also be difficult, with a great deal of attention needed to prevent lack of protein, calcium, vitamin D, iron and vitamin B-12.

“You could be at risk for not having all your nutrients,” Marshall said.

Lona Sandon

(Dallas Morning News):

Lona Sandon, a registered dietitian at UT Southwestern Medical Center and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, confirmed that plant-based diets, including Mediterranean and vegetarian ones, can provide health benefits.

She cautioned that strict vegan diets often come up short on vitamin D, calcium, zinc, iron and protein, in addition to B vitamins. A vegan diet typically is much higher in fiber than people are accustomed to, which can interfere with iron absorption and can initially cause gastrointestinal distress, she said.

“It can be a healthy diet in terms of fighting heart disease,” Sandon says. “But it comes with its own pitfalls with vitamin and mineral deficiencies that people need to be careful about. You don’t have to go to extremes to have a healthy heart.”

--Tagged under: American Dietetic Association--

--Tagged under: Health--

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Is Taste the Basest of Our Desires?

Alex: Finally, how can you use “taste”, the basest of our desires, to justify causing unnecessary harm and death?

HaRav Avraham: No, the purpose of the kid is not merely to be food for your sharp teeth, sharpened and polished by your lowliness and gluttony in eating meat; and certainly the milk is not intended to be a condiment for the satisfaction of your base desire.

Volatile: In any case, my point here is that you’re not “doing your best”, because you neglect to take even simple steps to change your behaviour, or to even accept that there is something morally problematic about eating meat. You allow base desire for taste to cloud your moral judgment. 

B.R. Myers: The pleasures of the oral cavity (though we must say ‘palate’ instead) are now widely regarded as more important, more intrinsically moral, and a more vital part of civilized tradition than any other pleasures. … Advertising has abetted the trend, while political correctness, with its horror of judging anyone’s ‘lifestyle choices,’ has done its bit to muffle dissent.

Kropotkin: Your story today on the “best” types of beef cuts would be absurd were it not so irresponsible. With livestock contributing about 18% to global warming and the environmental destruction farmers cause in their raising, you do not seek to promote the point that the biggest contribution people can make in reducing their own ecological footprint is to stop eating meat - instead you glorify it by appealing to base desire. Shame on you for your obscene capitulation to personal hedonism ahead of environmental and ethical concern.

Anna: BHealthy, you are so right and I am not doing the self flagellation. I do, however, read about the factory farms periodically so that compassion overwhelms my most base desire most of the time. How I know this is addiction is that I can actually put that stuff in my mouth knowing what I do.

Gary Lawrence Francione: What is troubling to me is the notion that our taste – the pleasure that we get from eating something, someone, from inflicting pain, suffering and death, whether it’s direct pleasure or indirect pleasure. I mean the bottom line is – this is what morality is about isn’t it Jonathan? There are things that we wish to do, there are things that may make us happy, that are wrong.

Jonathan Safran Foer: This isn’t animal experimentation, where you can imagine some proportionate good at the other end of the suffering. This is what we feel like eating. Yet taste, the crudest of our senses, has been exempted from the ethical rules that govern our other senses.

Eugene: People staying silent during the holocaust is precisely what allowed it to happen. With vegans staying silent today, it is no wonder that billions of animals are tortured to death for the most trivial desires of man.

MasterNightfall: I mean, if you put it in front of people that they don’t need something, would be healthier without it, and would reduce the strain on our planet’s resources by abstaining from it… Logic is thrumped by their base desire to consume the tender, succulent fleshes of various exotic and non-exotic beasts.

iFrog: You’re putting a base desire over the welfare and happiness of animals, ignoring compassion and ethical considerations.

Elaine: Taste is a trivial thing. Sure, we all find ourselves doing things that appeal to “base” desires, but when we sit back and get some perspective, we can prioritize and realize that the consequences of our food choices on our health, on the planet, and to animals matter more than taste. Nothing tastes as good as doing the right thing feels.

Larry: Truly the choice is not between happiness or no happiness, but one that is the fruit of such radical values as sacrifice, service, love (for others), and self-denial [versus] one that glories in self (self-indulgence, self-centeredness, and self-identity). Without the helpful voice of Christians speaking the value of the cross, we are left with nothing to sort out the basest of our desires from those which reflect nobility and virtue.

--Tagged under: Purity--

--Tagged under: Vegan Cliches--

--Tagged under: Vegan Cult--

--Tagged under: Vegan Quotes--

--Tagged under: SelfDenial--

Yummy Vegan Yumminess (abridged)

Vegans like to use the word “yummy.” Though “yummy” hasn’t entered the vegan lexicon as something unique to animal-free living (the way that “compassionate” has), per capita they use it more than anybody else. My guess is that it’s to make vegan food sound more palatable than it actually is, but who knows, it could be any number of reasons, all of which would say something negative about veganism.

Here are a few search phrases to show you what I mean.

“Vegan and yummy” gets 677,000 results. “Yummy and vegan” gets 666,000 results, suggesting it’s slightly more popular to emphasize the veganness before the yumminess.

“Yummy in my vegan tummy,” alas, only gets 44.

A search for “yummy” by itself brings up 25,500,000 results. Add “vegan” to the search and you decrease that by a little over half: 12,000,000 results.

“Yummy food” gets 574,000 results. “Yummy vegan food” gets more than half that, 322,000 results.

That’s impressive considering vegans hover around one percent of the population. And some searches are even closer than that.

“Yummy cupcakes”: 85,400 results; “Yummy vegan cupcakes”: 70,600 results.

“Yummy breakfast”: 79,600 results; “Yummy vegan breakfast”: 63,900 results.

“Yummy restaurant”: 61,100 results; “Yummy vegan restaurant”: 58,700 results.

“Yummy cookies”: 47,400 results; “Yummy vegan cookies:” 44,000 results.

“Yummy pies”: 19,500 results; “Yummy vegan pies”: 12,300 results.

And sometimes the vegan version of a yummy search brings back even more results than its cruel counterpart.

“Yummy meat”: 56,300 results; “Yummy veggie”: 102,000 results.

“Yummy burger”: 38,300 results; “Yummy veggie burger”: 62,800 results. 

“Yummy baking”: 19,700 results; “Yummy vegan baking”: 36,000 results.

“Yummy cruelty” (-free): 9 results; “Cruelty-free yum”: 997 results.

“Yummy meaty goodness”: 852 results; “Yummy vegan goodness”: 6,740 results

Quite a few vegan blogs even have “Yum” or “Yummy” in their names: Yummy Vegan Dinners, Vegan YumYum, Yummy Vegan, The Yummy Vegan, Yummy Cookbook and Vegan Yummy are a couple of examples. There’s also Yummy Vegetarian Recipes and Yummy Diet Food, but those sometimes include dairy.

Speaking of vegetarians, they use “yummy” less often than vegans in total, even though there are more of them. “Yummy vegetarian” gets 93,300 results while “yummy vegan” gets 131,000.

I could go on. In fact, I originally did. But it was so tedious that it was the final straw for one (valued, as they all are) reader who promptly unsubscribed from this blog. So I’ll cut it off right here. The point is, vegans say “yummy” too damn much. If you don’t believe me, just re-read this entry.

--Tagged under: Vegan Food--

--Tagged under: Vegan Cliches--

"I have been a vegetarian most of my life and a vegan for over 10 years. I eat no animal products and practically no commercially produced food containing saturated vegetable fats. My diet, for years, consists of what you would call ‘health foods.’ I eat (and always have) the ‘anti-cholesterol foods’ like oats and exercise regularly. Yet my cholesterol just goes up (in fact, before I became vegan, it was lower) … But I do know for sure that if I were eating the ‘traditional’ diet with meat and dairy and eggs and processed foods, I would be a SICK person by now. I hate to even imagine the state I’d be in!!!"
— Sesameseed

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--Tagged under: Health--

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Is Veganism “The Next Logical Step”?

When I went from vegetarian to vegan, I often told people that “Going vegan was the next logical step.” I guess I visualized meat-abstaining life to be a two-stepped staircase. Once I was on that first lacto-ovo step, what was I going to do, just stare stupidly at that second vegan step forever?

Apparently, I’m not the only one who visualized ever-increasing dietary restrictions as a logical, linear path to finding meaning in the universe…

The Next Step

Helsinki910: One of my good friends became a vegetarian in January (new year’s resolution) and today she sent me a facebook message saying she wants to be vegan! I told her how great that was and asked how she came to this decision and she said: ‘well, i just think it’s the next logical step’

designedtobekind: When I first switched to veganism, some people in my family wondered why, but I just told them it was the next logical step for me.

greenkiwi: I was veggie for 10 years. I guess I always knew that veganism was the next logical step to take.

Steve: Raid was always a band that promoted vegetarianism. Shortly after our demo was released the band all became vegan. It seemed like the next logical step.

riotxofxwords: I was a pretty strict vegetarian prior to aspiring to veganism, so the transition was so gradual it was almost unnoticeable. It just seemed like the next logical step.

Arktoi: My brother’s girlfirend and I got to talking about Mad Cowboy and being vegetarian and how veganism was obviously the next logical step.

Scarlet: Over the past few weeks I’ve strongly been considering becoming vegan. I’m already a vegetarian so becoming vegan is the next logical step. My food intake is so limited anyway I really doubt it will make any drastic impact.

Emily223: If you became vegetarian for ethical reasons, becoming vegan is the next logical step.

The Red Star: I was and have always been very strict but i have only been vegan for just over a year. It took me that long to realise i was vegetarian and the next logical step was to become vegan. After all, vegetarians are just vegans in waiting!

Nicole at Vegan Body Builders: I was already a vegetarian since about age 14 and veganism just seemed like the next logical step.

The Occidental Weekly: A lot of the vegans on campus were vegetarians first and then became vegan because it was “the next logical step.”

Marcel: Meat is not necessary for healthy living — in fact, it’s quite the contrary — and the most logical step for me was to stop eating meat. One year later I informed myself about veganism and found it to be the most cruelty-free lifestyle. So the next logical step for me was to turn vegan.

Rose Elliot: Indeed, numerous other studies have come up with similar findings that there are huge health benefits to be gained by becoming vegetarian and then taking the next logical step and becoming vegan.

Nick From Columbus: There are benefits outside of the health benefits here too, such as not murdering millions of defenseless animals. But cutting all animal products from my diet seems like the next logical step once I’ve mastered vegetarianism.

Being Vegan: When people are drawn to vegetarianism for nonaltruistic purposes, such as improving their health, it is often hard for them to understand or appreciate what motivates others to veganism… Conversely, when people choose vegetarianism for reasons outside themselves, they are able to view veganism as the next logical step.

ShawnT: For educated people who are truly against animal cruelty and become vegetarians, veganism is simply the next logical step.

For The Birds: These are the folks we need to focus on most, it seems. As they may already be in a place where veganism is the next logical step.

Moochbabe: It seems like whenever someone starts to make a change for the better, they want to continue the change all the way. When I was little, I didn’t even understand vegetarianism, let alone veganism. Then I started eating less meat, and then made the transition to no meat/flesh. From there it just seemed like the next logical step to go vegan.

The Tropical Vegan: Theresa is a PhD student, studying Aboriginal activism and social movements. Veganism was the next logical step in her critique of capitalism and exploitation.

Resurgence, Volumes 5-7: Tyson hopes that his newly converted lacto-ovo vegetarians will feel able to take the next logical step and abstain from animal products altogether.

monperebabar: I’ve been a vegetarian for three years and decided to make the next logical step. As of right now, I’ve just finished a tidy little shopping excursion full of quinoa, sesame oil, tofu, falafel, couscous and earth balance!

Ruby Rose: Like many of us, you’ll look back soon enough and wonder why on earth you stayed veggie so long without taking the next logical step!

Bryan: Now that [Lisa Simpson] has been vegetarian for a few years, it would make sense to have her go vegan. Since Lisa is a “compassionate” character, this is only the next logical step.

Kamaniya: VEGETARIANS, PLEASE TAKE NOTE: … Please take the next logical step & GO VEGAN!

Don’t think this doesn’t apply to you too, world. The staircase of logic doesn’t end with one small step for vegan (wo)man…

Codebug: A vegan world is the next logical step for mankind.

--Tagged under: Vegan Quotes--

--Tagged under: Vegan Cliches--

But Is It Vegan?: Oyster Mushrooms

“But is it vegan?” Deployed at events and restaurants that are not fully controlled by trusted vegans, the answer to this question is essential when vegans find a food they think they might want, but are not yet sure of all its moral, health and environmental ramifications.

A pig corpse on a spit is self-explanatory, but a plate of cupcakes with carrot designs on top might give a vegan hope. “Those look delicious! But are they vegan?” In situations like this, it is an easy question to answer. Whoever made the cupcakes will either say: “Unfortunately, I used eggs, milk, lard, and ghee,” or “What’s vegan?”

Other times there are vegan gray areas for entire types of foods, and vegans have to ask each other: but is it vegan?

The blog Dallas Vegan did a poll on whether oyster mushrooms are vegan. The issue wasn’t that they had an animal product in their name (which of course can’t help), but that oyster mushrooms are a carnivorous plant, so when vegans eat them, they might be eating the roundworms that oyster mushrooms slaughter to get their nitrogen.

I had never heard of this controversy before, and it must be a pretty obscure one, because I couldn’t find any mention of it anywhere else on the internet. Apparently this is more of a word-of-mouth concern. Luckily, the commenters arrived at a consensus:

Kit Chen: I see where they’re coming from but must ask: where do you stop? I mean, can anyone be 100% certain that the soil in which our food grows doesn’t contain remnants of dead insects or earthworms or whatnot?

EddieG: Yeah, I got into this argument with another vegan recently. It just seemed odd to me that the person didn’t consider oyster mushrooms vegan, yet other mushroom varieties that are cultivated on manure were deemed acceptable.

Drew: I agree. Plus, I don’t know if I could give up my oyster mushroom calamari. The Artful Vegan has an amaaaazing recipe.

Monique: A big part of my veganism is that I don’t believe anything should suffer to fuel my body. And I’m fairly certain mushrooms don’t suffer. But I have to admit this is a very interesting question…and it makes me realize how ridiculous people can get.

--Tagged under: Ethics--

--Tagged under: Vegan Quotes--

--Tagged under: Vegan Cliches--

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