veg·an (vē'gən, vĕj'ən)

So what is a vegan anyway? Surprisingly I am often asked this question, usually by strangers or acquantiences when I refuse an offering of a baked good, or a menu suggestion of steak or chicken is made.

The Vegan Society founded in 1944 by Donald Watson and Elsie Shrigley defined Veganism as:

" . . . a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practical — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals"

For me in my daily life this means I avoid meat of any kind, dairy and eggs. There are exceptions. I volunteer at an animal sanctuary. We have many foul who lay eggs. I usually collect any eggs I see laying around and bring them to friends or eat them myself - I can't think of a reason not to. I have chosen to eat artisan goat cheese from local owners of dairy goats sold at my farmers market. I still eat honey.

The other obvious aspect of veganism pertains to clothing, bedding and beauty products. I own many things made from wool, leather and down. I will use these products until they are no longer useful to me. when It's time to replace them, I will do so with synthetics. It's not "practical' for me to throw out all these items and replace them - and it's just plain wasteful.

Veganisim also has some gray areas. . . wine, beer, sugar, honey, mollusks, crustations, vaccinations could all be considered 'non vegan'. Wine and beer are processed using fish swim bladders, sugar using bone, vaccinations often contain egg - mollusks, crustations and honey, well, duh. I choose to consume most of these products - many vegans do not. In my opinion being TOO restrictive, while not practical, also makes the vegan lifestyle seem unattainable. The purpose, for me, is be an advocate for the animals. Being too restrictive equates to being too difficult - so for the benefit of animal advocacy I choose to focus my efforts on the most obvious, egregious, explotation of animals - which is the production of animals for food, wool and leather -and to show others that it is easy, inexpensive, and beneficial to make similar lifestyle changes.

A really wonderful website for anyone contemplating a vegan lifestyle is Vegan Outreach.

Here is a photo of a turkey I love who provided me with an egg: