Shooting straight for the extreme, as of Tuesday the 17th I have adopted a vegan diet. Humurously against my final statement from the previous blog. For those of you who aren't sure what the difference is between vegan, vegetarian, and, well everybody else, here's a quick break down from the dictionary (keep in mind, just like religion, there is some "give" as to how strict one must adhere to the definitions and still claim a category).
Omnivore: noun
1. a person who eats all kinds of foods
2. an animal that feeds on both animal and vegetable substances
*(obviously the majority of people, and indeed fitting within the functional definition of human diets)
Vegetarian: noun
1. of or relating to vegetarianism or vegetarians.
2. consisting primarily or wholly of vegetables and vegetable products.
*(some vegetarians still include seafood in their daily diets - depending on the reason for their diet choices)
Vegan: coined by Donald Watson to distinguish those who abstain from all animal products (eggs, cheese, etc.) from those who merely refuse to eat the animals.
*(many vegans also obstain from using any consumer product that is made of, tested on, or harmful to animals - such as many cosmetics, leather, fur, etc.)
*notes added by me, not copied from the dictionary
There are many pros and cons to becoming a vegetarian or vegan, and I will address them in a seperate blog. For my purposes I am studying; 1st) my own ability to subsist off of such a limited diet, 2nd) if there is a better application than the drastict stand of the vegans that will still support animal welfare, 3rd) the practicality of becoming a vegan/vegetarian in our society, and 4th) whether I would continue such a lifestyle; if continued, whether my reasoning would be based on it's affect on animal welfare, or if I would maintain it's application for my own personal aesthetics.
I will continue a blogging record of my journey, as a diary of becoming a vegan and it's practicality.
Let me first note: after 3 1/2 days ... I miss my cheese. Terribly.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
a third motivation to be vegan or vegetarian could be environmental. you know, the effects that "meat farms" have on the world (pollution, green house gases, etc.) or maybe effective use of land area per food output... you can feed a lot of people off the land cultivated to feed cattle.
ReplyDeleteand I still think it's odd to not eat honey. How does that hurt the bees? and if someone is going to go that far then I think they should also look in to every product made from humans (we are also animals, often mistreated) and rule out... I can't even imaging how many things you couldn't purchase just because it made someone's life less fun.
Honey is bee vomit...eww. As far as the mistreatment of bees, they have to be smoked out of their hives for us to take all of their honey that they worked so hard to produce for themselves. We take everything and leave them nothing and then they die. That's why some people don't eat it. I've tried raw, organic honey which still has all the enzymes and pollen etc, as well as supposedly unharmed bees but I don't really like the taste. I use agave nectar instead.
ReplyDeletep.s. Congrats for hopping on the bandwagon! :P
ReplyDelete