In my head, I think of myself as plant-based. I eat a plant-based diet. When I talk about my eating habits to others, I tell them I'm vegan. It just seems easier. But am I really vegan?
I feel like maybe these two terms, while overlapping, are not the same thing. Maybe more descriptive labels are in order: leather-wearers vs Oreo-eaters.
See, I cut out animal products from my diet after reading about the overwhelming amount of evidence that eating animal-based foods can cause cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and other uniquely Western ailments. I consider the environmental and animal rights benefits a very nice side effect, but I'm mostly concerned with my health. Which means I don't go around eating Oreos and Twizzlers, just because they happen to contain zero animal products. I do, however, have a suede jacket, which I've had for years, and which I still wear.
I'm sure this would horrify many vegans. The ones who read about or saw videos of factory farms, said, "Enough is enough," and swore off the consumption of any animal products anywhere in their lives. They're not worried about their health, but they don't wear leather, or use goat's milk soap, or anything like that. But they eat Oreos, because no animals were harmed in their making.
I'm not trying to make any kind of point here, about which point of view is more legitimate. I wouldn't buy a new leather coat, and I have been known to burst into tears at the sight of a factory farm visible from the freeway. I'm sure there are many people who started out as Oreo-eaters, noticed that cutting out animal products made them healthier, and cut out processed foods too. I think the line is pretty blurry. I just think it's interesting.
Tomorrow's post will be a review of Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson.
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