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Being vegan is a philosophy of life that has as a principle to respect animals and their feelings

Edited and resized image of Doruk Yemenici is available on Unsplash

The term "vegan" was coined in 1944 by a small group of vegetarians who split from the Vegetarian Society of Leicester, England, to form the Vegan Society. They chose not to consume dairy products, eggs or any other animal products, in addition to abstaining from meat, just like vegetarians.

The term "vegan" was chosen by combining a few letters of the English word "vegetarian". But, over time, being vegan has become a way of life that tries to exclude all forms of animal exploitation and cruelty, whether from food, clothing, cosmetics, medicine, footwear or any other form of consumption.

• What is conscious consumption?

why be vegan

The Vegan Society of England defines a vegan as a person who seeks to exclude, as far as possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation and cruelty to animals, whether for food, clothing or any other purpose. Thus, a vegan has a diet completely based on vegetables and fungi (mushrooms), free of all animal foods, such as: meat, dairy, eggs, pollen, propolis, beeswax and honey, as well as products such as leather and any product tested on animals.

ethic

The vegan believes that all sentient creatures (which are capable of feeling pain, pleasure, fear, among other feelings) have a right to life and freedom. Therefore, he is opposed to the death of a sentient being, simply to consume its flesh, drink its milk, or dress its skin - especially since alternatives are available.

Vegans are also opposed to the psychological and physical stress that animals can withstand as a result of modern agricultural practices. In this way they are against the use of cages, grinding of live male chicks by the egg industry, aggression against ducks and geese for the production of Foie gras, animal confinement for the production of eggs, meat and milk, among other exploratory practices. Learn more about the subject of animal confinement in the article: "The dangers and cruelty of animal confinement".

• What is an environmental activist?

extra benefits

Health

Although there is a lot of vegan food junkie food, a plant-based diet, as is the case with vegans, can reduce the risk of heart disease.

The term "vegan" was coined in 1944 by a small group of vegetarians who split from the Vegetarian Society of Leicester, England, to form the Vegan Society. They chose not to consume dairy products, eggs or any other animal products, in addition to abstaining from meat, just like vegetarians.

The term "vegan" was chosen by combining a few letters of the English word "vegetarian". But, over time, being vegan has become a way of life that tries to exclude all forms of animal exploitation and cruelty, whether from food, clothing, cosmetics, medicine, footwear or any other form of consumption.

Environment

Practicing vegan lifestyle habits is also good for the environment.

A United Nations (UN) report showed that living a lifestyle based on the demand for animal products requires more resources and causes higher greenhouse gas emissions (17).

Animal agriculture contributes 65% of global nitrous oxide emissions, 35-40% of methane emissions and 9% of carbon dioxide emissions (18).

The chemicals involved in the generation of animal products are considered to be generated from the three main greenhouse gases involved in climate change.

Furthermore, animal agriculture tends to be a water-intensive process. For example, 1,700–19,550 liters of water are needed to produce 0.5 kg of beef (19, 20).

That's up to 43 times more water than is needed to produce the same amount of cereal grain (20).

Animal agriculture can also lead to deforestation when forest areas are burned for cropland or pasture. This habitat destruction is thought to contribute to the extinction of several animal species (18, 21).

A more recent report, published in the scientific journal The Lancet, concluded that veganism is the most effective way to save the planet. Learn more about this topic in the article: "Veganism is the most effective way to save the planet, say scientific leaders".

Strict vegetarian diet is different from veganism

There is often confusion between a strict vegetarian diet (based on plants and fungi such as mushrooms - similar to any vegan's diet) and veganism itself. The difference is that the first case does not include ethics, which is the principle of veganism. Veganism goes beyond a diet free of animal products, it is a philosophy of life that seeks, in its practice, to free animals from suffering, especially that caused by humanity. Therefore, in addition to avoiding foods of animal origin, vegans try to avoid clothes, goals, medicines, among other items that were produced with animal parts or involved some kind of suffering.

But within veganism, even though all vegans only consume products based on plants and fungi, there may be more lifestyles. junk food, as is the case of those who like to consume vegan hamburgers . As well as those who have a raw-divegian lifestyle (they only consume raw or cooked foods below 48ºC) and the frugivores, which are those who only consume raw foods.

A person can have a plant-based diet junk food, raw or frugivorous and not vegan. But a vegan cannot, within its principles, consume animals, their secretions or other products that contain parts of them.

Foods that the vegan does not consume

Vegans avoid all foods of animal origin. These include:

• Beef
• Pig meat
• Chicken meat
• Fish meat
• Shellfish
• Eggs
• dairy products
• Honey
• Pollen

In addition, the vegan avoids animal-derived ingredients such as albumin, casein, carmine, gelatin, pepsin, shellac and whey.

Foods containing these ingredients include some types of beer and wine, breakfast cereals, gummy candies and chewing gum.

Foods that vegans consume

Avoiding animal products does not lead vegans to eat only lettuce. In fact, many common dishes are already vegan or can be easily adjusted.

Some examples include rice and beans, some types of pasta with sauce, popcorn, paçoca, French fries, soups, breads, veggie burgers, pizzas, chickpea hummus, among others.

Meats are easily replaced by protein-rich meals such as rice and beans, quinoa, chickpeas, soy, soy meat, tofu, oilseeds, lentils, peas, among others.

Dairy products are replaced by vegetable milks and cheeses. Egg is replaced by tofumexido and honey by maple syrup or agave syrup. This is all in addition to fruits, leaves, roots and other legumes such as peanuts (23, 24).

the language of the vegan

Some animals such as cow, chicken, dog and deer are used as a synonym for offenses. In addition, objectification and violence against the animal are naturalized through the use of expressions such as "killing a lion a day", "killing two birds with one stone" and "a gift horse is not looked at its teeth".

Thus, some vegans try to avoid using these and other pejorative expressions, as they believe that the idea that animals are inferior to humans is reinforced by language, and vice versa.