I'm interested to see what other members think about the vegan-friendly diet - what is it?
In conversations elsewhere I've run into the odd argument that if you cannot obtain suitable plant-sourced alternatives for your food (eg living somewhere that food is scarce, traditional cultures, jail, some odd physical issues such as allergies to pulses), you are not allowed to eat anything animal-sourced to assure your health and wellbeing. If you do, you aren't vegan.
Here's my take on it. Anyone who adopts veganism (or what I call vegan ethics) because they think animals matter enough will make a bonafide effort to replace animal-sourced foods with plant-sourced alternatives. Most vegans are likely able to do that. But if for some reason someone can't do that, then they can include animal-sourced foods. They should still seek to be guided by vegan ethics to the maximum extent they can. So the hierarchy of choice might go like this:
A. Buy/source plant options
B. Buy/source as much plant foods as possible, but include animal-sourced foods where production systems come as close to vegan ideals as possible
C. Buy/source as much plant foods as possible, but include animal-sourced foods where production systems come as close to vegan ideals as possible, and if that has to be from CAFO systems that's acceptable.
People doing either B or C are not vegans, but they ARE being guided by vegan ethics as much as they can in their circumstances.
What do you think?
In conversations elsewhere I've run into the odd argument that if you cannot obtain suitable plant-sourced alternatives for your food (eg living somewhere that food is scarce, traditional cultures, jail, some odd physical issues such as allergies to pulses), you are not allowed to eat anything animal-sourced to assure your health and wellbeing. If you do, you aren't vegan.
Here's my take on it. Anyone who adopts veganism (or what I call vegan ethics) because they think animals matter enough will make a bonafide effort to replace animal-sourced foods with plant-sourced alternatives. Most vegans are likely able to do that. But if for some reason someone can't do that, then they can include animal-sourced foods. They should still seek to be guided by vegan ethics to the maximum extent they can. So the hierarchy of choice might go like this:
A. Buy/source plant options
B. Buy/source as much plant foods as possible, but include animal-sourced foods where production systems come as close to vegan ideals as possible
C. Buy/source as much plant foods as possible, but include animal-sourced foods where production systems come as close to vegan ideals as possible, and if that has to be from CAFO systems that's acceptable.
People doing either B or C are not vegans, but they ARE being guided by vegan ethics as much as they can in their circumstances.
What do you think?
