What? ....... Is the question.

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone. I hope you are all doing well. I joined the group a

while back and I have been reading materials on vegetarianism and

veganism. Different definitions are given by different materials. I

am posting to see what you all think. I know it's long, but I would

really like to know what you think. The following are what I

consider each.

Vegetarian - someone who eats no meat, poultry, seafood or anything

else that once had a face and breathed and may or may not practice

other animal compassion practices such as refusing to wear leather.

Lacto-vegetarian - one who eats no meat, poultry, seafood, anything

else that once had a face and breathed and eggs and may or may not

practice other animal compassion practices such as refusing to wear

leather.

Ovo-vegetarian - someone who eats no meat, poultry, seafood,

anything that once had a face and breathed and milk and may or may

not practice other animal compassion practices such as refusing to

wear leather.

Vegan - Someone who eats no meat, poultry, seafood, anything else

that once had a face and breathed, milk and eggs and may or may not

practice other animal compassion practices such as refusing to wear

leather.

*All of the above are done for many reasons.*

 

The following are some contrary beliefs I have heard.

~I am a vegetarian, but I eat turkey.

~I am a vegan, but I eat eggs.

~Vegans practice all meaures indicating compassion towards animals

or they aren't vegans. They are strict vegetarians.

 

-I think being vegan and vegetarian is about what you do an don't

eat and other practices shouldn't be a part of the definition. I

don't think you need to not wear leather to be vegan, even though I

don't wear leather and don't recommend it. - Being vegetraian and

vegan is hard. It takes knowlege and courage to go against society

so the proper word should be used. If someone is vegetarian Great!

If someone is vegan Great! But it takes even more to knock out eggs

and milk so the words should be used accordingly, in my opinion.

It's just that they make it confusing to tell what the words mean

and they try to hide ingredients in everything. Ahhhh! So what do

you all think of the definitions? Thank you for your

input!!!!!!!!!!! - Cassandra

[Guest guest]

>It takes knowlege and courage to go against society

>so the proper word should be used. If someone is vegetarian Great!

>If someone is vegan Great! But it takes even more to knock out eggs

>and milk so the words should be used accordingly, in my opinion.

>It's just that they make it confusing to tell what the words mean

>and they try to hide ingredients in everything. Ahhhh! So what do

>you all think of the definitions? Thank you for your

>input!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hi Cassandra;

 

I certainly agree with your definitions, in theory. The difference between the

definitions and the way they are sometimes applied, comes down to the

idiosyncracies of human beings. What " should " be compared to what " is " , can be

very different. People may claim to be vegetarian or vegan even though they eat

various animal products out of simple ignorance, in which case, a little

education may set them straight. Others lay claim to such terms because they

simply think it's " cool " . When being " cool " is the motivation, attempting to

educate the person as to the meaning of the definition and whether they have any

right to use it, may fall on deaf ears.

 

I tend to use different ways of dealing with the " I'm a veg*n but I eat (insert

type of animal product here) " kinds of statements, depending on circumstances.

If it seems appropriate to me, I may point out the contradictory content of

their claim. Depending on who/where/when it comes up, at times, I may just

shrug it off and apply the " live and let live " concept of veggie-lifestyle to my

own specie.

 

As to " hiding " animal ingredients in foods, I think more study of the names of

animal ingredients will help you get that better sorted out. You may find this

webpage helpful: http://www.caringconsumer.com/ingredientslist.asp

 

Good luck! :-)

 

Deborah