As the famous author and philosopher of animal rights, Gary .L. Francione says Veganism is not about giving anything up or losing anything; it is about gaining the piece within yourself that comes from embracing nonviolence and refusing participate in the exploitation of the vulnerable.
What is Veganism?
Veganism is a way of living which abstains from the usage of animal and animal products , through all ways known to man, so as to avoid the exploitation of animals for food, clothing or for any other purpose. It believes in the philosophy which rejects the commodity status that is given to animals . A person who follows this philosophy in all aspects of their life is known as a vegan .
According to the Vegan Society of England, Veganism is defined as As a way of living, which excludes all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, the animal kingdom and includes a reverence for life . This in other words means that vegans try to exclude and abstain from all kinds of exploitation and cruelty to animals without considering any beneficial end result for them or for the perceived value to the society. In simple terms, it means that they detest the use of animal and animal products not only in diet but also in those activities like testing of drugs which are perceived to benefit human health.
One of the main characteristic that attracts people to the whole concept of veganism is their doctrine . The term vegan was coined by Donald Watson in the year 1944. The term came about when the Vegan Society was formed in England. It first meant to mean "non-dairy vegetarian" and later included to refer to the doctrine that man should live without exploiting animals. The doctrine is explained in simple words, so that all those who join it, clearly understands what they are supporting or advocating for. It means that veganism is a principle on its own. It is not a set of practices but rather a principle from which numerous activities comes out naturally. It is concerned with only one aspect and that it is the right relationship between human beings and animals . Human beings for a very long time have been made to believe that it is their moral right to use animals for their use or purpose. For some, it means using the animal or animal products; provided we reduce the suffering to the minimal level that they can endure. But then veganism follows the principle of ahimsa , which means dynamic harmlessness. It means that not only should we avoid or omit animal products from our lives as much as possible, but also have to make sure that we ar e obliged to do the most good in this world while being compelled to do the least harm for all living beings. Veganism is the path to compassionate living and peaceful world.
They are numerous ways by which a vegan person can make changes in the world, however small they may be. The only factor that constricts them would be their creativity. With their creativity, they would be able to find numerous ways to reduce the suffering of animals on some aspect. There is no one particular method that is suitable for everyone. Based on their strengths and creativity thinking, they would be able to make some small difference. The main one would be live and lead their life as vegan, which involves a vegan diet. A dietary vegan eschews or desists from consuming all animal products in diet while an ethical vegan is often referred to those who not only pursue vegan diet, but also make sure to apply the vegan philosophy into all other aspects of their lives while opposing the use of animals or animal products for any purpose. This is also referred to as environmental veganism since it means the avoidance of animal products on the ground that industrial farming of animals causes catastrophes for environment while being unsustainable for the human race as whole in the long run. By avoiding the animal products, they are trying to make the world a better place by doing what they believe they can do to in the most compassionate and loving manner while trying not to be judgemental of others who do not believe in this theory. They are always on the search for options which will protect and improve the life of all living beings on earth while trying to be responsible regarding the usage of natural resources, so that they are able to inspire peace and harmony.
They are a number of myths and wrong information that are circulating around the concept of veganism and especially with regard to vegan diet. The truth is if you love tasty and nutritious food; then there is nothing in the vegan diet that is not to love in this healthy diet ! The possibilities of exciting, new, vibrant scrumptious foods that you can devour while remaining truthful to environment are indeed endless when you transit to veganism. But then people in general, seem to believe or assume that the opposite is true. They tend to believe that they will be constricted in their diet to a few options which will soon become boring and uninteresting. Behold, the truth is that you would be opened up to a whole new world which have lots and tons of new options and ingredients and recipes that opens up culinary delights which you wouldnt ever experience in your previous diet. The options are unlimited since you are on a much more exploratory mode, celebrating new tasty experiments which will free you from your earlier boring reigns. The diverse combinations of healthy plant ingredients ensure that it remain interesting while being compassionate to the environment, to animals and to your health. Irrespective of what had been your favourite food earlier, whether it is cake or pizza or pastries or curries, dont worry, there are vegan versions for all these, so that you still get to enjoy all that in a much healthier way. So here we come out with this guide to let you discard and displace all those wrong assumptions that you had with vegan diet and lifestyle while kindly pointing out the positive beneficial effects it will have on you physically and mentally while being environment friendly.
The products which vegans generally abstains includes meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, dairy products like milk, cheese and egg, honey and beeswax, fur, silk, leather, duck feather, wool and goose down. They are numerous other animal by-products which are less known such as bone char , bone china , carmine , casein , cochineal etc. all which involves some kind of cruelty towards animals and which are found in processed foods in small quantity. You would indeed be surprised at the number of products which comes under these categories. It points to the fact how animals are being used in a number of products that otherwise escape our attention and how much it has been ingrained to our system to use these animal by-products. In most of the cases, ethical vegans shall not use these products and also those items which have been tested on animals. It has been found that lot of vegans also avoid certain vaccines. For example, certain kind of vaccines, like the flu vaccines as the production of flu vaccines involves the use of chicken eggs.
Veganism has a vision and goal for the future; a future in which all living beings has equal rights to live without being exploited and harmed. In the present age, it is indeed impossible to avoid all kinds of animal and animal by-products since they are have been widely used in most of the products that we use in our daily life some way or other. Animal by-product is used in cars, construction, glues, inks etc. and what not. But then, in spite of all these, they are still many areas where it is indeed possible to take a stand to avoid animal products especially with regard to our diets, clothing and entertainment . Those who take to veganism do not believe that they are making sacrifices, but they rather believe that they are taking a conscious decision not to participate in those activities which involves animal exploitation. They believe voluntarily that they do not want to violate the rights of other living beings especially animals.