Re:Worlds Most Expensive Burger: 1/4 million euros
by furyofantares on Monday February 27, 2012 @02:51AM
(#3638160)
> The original definition is
There is a wide range of people that call themselves vegan. Diets vary greatly, and the reasons for choosing those diets varies even more. Some eat honey. Some don't. Some eat tons of junk food and don't care about health. Some eat incredibly healthy and don't care about animals. Some are guided by beliefs about the economy or about sutstainability. Some eat animal products when they would otherwise be thrown away. Some eat meat or other animal products on very rare occasions. You may not want to call some of these people "vegan", or maybe they are the ones you aren't calling "strict vegan", but they probably get value out of calling themselves vegan because it's a convenient way to give someone an idea of what kinds of foods they wish to avoid.
There isn't a vegan authority, and people aren't reading some definition as a set of instructions, because being a vegan isn't the goal, at least for anyone I've met, it is a means to some goal. The goals vary, and the dedication to those goals vary, which is there is a wide variety of diets. If you limit who you want to call a "strict vegan" to people who read some definition and then follow it, where following the definition is the goal itself, then I think you're left with almost nobody.
I don't like to call myself "a vegan" largely because it facilitates the misconception I'm following rules rather than making choices. It's not a religion or a personal trait, it's a dietary choice (for me, a lifestyle choice for others, who may minimize animal product use outside of their diet.)
People ask me if I can eat this or that, rather than do I eat it, will I eat it, or do I want to eat it, and they really seem to mean "am I able to" as if I might not be capable of eating meat, or as if there is some authority with power over me that will not allow it. That's not the case. I can eat meat and drink milk, of course. I just don't want to.
There may be foods you don't want to eat as well. But I probably can't predict how you would react to changes to those foods. And you probably can't predict how I will react to lab-grown meat. For that matter, I probably can't predict how I will react, either.
There is a wide range of people that call themselves vegan. Diets vary greatly, and the reasons for choosing those diets varies even more. Some eat honey. Some don't. Some eat tons of junk food and don't care about health. Some eat incredibly healthy and don't care about animals. Some are guided by beliefs about the economy or about sutstainability. Some eat animal products when they would otherwise be thrown away. Some eat meat or other animal products on very rare occasions. You may not want to call some of these people "vegan", or maybe they are the ones you aren't calling "strict vegan", but they probably get value out of calling themselves vegan because it's a convenient way to give someone an idea of what kinds of foods they wish to avoid.
There isn't a vegan authority, and people aren't reading some definition as a set of instructions, because being a vegan isn't the goal, at least for anyone I've met, it is a means to some goal. The goals vary, and the dedication to those goals vary, which is there is a wide variety of diets. If you limit who you want to call a "strict vegan" to people who read some definition and then follow it, where following the definition is the goal itself, then I think you're left with almost nobody.
I don't like to call myself "a vegan" largely because it facilitates the misconception I'm following rules rather than making choices. It's not a religion or a personal trait, it's a dietary choice (for me, a lifestyle choice for others, who may minimize animal product use outside of their diet.)
People ask me if I can eat this or that, rather than do I eat it, will I eat it, or do I want to eat it, and they really seem to mean "am I able to" as if I might not be capable of eating meat, or as if there is some authority with power over me that will not allow it. That's not the case. I can eat meat and drink milk, of course. I just don't want to.
There may be foods you don't want to eat as well. But I probably can't predict how you would react to changes to those foods. And you probably can't predict how I will react to lab-grown meat. For that matter, I probably can't predict how I will react, either.