A short primer on veganism, both the strict and not-so-perfect kind.
Credit: Stephen A. Wolfe/Flickr
Veganism has experienced a surge in popularity over the last decade, with the number of Americans following vegan diets growing from 1 percent of the population to 6 percent over a three-year period between 2014 and 2017. While there are a number of reasons for the upward trend, there are also many misconceptions around what vegans eat, what they don’t eat, and what exactly being a vegan means.
What Is a Vegan?
Veganism can take several forms, but at the broadest level, a vegan is somebody who doesn’t use or consume animal products. This refers not only to animal-based foods like meat and dairy, but also clothes, cosmetics, glues, cleaners and other non-food items that include animal derivatives in their ingredients.
There are also some products that don’t include animal derivatives in them, but do utilize animal derivatives at some point during the production process; for instance, certain sugars are filtered through charred livestock bones in order to make them white. Many vegans don’t consume those products, either.
Vegans of the above sort are often called “lifestyle vegans,” as their commitment to forgoing animal products extends to all areas of their lives. However, many people use the term “vegan” to refer to “dietary vegans” — people who don’t eat foods with animals in them, but do permit themselves to use non-food products made from animals, such as glue or leather.
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