Vegans aren't actually Vegans?

Gladys Worthing: Something to think about.....Most places that sell or produce Vegan products do so with an "agenda."If I buy Vegan makeup I do so because I am not willing to let another creature suffer for my vanity. When that company that I ordered from decided to create a Vegan product, they probably only ordered ingredients from companies who have the same moral agenda. The same theory can be applied to cotton and vegetables. Could be, not always, but could be....Show more

Sabra Roers: every vegan knows it's impossible in our day and age to be 100% "truly vegan" as defined by some - the point is to reduce animal suffering *as much as possible*. And for the record, fertilizer from animals wouldn't be bad if the animals weren't harmed or farmed for it, because it would occur naturally, regardless of if we used it. If factory farmed animals' waste was used for fertilizer, this is a different story.But yeah, unfortunately it is true that there are animal products ! in or used somehow in processing just about everything - sugar, beer, tires, glue (though the first two are avoidable because there are vegan alternatives)...the list goes on and on. It would be impossible not to ever utilize anything touched by animal products, but vegans try to eliminate the glaringly obvious: meat, fish, eggs, dairy, leather, wool (for those that aren't vegans - when factory farmed, yes, it is cruel), fur, products that test on animals...etc. It *is* possible not to buy milk, or shampoo tested on animals. It is impossible to never utilize transportation, for example....Show more

Giovanna Cramblit: I've never heard of a vegan let alone a vegetarian assert some sort of personal purity.They merely assert their personal responsibility to do WHAT THEY CAN TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE as they see it.It is the omnivore, in ignorance of the vastly-improved health, cumulative financial impact on industries using animals, and far smaller environmental fo! otprint of the vegetarian, who supposes that vegans are hypocr! ites or veganism is a farce for not living up to a standard it never actually asserts in the midst of a global culture where animals are used in countless and unavoidable ways. Usually this occurs so the omnivore mentally doesn't have to address the actual ethics/statistics of veganism if he can make up some character flaw of the *vegan*....Show more

Shelley Stevens: It's definitely possible to eat fruit with no pesticides, and tofu without bug sprays, vegetables with no chemicals to kill worms and the like. Manure is made anyway- cows do have to excrete. The founder of the vegan society came to his annoucement that a vegan lifestyle should not exploit animals for food and clothing and products as far as is possible, due to the fact he lived on a farm growing up, and one day realized the only thing humans did was take. Take take take from all the animals, and we gav nothing back.That was his simple clean ideal- to not use these same animals for things that we just don! 't need.He did not say "and you shall never breathe air, as this will harm a living creature, a fly". No, Jains do that.The vegan society is based on purely simple ideas- do not take from animals their flesh or hides or any part of them to feed, cloth, clean, or decorate yourself.Manure, well, it's something every animal does- excrete. In India for example , cows are revered as gods. Literally. They are given shrines, flower garlands daily, they're sung to, massaged, and treated better than dalits in many cases . I have seen one man follow after a white cow, who released a huge pile of manure in the street, go after the manure pile with a piece of cardboard he picked up from the gutter, and clean this pile up manure up into a tidy pile on the side of the road, so that someone could use it for dung- fuel. It's a very valuable thing. This guy was in a suit and smart shoes, in the south of INdia, yet everyone looked approvingly, and someone else would have done it, if he hadn'! t.Manure is benign. No vegan ever says they don't use manure. Actually,! the animal does not have to be poked and prodded to get the manure so it is the opposite of being used....Show more

Ezekiel Kadner: katie, i wholeheartedly agree, we do what we can :) :)

Elfreda Grossen: Pretty much. They also forget that the nutrients that plants used to grow once came from the bones and blood of animals.And that industrial agriculture kills countless animals. That includes the ecosystems destroyed to make way for corn, soy, and wheat fields. It also includes animals killed by petrochemicals, and the fish that suffocate when runoff nitrogen causes explosive algae growth in the Gulf of Mexico, starving all water life of oxygen. There is a massive dead spot in the Gulf from farm runoff.My favorite type of veg*n is one who readily admits that life includes death, and that it is not possible to live without killing other creatures.I understand the compassion behind going veg*n. After I saw Food, Inc., I almost became a vegetarian. Then I realized ! what Food, Inc. was really trying to say. It features Polyface Farm, a spectacular example of farming done correctly. That's what the message is: farming can be done in a way that is good for people, for animals, and for the land.And I cried every time my dad had to kill one of my chickens. And I screamed that if we ever raised chickens specifically for the purpose of killing them, then I would not have any part of it. And I refused to let my chickens hatch babies because I was terrified that I would get roosters that my dad would have to kill when they were fully grown.But then I read. And I read, and I read. I started with Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. After that, I felt less awful about having to kill chickens.Then I read The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. That's when I stopped eating processed food.Then I read Real Food: What to Eat and Why by Nina Planck. That's when I realized that I could never be a vegetarian. That's also when I started d! rinking cod liver oil and raw milk.I read The Whole Soy Story by Kaayla! Daniel. I stopped eating soy.I read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Despite that it was fiction, I stopped eating feedlot meats, and joined my parents in the search for local pastured beef. We had to convince our milk farmer to slaughter the bull that tried to kill him. That bull was his pet. But he hit three years old and got mean, almost killing his owner. He had to go for meat. Nobody wants an aggressive bull on their farm.I read Genetic Roulette and Seeds of Deception by Jeffrey Smith. I refused all food that was not raised locally, without pesticides or genetic engineering.I am sixteen and still reading, learning more and more every day. I intend to read some books by Joel Salatin, owner and operator of Polyface Farm. He's a genius.I respect the choices of others, but I do not wish to have any part of it. After my reading, I am convinced that the way I eat is right. I do not deny that vegans have the best intentions. Many do (I exclude those who believe that domestic an! imals shouldn't exist), and I respect that, but I disagree.And getting back to your original question. Yes, vegans aren't really vegans, if you want to pick at the details. It's literally not possible to live without killing other creatures. But vegans do the best they can, and I will do the best I can....Show more

Elvin Mannheimer: I am vegan with my diet & clothing & makeup products I use. Theres only so much a person can do you know? I do all that I can.

Antone Bual: I am truly sorry for posting this, but there are much less veg*n organic fertilizers that get used than manure:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_mealhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_meal