You may have seen their products in supermarkets. Boca Burgers paving the way for Smart Links, rice bread that appears in an aisle of Soy Dream. And suddenly you find more and more people rejecting eggs and cheese along with meat. You may have seen one that carefully examines food labels. They are legion and have a name: Veganos. And while you’ve probably only noticed them for a relatively short time, they’ve been around for more than half a century.

VEE-gan?

Veganism is vegetarianism “raised at eleven.” Avoid any product obtained through the use – reading, exploitation – of animals. That means the meat is off the table, obviously. So are eggs and dairy. But less obvious are things like honey or silk. These are also prohibited; After all, those bees made the honey by themselves, not by a clumsy farmer who crushes ten worker bees every time he checks the hive. And imagine yourself in the position of a silkworm: all that effort to create a cocoon, and because of your problem, is boiled in it and thrown aside.

According to the website of the Vegan Society of Great Britain (the oldest in the world), the movement began in 1944, when a group of concerned “non-dairy” vegetarians (as they were called then) grew weary of seeing their fellow herbivores. consume animal products. Led by Elsie Shrigley and Donald Watson, they chose a new name for themselves: “Veganos”, from the first and last syllables of “vegetarian.” Although the movement encountered initial resistance from vegetarians who were unwilling to give up animal products entirely, it has since grown dramatically. Britain is home to at least 250,000 vegans; In the US, up to 1.4% of people refuse to eat or use animal products. And with the rise of those vegan-friendly products, the convenience factor is attracting more people.

Why?

Vegans make the decision for a variety of reasons. First of all, it is better for you. Vegan diets are rich in fiber and protein and low in saturated fat and cholesterol. At a time when heart attacks are the most likely cause of death in America and obesity is increasing throughout the Western world, this benefit is not small. The risk of cancer is also reduced; a regular consumer of red meat is twice as likely to get colon cancer as a vegan.

Then there are the ethical considerations. From a vegan point of view, turning off an animal’s life, or even making it uncomfortable, for sustenance or comfort is a moral impossibility, even more so than with vegetarians. Many are even opposed to the use of yeast in cooking, and why shouldn’t they? The process kills millions of yeast molecules. And if killing a single-celled organism is immoral, then factory farming of everything from cows to honey bees is downright intolerable.

Under fire

Veganism has never sat well in the public eye, even with some vegetarians, who view vegans as too extreme, and most carnivores, who consider them downright wacky. But recently public opinion turned from perplexed disapproval to outright animosity, sparked by a controversial 2005 study and several deaths. Lindsay Allen, a professor working for the US Agricultural Research Service, studied the effects of vegan eating habits on African children compared to children who receive small daily doses of meat. The carnivores experienced healthier development and performed better in school, while the “vegan” group, fed daily servings of only corn and beans, lagged behind.

According to the study, Allen concluded that animal products contain nutrients found nowhere else and that forcing children on a vegan diet is unethical and irresponsible. But vegans criticized the study as unscientific and highly biased; Not only were all the children starving, but the beef industry funded Allen’s study.

The death of several children from malnutrition caused much more damage. Over and over again, the same story emerged: Vegan parents fed their babies only soy, juice, and crushed nuts. The children fell ill and died; the parents were severely punished for criminal negligence (and in some cases, murder). Once again, critics claimed that this proved the flaws inherent in the vegan diet, saying that children needed animal products to survive. Vegans responded that parents were simply irresponsible and that nothing was wrong with a proper vegan diet.

While it is true that many vegans take supplements daily (because things like omega-3 or vitamin b-12 are difficult to find in simple vegetables), there are many who do not, and most of them lead healthy lives. It may seem strange to a carnivore, but for a growing number of people, it makes perfect sense.

If you are hungry for vegan food, you should try the following recipes:

Vegan chocolate cake

Daring vegan chili

Tofu burgers

Shieldzini

Chipotle Black Bean Burgers

Spicy Wolfgang Puck Bruchetta

Roasted vegetable quesedillas

Brandia Tex Mex Soy Lasagna

Asian Black Bean Toast

Zucchini Crab Cakes

“Vegetable Soup from My Mother’s Garden” by Wolfgang Puck

Steamed yucca with mojo

And there is much more in our Vegan / Vegetarian Section!

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