What's a Vegan?

Essentially, a vegan is a person who abstains from eating or using all animal products. This includes, but definitely isn't limited to:

- Meat (Beef, Pork, Chicken, Fish, Antelope, Squirrel, you get the idea)
- Dairy (Cheese, Milk, Ice Cream, Sour Cream, Heavy Cream, Whipping Cream...)
- Eggs (They were almost chickens, and definitely an animal product)
- Leather (Here's a hint, they don't remove it surgically...)
- Honey (Kind of a stretch, but bees are animals. So it's an animal product)
- Wool (The sheep aren't killed to get it, but the practice of raising them is not very nice)

Of course, there aren't always easy choices. Honey can be debated since it doesn't use many resources to grow bees, they help pollinate, and usually aren't killed to harvest the honey. A couple other things to be aware of are:

- Beer (If isinglass or a similar animal-based clearing agent is used, it ain't vegan)
- Restaurant food (Just because you know what a vegan eats doesn't mean the cook at Applebee's does)
- Gelatin (Usually made from animal hooves. Seriously)
- Vegetarian foods (Vegetarian does NOT necessarily mean vegan)
- Kosher foods (Again, not the same thing)
- Organic foods (Better than not-organic, but not vegan)
- Veggie Cheese (Rennet binds cheese together and comes from cow stomachs. Make sure the rennet is veggie-based before partaking)

If you still are curious what exactly a vegan is, there are TONS of sites out there with information for the curious and interested.

Here's a couple sites to start you off.


-Brendan