FAQ

This is the place for those Frequently Asked Questions relating to veganism:
What is a Vegan?
Isn’t being vegetarian enough?
What is abolition?
How does abolition differ to welfare?
Isn’t it hard to be vegan, reading all those ingredients all the time?
Now that I’m vegan, what do I do with my leather shoes, bad, wallet, etc.?
I’m at school and have to do a dissection, do I have to take part in it?
How can I be healthy on a vegan diet?
How do I replace eggs and milk products?
What can I eat as a vegan?

What is a Vegan?
The Vegan society(UK) website defines a vegan as:

someone who tries to live without exploiting animals, for the benefit of animals, people and the planet. Vegans eat a plant-based diet, with nothing coming from animals – no meat, milk, eggs or honey, for example. A vegan lifestyle also avoids leather, wool, silk and other animal products for clothing or any other purpose.

Isn’t being vegetarian enough?
In a word, no.

Abolition is about rejecting the use of animals. A vegetarian still eats eggs and/or milk products and may wear items made from wool/silk/leather or other animal materials.  However animals suffer to make milk and eggs and are normally killed after they’re no longer ‘productive’.  For example, the most common method of egg production means hens are crammed in small cages their entire lives before being killed.  Cows are made pregnant every year and their calves are taken away from them so that people can get their milk.  They’re under enormous strain being continually pregnant and producing milk at the same time.  Vegetarians may also consume more dairy and egg products than omnivores, so the level of suffering a vegetarian diet causes may be similar, if not worse, than an omnivore diet.

What is abolition?

From Gary Francione’s Abolitionist Approach website.

The Six Principles of the Abolitionist Approach to Animal Rights

1. The abolitionist approach to animal rights maintains that all sentient beings, humans or non-humans, have one right: the basic right not to be treated as the property of others.
2. Our recognition of the one basic right means that we must abolish, and not merely regulate, institutionalised animal exploitation—because it assumes that animals are the property of humans.
3. Just as we reject racism, sexism, ageism, and heterosexism, we reject speciesism. The species of a sentient being is no more reason to deny the protection of this basic right than race, sex, age, or sexual orientation is a reason to deny membership in the human moral community to other humans.
4. We recognize that we will not abolish overnight the property status of nonhumans, but we will support only those campaigns and positions that explicitly promote the abolitionist agenda. We will not support positions that call for supposedly “improved” regulation of animal exploitation. We reject any campaign that promotes sexism, racism, heterosexism or other forms of discrimination against humans.
5. We recognize that the most important step that any of us can take toward abolition is to adopt the vegan lifestyle and to educate others about veganism. Veganism is the principle of abolition applied to one’s personal life and the consumption of any meat, fowl, fish, or dairy product, or the wearing or use of animal products, is inconsistent with the abolitionist perspective.
6. We recognize the principle of nonviolence as the guiding principle of the animal rights movement. Violence is the problem; it is not any part of the solution.

How does abolition differ to welfare?

Abolition is about ending non-human animal exploitation, abuse, commodification, etc.
The essence of abolition is that ALL sentient beings, regardless of species, have an inherent right not to be treated as property and to live free from exploitation.  Whereas welfare is concerned with the way that non-human animals are treated and the conditions they’re kept in.

Isn’t it hard to be vegan, reading all those ingredients all the time?

To the novice vegan, ingredient lists may be a little overwhelming at first. One suggestion for meals is to start off simple in the early days. After a while, with a little bit of research on the internet, knowing what all the numbers mean should be a easier.

Now that I’m vegan, what do I do with my leather shoes, jacket, wallet, etc.?

This is a common question amongst people that are new to being vegan. Some people sell everything that’s animal based, and use the money to purchase vegan versions of the original items.  Some donate the items to charity and then buy vegan versions.  Others still continue to wear clothing until it wears out, then replace them with vegan equivalents. Basically, it comes down to whatever you feel more comfortable with and are able to do.

I’m at school and have been asked to dissect an animal, do I have to take part?

No. Even though most biology classes still dissect, it’s not compulsory for students in Australia.

You can find out about alternatives to dissection on the Australian Association of Humane Research’s website: http://www.aahr.org.au/help/alternatives.php

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine also have a website about alternative to dissection: http://www.dissectionalternatives.org

There is also a list of resources available at: http://www.humanelearning.info/index.htm

Some alternatives to dissection are:

• Text books
• Class discussion
• Videos
• 3D models
• Internet based multimedia presentations and simulations

How can i be healthy on a vegan diet?
By making sure you get all the nutrients you need.

The following page from the Vegan Society in England gives a brief overview of what to do: The Vegan Society – Nutrition

The menu to the left of that article contains links to further information.

How do I replace eggs and milk products?
There are many vegan replacements for eggs, milk and milk products like cheese. Some are commercial, such as No Egg, for use in cooking, the various brands of soy and other milk available, and Cheezly. Not all commercial soy and other milk resembles cow’s milk, although some does. The various types and brands can be quite different, so it’s a good idea to try a wide range so you can find one or more that you like.

Then there are the egg, milk and milk product replacements you can make yourself. These add even more options. For example, you can use chickpea (besan) or soy flour instead of egg, make nut or banana milk instead of soy or rice milk and even make various cheese replacements using yeast. While there are many of these types of recipes on the internet, you can find a good collection here: VegWeb – Alternatives

What can I eat as a vegan?
The same types of things you’d otherwise eat – and maybe even more. For example, if you like sausages, there are vegan sausages available commercially or you can find recipes to make your own. Although the variety of commercial vegan sausages available are much more limited, and some are made to be quite different to ‘normal’ sausages.

Some, for instance, are made mainly out of vegetables and/or beans – often these don’t taste anything like a traditional sausage. But there are commercial vegan sausages that resemble traditional sausages. Some brands include Fry’s, Redwood and Sanitarium (not all of Sanitarium’s sausages are vegan). There are also commercial burgers, fishless fingers, ‘chicken’ nuggets (that don’t contain any chicken) and ‘mock meats’ – which are made to resemble their animal counterparts. You can buy some mock meats in supermarkets, and Asian stores often have a good variety.

You can also make a wide variety of meat substitutes from seitan, which is a cooked form of wheat gluten.

The link given in the previous answer provides recipes for a range of meat, milk and egg replacements.

If you want to have a ‘mock meat’ experience just to see what can be done, try a good Asian vegetarian restaurant. They often feature a range of ‘mock meat’ dishes.

Many people, though, find they like, or come to like, food that doesn’t imitate flesh foods. Tempeh, for example, which is a staple in Indonesia, is also common in vegan diets. Tempeh is cultured soy bean slab that’s a good source of protein and can be used in the same types of recipes meat is used in.

Tofu is another very versatile food that can be used in both savoury and sweet dishes. For protein there’s also beans (like lentils, chickpeas and kidney beans) and nuts. On top of that are all the other foods people commonly eat such as bread, pasta, potatoes, other vegetables and fruit.

The only nutrient that’s not reliably found in a vegan diet – unless it’s added to foods like soymilk, yeast and vegan cheese – is vitamin B12. While it’s found in animal foods, animals don’t produce it either – it’s made by bacteria. So unless you regularly eat food it’s added to, you should take a vegan B12 supplement. You can find out more about how much B12 to take by looking at this link: The Vegan Society – Vitamin B12

People often find that once they take up a vegan diet they discover a whole range of foods they weren’t aware of beforehand. So the selection of food you eat could easily expand rather than contract!