VeganismOli Walwyn

What is ‘Veganism’?Veganism is the idea of not consuming or using animal products in anyway. A large part of being a vegan is not eating meat or products such as egg and milk that are derived from animals. However, veganism also extends to the cosmetic and fashion industry as many animals are used in the making of silk, wool, leather, duck or goose feathers and soap (made from animal fat). There are also many animals products that are used in the making of products such as albumen, beeswax, blood, bone char, bone china, carmine, casein, gelatin, keratin, lactic acid, lard and yellow grease. Some people (such as philosopher Gary Steiner) have argued that it isn’t possible to be entirely vegan as the use of animal products is ‘deeply woven into the fabric of human society’.

Another definition of veganism:

https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/definition-veganism

Primary Research • Primary research is a direct way of collecting information which

involves conducting self-made surveys, questions or questionnaires.

• I conducted my primary research though the questionnaire website SurveyMonkey : https://www.surveymonkey.com

• My research sets out to explore how much people know about veganism and what their opinions of it are. I asked 8 questions to get insight into how people feel about veganism.

• I find this the most effective and interesting online way to gather information about a certain topic.

• I distributed the link of my survey to my friends and family through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

• I got 7 responses to my survey in the first 24 hours which I consider to be very successful.

Primary Research – Q1 What do you think veganism is? Here are the responses from my survey: • “Choosing not to use products made from animals or which

exploit animals in some way”• “Not eating meat or any animal biproducts”• “No meat or fish or dairy products”• “A vegan is somebody who doesn’t eat meat or any products

deriving from animals.”• “Not using any products that come from animals”• “The idea of not eating meat” • “Yes”

These responses tell me that generally speaking, people are aware of the idea of veganism and know how to define it accurately.

Primary Research – Q2 Would you ever consider being a vegan?Here are the responses from my survey:

Would you ever consider being a vegan?

YesNoMaybe

This data tells me that generically, people aren’t very willing to consider being a vegan and are closed to the idea. This is interesting to know that many people couldn’t give up meat and dairy products. If I were to redo this research, perhaps I could ask “Would you consider becoming vegan for a month?” and I might get different results.

Primary Research – Q3 If yes, why? If not, why not?Here are the responses from my survey:• (No) “There are easier ways to reduce your impact on the planet”• (Yes) “If I was sure that I would be able to sustain a balanced diet

without breaking the bank”• (No) “Love the occasional steak. Need vitamins from certain meat, fish

and dairy”• (No) “Humans were designed to be carnivores. Veganism is unnatural

to humans and we should feel guilty about it.” • (Maybe) “There isn’t enough motivation to get me to become one”• (Yes) “Because it is more healthy and there is less suffering”• (No) “Because I like cake too much”

This shows that many people have personal opinions against and for being vegan. This question was insightful as to why many people don’t consider becoming a vegan.

Primary Research – Q4 Do you think there are any misconceptions about veganism?

Here are the responses from my survey:

Do you think there are any mis-conceptions about veganism?

YesNoNot sure

This shows that a majority (71.43%) of people feel that veganism is misunderstood and misinterpreted.

Primary Research – Q5 If yes, what are they?Here are the responses from my survey:• “That it is stupid or pointless”• “They are hippy radicalists that wish to impose their unnatural

views upon the world.”• “Misconceived ideas about health benefits”• “Not fully understand what it means to be a vegan”• “That they are all middle-class hipsters that think of their

dieting as part of their look.”

This data shows me that many people feel that others think negatively about the idea of veganism or associate it with negative feelings. “stupid” “hippy radicalists” “dieting as part of their look”

Primary Research – Q6 What do you like about the idea of veganism? Here are the responses from my survey:• “Increased awareness of your impact on the world”• “It is a way of making a personal stand and feeling as though you have

a better moral conscious because you are aware of where your food has come from”

• “Nothing”• “Cost savings; meat and animal based products are expensive.” • “The commitment”• “That no animals get killed in the process of making and eating food”

These responses show me that people see veganism to have a better sense of moral and environmental awareness than carnivorous diets. Also that it is cheaper than meat and animal based products. This is useful in finding out how people think of veganism and why it is good.

Primary Research – Q7 What do you dislike about the idea of veganism? Here are the responses from my survey:• “The prescriptive nature of some of it’s followers, the idea that vegans are

better than non-vegetarian and dietary issues”• “The idea that everyone should be vegan and the limited food substitutes” • “Lack of vitamins and goodness”• “Humans need meat and animal based products in order to achieve a

healthy balanced diet”• “How strict is it”• “The though of not having bacon…” • “A lot of the options to eat are taken”

This data shows that people think that there aren’t enough substitute vegan food that give all the vitamins that you need. People don’t like the strictness of the diet or the idea of not having bacon. People think that meat is a necessity in a human diet.

Primary Research – Q8 Do you know anyone who is vegan?Here are the responses from my survey:

Do you know anyone who is vegan?

YesNo

This data was surprising to me, as many people showed misconceptions and stereotypes during the survey. I thought that people wouldn’t know others that are vegan but it turns out a majority of people do.

Primary Research – Addressing misconceived themes in the data

• Q1 – What do you think veganism is? “The idea of not eating meat”Yes, but that’s vegetarianism too. Veganism is the idea of not consuming animal based products which extends further than just eating meat.

• Q3 – If you would consider being a vegan, why? If you wouldn’t, why not? “Need vitamins from certain meat, fish and dairy”

Conversely, vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is the only vitamin that researchers agree that should be taken a supplement for, or eat a fortified vegan food. Vitamin B12 is a bacterial product needed for cell division, the formation and maturation of red blood cells, the synthesis of DNA and normal nerve function. With the right vegan diet, all minerals and vitamins such as calcium, protein and iron can be obtained. “Because I like cake too much” There are many recipes online that can be found without the use of egg. Vegan cakes are delicious.

Primary Research – Addressing misconceived themes in the data

• Q6 – What do you like about the idea of veganism? “Cost savings; meat and animal based products are expensive”

While meat and animal based products are moderately expensive, vegan food isn’t inherently cheaper. Many meat and cheese substitutes are quite expensive compared to ‘normal’ food. Vegan ready meals are also highly priced. It all depends on you eat and put in your body. A dried bag of grains such as rice, oats, pasta, quinoa or legumes are pretty cheap however and can form the basis of a healthy, low budget vegan diet.

• Q7 – What do you dislike about the idea of veganism? “lack of vital vitamins and goodness” “Humans need meat and animal based products in order to achieve a healthy balanced diet”

Again, this isn’t true. A vegan diet covers almost all ground that a meat based one does, and new research is suggesting that eating too much meat has drastic affect on our health. Lots of people lose weight on a vegan diet and so there isn’t a lack of ‘goodness’ or healthiness. “limited food substitutes” “not having bacon” Increasingly so there are more food substitutes that are vegan, including vegan bacon. Many of them have less fat, salt and sugar of the original item.

Secondary Research • Secondary Research is the idea of using existing information and

material to educate and inform on the topic matter. This is very broad and lots of different mediums such as books, text-based websites, video resources, radio and TV. There are many ways to gathering information on specific topic.

• I conducted my secondary research predominantly using websites such as www.wikipedia.org and Google searching veganism and (insert topic matter). This was useful as it gave my lots of relevant links to look at.

• This research takes advantage of existing resources to incorporate them into my work.

• Validating sources is really important in this type of research as it would be wrong to draw conclusion from incorrect facts and data. There are a number of factors I would look at to help me determine whether or not sources can be trusted.

The food culture of veganism• A vegan diet doesn’t contain meat, dairy or any other animal products

which eliminates consuming a lot of foods that we eat on a daily basis. Chicken, pork, beef, eggs, milk, honey and many other foods are a no-go for vegans. Vegan diets are based on grains, seeds, legumes (particularly beans), fruits, vegetables, mushrooms and nuts. There are many substitutes for ‘normal’ foods such as mock meats (based on soybeans) or wheat-based seitan/gluten which are a common source of plant protein.

• Increasingly, many food chains are offering options for people who are vegan. These include but are not limited to: yo! sushi, Zizzi, Loving Hut, JD wetherspoon, handmade burger co, La Tasca, Pret a manger, Prezzo, Ask Italian and Pizza Express.

• There are many websites that have vegan recipes on them for regular foods which have vegan ingredients such as pizzas, cakes, burgers and more.

Vegan RecipesA quick Google search can unveil some hearty vegan recipes. Many of which are plant, vegetable or legume based. More than ever vegans can have a very varied, healthy diet. I found these ones on Jamie Oliver’s website:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/lentil-tabbouleh/http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/sweet-potato-white-bean-chilli/

Nutritional implicationsMany vegans become vegan for the health benefits, almost as a diet. With planning, it is completely possible to enjoy a healthy, beneficial vegan diet that is delicious. However, the health impacts of veganism have been long debated.As with any diet, it depends on what you actually eat as not all vegan foods are intrinsically healthy. Many vegan ready meals and processed ingredients tend to be high in salts and fats that are bad for you. Using organic, untreated ingredients is a way to avoid this; but the way to eliminate it completely is growing your legumes, fruit and vegetables.Vegan diets tend to be higher in dietary fibre, magnesium, folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, iron, and phytochemicals. Well-planned vegan diets can reduce the risk of some types of chronic disease including heart disease. It is accepted by researchers that vegans should eat B12 (cobalamin) fortified foods or a take a vitamin supplement as uncontaminated plant foods do not provide vitamin B12.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veganism#Health_effects

Controversy around veganismLike all (fairly) modern ideas, there is naturally controversy around the veganism discussion. This is for a few different reasons: • Being a meat-eater is hard to defend from

a moral or ethical perspective. “Bacon taste nice” isn’t a valid argue.

• It’s easy to offend people. “I don’t eat meat because it’s wrong” isn’t going to sit well with a large majority of the population who eat meat. People don’t like being told they’re wrong and are generally skeptical of new things.

• The alleged hypocrisy of vegans around some issues such as evolutionary legitimacy (“We’ve been eating meat for hundreds of thousands of years, why stop now?”) and the health affects of a vegan diet (such as the lack of the vitamin B12).

https://www.quora.com/Why-is-veganism-so-controversial-but-eating-meat-and-dairy-not

Fashion and veganismFashion is one of the major industries that heavily uses animal products, particularly cow hide for leather and mink fur for mink coats; but also suede, wool, pearls, silk, feathers, bone, horn, cashmere, shearling, angora, shahtoosh, snake skin, down, pashmina and mohair.There has been much controversy about the sealing industry in Canada (brutally killing baby seals for their skin) and the Chinese fur industry which is the world’s largest fur exporter. They are brutal industries that neglect and abuse animals and have been investigated by organisations like PETA. This type of activity extends to most leather, skin and wool industry.Many brands have created vegan alternatives that use plastics and non-animal products to supplement leather or fur. Ethical vegans abstain from buying any clothing that has used animals in its making.

http://greenlivingideas.com/2015/10/29/how-to-be-vegan-what-is-vegan-clothing/

Cosmetics and veganismMany companies test/have a history of testing on animals; which according to many vegans who are vegan to be compassionate to animals isn’t vegan. It is becoming increasingly easy to find makeup and cosmetics that are ‘cruelty-free’ and vegan products that are guaranteed not to have used animals in any stage of the manufacturing of the product. It is used in marketing as a unique selling point (USP) which appeals to the vegan makeup market.

A list of products that are available for vegans:

http://www.vegan.com/guides/makeup/

Environmental issues and veganismIt’s generally accepted in many cultures that veganism is better for the environment than the meat industry, which is very detrimental to the natural world. However, many vegan-skeptics argue that the worlds food infrastructure isn’t designed to support an all vegan population and isn’t the best way to maximize sustainable land-use.In a study, researchers from Elementa Science found that based on their model of a vegan diet, it would feed fewer people than two of the vegetarian and two to four of an omnivorous diet in the long run and actually found that a predominantly plant-based diet with some meat on the side is more sustainable and efficient. However, this is a single study of many that have been published and focuses on land use sustainability and not the ethics of veganism or what is healthier for the human body.

http://qz.com/749443/being-vegan-isnt-as-environmentally-friendly-as-you-think/

This article stirred quite a controversy among the media and on social media sites such as Twitter. The article was corrected by Chase Purdy (author) as the headline didn’t accurately reflect the study findings which were based on land efficiency and not the environment.