It used to be a feat worth mentioning if you were vegetarian, or perhaps if you abstained from red meat or dairy. Now vegan has become the new vegetarian and some of the omnivores are starting to get flak.
For those of you who may be out of the loop:
Vegetarianism is defined as abstinence from animal meats, including beef, poultry, and seafood.
Veganism is abstinence from eating any animal byproducts, including dairy and eggs. However, forms of Strict Veganism are becoming more prevalent, in which individuals prefer to avoid all products which have been processed using animal products, or come from animals at all. For example, honey is an animal product and is off limits, though it does not involve bee-slaughter in its production. Likewise, most table sugars are processed over animal bone char, and are thus considered not vegan. Things may get more dicey as you explore vegan movies, vegan fabrics, vegan synthetics, etc. Be careful, these people are serious.
This "More-vegan-than-thou-art" syndrome is slowly taking hold. I like to think of it as the vegetarian's process of self-actualization. But once you've exhausted the vegan circuit, you haven't yet reached clean-eating nirvana. Next comes organic (pesticide- and insecticide-free foods, clothing, containers, etc.) and the raw food movement (by it's very nature, a vegan concept).
All of the above have claims to medically-supported health benefits, some of which I agree with, and some of which I think are clap-trap. But since the onset of my own medically-compelled semi-veganism, I've been obliged to join the veggie party. I'm not really a "Save the cows" kind of person, but being veganish has been an enjoyable ride so far. I like to experiment in my kitchen, and I think that mastering cashew cream has helped me reconnect with my Portland roots.
Moo.
