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Veganism

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"Vegan" redirects here. For other uses, see Vegan (disambiguation).

Veganism is a diet and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose.[1][2] Vegans endeavor not to use or consume animal products of any kind.[3] The most common reasons for becoming a vegan are an ethical commitment or moral conviction concerning animal rights, the environment, human health, and spiritual or religious concerns.[4][5][2] Of particular concern are the practices involved in factory farming and animal testing, and the intensive use of land and other resources required for animal farming.

Various polls have reported vegans to be between 0.2%[4] and 1.3%[6] of the U.S. population, and between 0.25%[5] and 0.4%[7] of the UK population.

Vegan diets (sometimes called strict or pure vegetarian diets) are a subset of vegetarian diets, which are credited with lowering the risk of colon cancer, heart attack, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, prostate cancer, and stroke.[8] Properly planned vegan diets are healthful and have been found to satisfy nutritional needs.[9] However, poorly planned vegan diets can be low in levels of calcium, iodine, vitamin B12 and vitamin D. Vegans are therefore encouraged to plan their diet and take dietary supplements as appropriate.[10]

Contents

[edit] Definition

Donald Watson, creator of the term vegan, and founder of the Vegan Society.

The word vegan was originally derived from "vegetarian" in 1944 when Elsie Shrigley and Donald Watson, frustrated that the term "vegetarianism" had come to include the eating of dairy products, founded the Vegan Society.[11] They combined the first three and last two letters of vegetarian to form "vegan," which they saw as "the beginning and end of vegetarian."[11][12] Vegan is pronounced /ˈviːgən/[13] or /ˈvɛdʒən/,[14] although Watson considered the latter pronunciation to be incorrect.[15] The Vegan Society defines veganism in this way:

[T]he word "veganism" denotes a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practical — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.[1]

Other vegan societies use similar definitions.[16][17][18]

[edit] Demographics

Data regarding the number of vegans is available in some countries.

[edit] United States

United States Representative Dennis Kucinich and his wife Elizabeth. The Kuciniches are known in part for their veganism and support of animal welfare.[19][20]

A 2002 Time/CNN poll found that 4% of American adults consider themselves vegetarians, and 5% of vegetarians consider themselves vegans, which implies that 0.2% of American adults are vegans.[4] A 2006 poll conducted by Harris Interactive in the US listed specific foods and asked respondents to indicate which items they never eat, rather than asking respondents to self-identify. The survey found that of the 1,000 adults polled, 1.4% never eat meat, poultry, fish, seafood, dairy products, or eggs and were therefore essentially vegan in their eating habits. The survey also found that about 1.4% of men and 1.3% of women have vegan diets.[6]

[edit] Europe

In 2002, the UK Food Standards Agency reported that 5% of respondents self-identified as vegetarian or vegan. Though 29% of that 5% said they avoided "all animal products", only 5% reported avoiding dairy products.[5] Based on these figures, approximately 0.25% of the UK population follow a vegan diet. In 2005, The Times estimated there were 250,000 vegans in Britain, which suggests around 0.4% of the UK population is vegan.[7]

Various polls and research conducted during the 1990s put the percentage of Swedish residents being vegan at between 0.27% and 1.6% of the entire population.[21] A study of the eating patterns of 2,538 Swedish children of ages 4, 8 and 11 by the Swedish National Food Administration found that about 1% of the children were vegetarian, less than 1% were lacto-vegetarians, but found no children to be vegans.[22] The German Federal Study on Food-Consumption reported 0.1% of female and 0.05% of male participants to be vegan.[23] The Netherlands Association for Veganism estimates there to be approximately 16,000 vegans in the Netherlands, or around 0.1% of the Dutch population.[24]

[edit] Animal products

Main article: Animal product

The term "animal product" in a vegan context refers to any material derived from animals for human use.[2] Notable animal products include meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy products, honey, fur, leather, wool, and silk.[3] Common animal by-products include gelatin, lanolin, rennet, whey, casein, beeswax, isinglass, and shellac.[3]

Animal products are ingredients in countless products and are used in the production of—though not always present in the final form of—many more.[25][26][27] Many of these products are obscure,[28][29] also have non-animal sources,[30] and especially in non-food products may not even be identified.[25] Although some vegans attempt to avoid all these ingredients, Vegan Outreach argues that "it can be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming to shun every minor or hidden animal-derived ingredient," and therefore that doing what is "best for preventing suffering" is more important than identifying and excluding every animal ingredient.[31][32]

Although honey and silk are by definition animal products, some vegans consider their use and the use of other insect products to be acceptable.[33]

[edit] Ethical concerns

See also: Animal rights, Ethics of eating meat, and Factory farming

Some vegan organizations maintain that animals have rights, and as such it is not ethical to use animals in ways that infringe those rights.[34][35][36] Practices seen as cruel to animals include factory farming,[37][38][39] animal testing,[3][40] and displaying animals for entertainment in circuses,[41] rodeos,[42] and zoos.[43]

Philosopher Tom Regan argues that animals are entities which possess "inherent value"[44] and therefore have "basic moral rights," and that the principal moral right they possess is "the right to respectful treatment."[45] Regan additionally argues that animals have a "basic moral right not to be harmed," which can be overridden only when the individual's right not to be harmed is "morally outweighed" by "other valid moral principles."[46][47] From this "rights view," Regan argues that "animal agriculture, as we know it, is unjust" even when animals are raised "humanely."[48][49] Regan argues against various justifications for eating meat including that "animal flesh is tasty," that it is "habit" for "individuals and as a culture", that it is "convenient," that "meat is nutritious," that there is an obligation the economic interests of farmers or to the economic interests of a country, or that "farm animals are legal property," and finds that all fail to treat animals with the respect due to them by their basic rights.[50] Regan therefore argues that "those who support current animal agriculture by purchasing meat have a moral obligation to stop doing so" and that "the individual has a duty to lead a vegetarian way of life."[51]

Steven Davis, a professor of animal science at Oregon State University, has argued that following Tom Regan's "least harm principle" may not necessarily require the adoption of a vegan diet.[52] Davis suggested that there were non-vegetarian diets which "may kill fewer animals" than are killed in the intensive crop production necessary to support vegetarian diets. However, Gaverick Matheny, a Ph.D. candidate in agricultural economics at the University of Maryland, College Park, countered that Davis' reasoning contained several major flaws, including miscalculating the number of animal deaths based on land area rather than per consumer, and incorrectly equating "the harm done to animals […] to the number of animals killed." Matheny argued that per-consumer, a vegan diet would kill fewer wild animals than a diet adhering to Davis' model. He also argued that vegetarianism "involves better treatment of animals, and likely allows a greater number of animals with lives worth living to exist."[53]

Davis's argument has also been criticized by Andy Lamey, a PhD student at the University of Western Australia, who re-examined the empirical studies Davis used to calculate animal crop production deaths. Lamey notes that many of the animal deaths Davis attributed to harvesting technology were actually caused by other animals, calling into question his overall estimate.[54]

Legal theorist Gary L. Francione argues that animals are sentient, and that this is sufficient to grant them moral consideration.[55] Francione argues that "all sentient beings should have at least one right—the right not to be treated as property" and that there is "no moral justification for using nonhumans for our purposes."[55] Francione further argues that adopting veganism should be regarded as the "baseline" action taken by people concerned with animal rights.[55]

A cow restrained for slaughter. Some ethicists consider the slaughter of animals to be an infringement upon their rights.[49]

Utilitarian philosopher Peter Singer argues that there is "no moral justification" for refusing to take sentient animal suffering into consideration in ethical decisions.[56] Singer argues that an animal's interests warrant equal consideration with the interests of humans, and that not doing so is "speciesist."[56] Based upon his evaluation of these interests, Singer argues that "our use of animals for food becomes questionable—especially when animal flesh is a luxury rather than a necessity."[57] Singer does not contend that killing animals is always wrong, but that from a practical standpoint it is "better to reject altogether the killing of animals for food, unless one must do so to survive."[58] Singer therefore advocates both veganism and improved conditions for farm animals as practical means to reduce animal suffering.[59][60][61]

William Jarvis, writing for the Nutrition & Health Forum newsletter, attacks "ideologic vegetarians," whom he claims believe that "all life is sacred" and that "all forms of life have equal value," saying that these beliefs "can lead to absurdities such as allowing mosquitoes to spread malaria, or vipers to run loose on one's premises."[62]

[edit] Health

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine recommends what they call the "Four New Food Groups."[63] They suggest that vegans and vegetarians eat at least three servings of vegetables a day, including dark green, leafy vegetables such as broccoli, and dark yellow and orange such as carrots; five servings of whole grains (bread, rice, pasta); three of fruit; and two of legumes (beans, peas, lentils).[63]

[edit] Nutritional benefits

Vegan version of the nutritional food pyramid which normally includes meat and animal products. Click to enlarge.

Scientists such as Roger Segelken and T. Colin Campbell believe that some diets (such as the standard American diet) are detrimental to health, and they believe that a vegan diet represents an improvement,[64][65] in part because vegan diets are often high enough in fruit and vegetables to meet or exceed the recommended fruit and vegetable intakes.

Benefits of vegetarian diets might be valid also for strict vegan diets[citation needed]: according to the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada, diets that avoid meat tend to have lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein, and higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E, and phytochemicals.[10] People who avoid meat are reported to have lower body mass index than those following the average Canadian diet; from this follows lower death rates from ischemic heart disease; lower blood cholesterol levels; lower blood pressure; and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer.[10]

A 1999 meta-study of five studies comparing vegetarian and non-vegetarian mortality rates in western countries found the mortality rate to be highest among vegans and those who eat meat regularly followed by vegetarians and those who eat meat infrequently. The lowest mortality rate was demonstrated by those who eat fish but no other meat. [66] A 2003 study of British vegetarians, including vegans, found similar mortality rates between vegetarians and other groups.[67]

A 2006 study found that in people with type 2 diabetes a low-fat vegan diet reduced weight, BMI, total cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol and did so to a greater extent than the diet prescribed by the American Diabetes Association.[68]

[edit] Nutritional concerns

Various fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains; some basic ingredients of a vegan diet.

[edit] Specific nutrients

The American Dietetic Association has said that "appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases."[10] However, poorly planned vegan diets can be deficient in nutrients such as vitamin B12,[69] vitamin D,[70] calcium,[71][70] iodine[72] and omega-3 fatty acids.[73] These deficiencies have potentially serious consequences, including anemia,[74] rickets[75] and cretinism[76] in children, and osteomalacia[75] and hypothyroidism[76] in adults.

[edit] Vitamin B12

Deficiencies in Vitamin B12, a bacterial product that cannot be reliably found in plant foods,[77][78][74] can have serious health consequences, including anemia and neurodegenerative disease.[79] Although clinical B12 deficiency is rare in vegans,[74] if a person has not eaten more than the daily needed amount of B12 over a long period before becoming a vegan then they may not have built up any significant store of the vitamin.[80] In a 2002 laboratory study, more of the strict vegan participants' B12 and iron levels were compromised than those of lacto- or lacto-ovo-vegetarian participants.[81]

The Vegan Society and Vegan Outreach, and others, recommend that vegans either consistently eat foods fortified with B12 or take a B12 supplement.[82][83][84] Tempeh, seaweed, spirulina, organic produce, soil on unwashed vegetables, and intestinal bacteria have not been shown to be reliable sources of B12 for the dietary needs of vegans.[85][86][74]

[edit] Calcium and vitamin D

It is recommended that vegans eat three servings per day of a high calcium food, such as fortified soy milk, and take a calcium supplement as necessary.[70][10] The EPIC-Oxford study showed that vegans have an increased risk of bone fractures over both meat eaters and vegetarians, likely due to lower dietary calcium intake, but that vegans consuming more than the UK's estimated average requirements for calcium of 525 mg/day had risk of bone fractures similar to other groups.[71][87]

The authors of The China Study argue that osteoporosis is linked to the consumption of animal protein because animal protein, unlike plant protein, increases the acidity of blood and tissues which is then neutralized by calcium pulled from the bones.[88] The authors add that "in our rural China Study, where the animal to plant ratio [for protein] was about 10%, the fracture rate is only one-fifth that of the U.S."[89]

For light-skinned people, adequate amounts of vitamin D may also be obtained by spending 15 to 30 minutes in the sunlight every few days. Dark-skinned people need significantly more sunlight to obtain the same amount of vitamin D, and sunlight exposure may be difficult for vegans in areas with low levels of sunlight during winter; in these cases supplementation is recommended.[75][90][77]

[edit] Iodine

Iodine supplementation may be necessary for vegans in countries where salt is not typically iodized, where it is iodized at low levels, or where, as in Britain or Ireland, animal products are used for iodine delivery.[82][72] Iodine can be obtained from most vegan multivitamins or from regular consumption of kelp.[82][72]

[edit] Pregnancies and children

According to the US National Institute of Health, "with appropriate food choices, vegan diets can be adequate for children at all ages."[91] The American Dietetic Association also considers well-planned vegan diets "appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy and lactation,"[10] but recommends that vegan mothers supplement for iron, vitamin D, and vitamin B12.[92][93] Vitamin B12 deficiency in lactating vegetarian mothers has been linked to deficiencies and neurological disorders in their children.[94][95] Some research suggests that the essential omega-3 fatty acid α-linolenic acid and its derivatives should also be supplemented in pregnant and lactating vegan mothers, since they are very low in most vegan diets, and the metabolically related docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is essential to the developing visual system.[96] A maternal vegan diet has also been associated with low birth weight,[97] and a five times lower likelihood of having twins than those who eat animal products.[98]

Several cases of severe infant malnutrition and some fatalities have been associated with a poorly planned vegan diet,[99][100][101][102][103] and provoked criticism of vegan diets for children.[104][105] Parents involved in these cases were convicted on charges ranging from assault to felony murder. Addressing criticism of veganism, Dr. Amy Lanou, an expert witness for the prosecution in one of the cases, asserted that the child in that particular case "was not killed by a vegan diet" but that "the real problem was that he was not given enough food of any sort."[106]

[edit] Eating disorders

The American Dietetic Association indicates that vegetarian diets may be more common among adolescents with eating disorders but that the evidence suggests that the adoption of a vegetarian diet does not lead to eating disorders, rather that "vegetarian diets may be selected to camouflage an existing eating disorder."[10] Other studies and statements by dietitians and counselors support this conclusion.[107][108][109]

[edit] Resources and the environment

Cattle - especially when kept on enormous feedlots such as this one - have been shown as a contributing factor in the rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
Main article: Environmental vegetarianism

People who adopt veganism for environmental reasons do so on the basis that veganism consumes far fewer resources and causes less environmental damage than an animal-based diet.[110][111][112] Animal agriculture is linked to climate change, water pollution, land degradation, and a decline in biodiversity.[113][112][114] Additionally, an animal-based diet uses more land,[114][115] water,[116] and energy than a vegan diet.[114][117][118]

The predictable increase in animal product proportions on the plates of people living in developing countries will bring new challenges to global agriculture. Source: FAO.

The Livestock, Environment And Development Initiative, a joint effort of the World Bank, The European Union, The US Agency for International Development, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and others, released a report in November 2006 linking animal agriculture to environmental damage. The report, Livestock's Long Shadow [119] concludes that the livestock sector (primarily cows, chickens, and pigs) emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to our most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global. It is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases - responsible for 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalents. In comparison, the proportion of total CO2 emissions by passenger vehicles is 12% of the total CO2.[120] It produces 65% of human-related nitrous oxide (which has 296 times the global warming potential of CO2) and 37% of all human-induced methane (which is 23 times as warming as CO2). Those numbers are confirmed in a 2007 article in the British medical journal The Lancet, which concludes that reducing consumption of animal products should be a top priority, especially in developed countries where such a measure would also entail substantial health benefits.[121]

A 2006 study by Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin, assistant professors of geophysics at the University of Chicago, found that a person switching from the average American diet to a vegan diet would reduce CO2 emissions by 1,485 kg per year.[122]

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis argues that while most meat production in industrialized countries uses inefficient grain feeding methods through intensive farming, meat production is not invariably a poor use of land, especially in countries like China and Brazil. Since a proportion of all grain crops produced are not suitable for human consumption, they can be fed to animals to turn into meat, thus improving efficiency.[123][124] Further, greenhouse gas emissions are not limited to animal husbandry; but also to several plant based sources such as rice cultivation.[125][126]

In the developing world, notably Asia and Africa, fossil fuels are seldom used to transport feed for farm animals. Sheep or goats, for example, require no fuel, since they graze on farmlands, while bales of hay for bovines are still transported mainly using bullock carts or similar devices. Few of the meat processing techniques that occur in developed countries takes place in the majority of developing countries. Animals are also often herded to the place of slaughter (with the exception of poultry) resulting in a very low use of fossil fuels. [127] In fact farm animals in developing world are used for multiple purposes from providing draught power, to transportation while also serving as meat once it reaches the end of its economic life.

A 2007 study which simulated various diets' land use for the geography of New York State concluded that although vegetarian diets used the smallest amount of land per capita, a low fat diet which included some meat and dairy (less than 2 oz of meat/eggs per day— significantly less than consumed by the average American) could support slightly more people on the same available land than could be fed on some high fat vegetarian diets, since animal food crops can be grown on lower quality land than crops for human consumption.[128][129] Given that most vegan diets tend to be low fat and most meat diets tend to be moderate to high fat (the study showed that the average American eats 5.8 oz of meat per day, nearly three times as much as the low fat diet used above), the study did prove that the average vegan diet is around three times more efficient in land use than the average meat eating diet.

[edit] Similar diets and lifestyles

Sample of vegan Buddhist cuisine from a Zen temple in Japan.
See also: Vegetarianism and religion

Diets such as raw veganism and fruitarianism are related to veganism, but have significant differences from standard veganism. There are also numerous religious groups that regularly or occasionally practice a similar diet, including adherents to some Buddhist traditions,[130] Eastern Orthodox Christians,[131] Jains,[132] Hindus,[133] Sikhism, Rastafarians,[134] and Seventh-day Adventists.[135]

[edit] Cuisine

A vegan raspberry pear tart.
See also: Vegetarian cuisine
Also see the Wikibooks Cookbook articles on vegan cuisine and vegan substitutions and its listing of vegan recipes.

The cuisines of most nations contain dishes suitable for a vegan diet, including ingredients such as tofu, tempeh and the wheat product seitan in Asian diets.[136][137][138][139] Many recipes that traditionally contain animal products can be adapted by substituting plant-based ingredients. For example, nut, grain or soy milks can be used to replace cow's milk[139][140] and eggs can be replaced by applesauce or commercial starch-based substitute products, depending upon the recipe.[139][140][141] Additionally, artificial "meat" products ("analogs" or "mock meats") made from non-animal derived ingredients such as soy or gluten including imitation sausages, ground beef, burgers, and chicken nuggets are widely available.[139][142]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Memorandum of Association of the Vegan Society". About Us 1. Vegan Society (1979-11-20). Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  2. ^ a b c Stepaniak, Joanne (2000). Being Vegan. McGraw-Hill Contemporary. pp. 2,6,17,148–150. ISBN 978-0737303230. 
  3. ^ a b c d "Criteria for Vegan food". Vegan Society. Retrieved on 2007-02-17.
  4. ^ a b c "Time/CNN Poll: Do you consider yourself a vegetarian?". Time Magazine (2002-07-07). Retrieved on 2006-10-30. "
    • Do you consider yourself a vegetarian? No 96% Yes 4%
    • As you know, there are many different types of vegetarians. Whch best describes you? Semi-vegetarian 57% Ovo-lacto-vegetarian 36% Vegan 5% Other 2%"
  5. ^ a b c "Types and quantities of food consumed: Vegetarian/vegan" (PDF). National Diet & Nutrition Survey: Adults aged 19 to 64, Volume 1 2002 11, 23. Food Standards Agency. Retrieved on 2006-10-30.
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  7. ^ a b "Donald Watson". Times Online. Times Newspapers Ltd. (2005-11-16). Retrieved on 2006-09-15. "The Vegan Society’s 25 members swelled steadily to the 5,000 of today. There are now an estimated 250,000 vegans in Britain."
  8. ^ Key TJ, Thorogood M, Appleby PN, Burr ML (1996). "Dietary habits and mortality in 11,000 vegetarians and health conscious people: results of a 17 year follow up". BMJ 313 (7060): 775–9. PMID 8842068. 
  9. ^ "Vegetarian Diets". Journal of the American Dietetic Association 103 (6): 748–765. 2003. online copy available
  10. ^ a b c d e f g "Position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada: Vegetarian diets". Journal of the American Dietetic Association 103 (6): 748–765. June 2003. doi:10.1053/jada.2003.50142. http://www.adajournal.org/article/PIIS0002822303002943/fulltext. Retrieved on 15 September 2006. 
  11. ^ a b "Vegan Society: History". Vegan Society. Retrieved on 2007-02-17.
  12. ^ "Vegetarians in Paradise interview with Donald Watson". Vegetarians in Paradise Web Magazine. Vegetarians in Paradise (2004-08-11). Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
  13. ^ "vegan". Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. Retrieved on 2007-05-31.
  14. ^ Oxford English Dictionary on CD-ROM (v2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2000. 
  15. ^ "Vegan Community Mourns Donald Watson". Vegetarians in Paradise Web Magazine. Vegetarians in Paradise (2005-12-01). Retrieved on 2008-09-09. ""The pronunciation is "VEEGAN" not "VAI-GAN," "VEGGAN." or "VEEJAN." The stress is on the first syllable," Watson responded."
  16. ^ "What is Vegan?". American Vegan Society. Retrieved on 2006-09-15. "Vegans exclude flesh, fish, fowl, dairy products (animal milk, butter, cheese, yogurt, etc.), eggs, honey, animal gelatin, and all other foods of animal origin. Veganism also excludes animal products such as leather, wool, fur, and silk in clothing, upholstery, etc. Vegans usually make efforts to avoid the less-than-obvious animal oils, secretions, etc., in many products such as soaps, cosmetics, toiletries, household goods and other common commodities."
  17. ^ "Introduction to Veganism". The Vegan Society of New Zealand. Retrieved on 2006-10-30. "A Vegan is a person who knowingly chooses not to consume, use or wear any products produced from animals or contains animal by-products, and avoids products tested on animals."
  18. ^ "About Vegana". The Danish Vegan Society. Retrieved on 2006-10-30. "A vegan does not eat meat, poultry, fish, milk products, egg or other animal products - out of concern for people, animals, and the environment."
  19. ^ "About Dennis Kucinich" (PDF). Dennis for President 2. Kucinich for President 2008. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. "Congressman Kucinich is one of the few vegans in Congress, a dietary decision he credits not only with improving his health, but in deepening his belief in the sacredness of all species."
  20. ^ Duck, Jennifer (2007-05-04). "Bringin' Home the Bacon, Vegan-Style", ABC News, ABCNews Internet Ventures. Retrieved on 16 August 2008. "In fact, the self-proclaimed peace candidate doesn't eat any kind of animal by-product; Kucinich and his wife are both vegans, presenting what could be a formidable challenge in the meaty world of high stakes politics en route to the White House." 
  21. ^ Pettersson, Björn (June 2005) (in Swedish). Vegansk näringslära på vetenskaplig grund (2nd edition ed.). Orsa: HÄLSAböcker/Energica Förlag. pp. 17–19. ISBN 9185506796. 
  22. ^ Heléne Enghardt Barbieri; Wulf Becker (2004-12-15). "Svenska barns matvanor 2003" (PDF) (in Swedish) 5. Livsmedelsverket. Retrieved on 2007-11-23.
  23. ^ [1] German Federal Study on Food Consumption 2008
  24. ^ "Wat is veganisme?". veganisme.org. Nederlandse Vereniging voor Veganisme. Retrieved on 2007-10-03. "Er zijn nu ongeveer 2,4 miljoen parttime vegetariërs en vleesverlaters, 300.000 vegetariërs en 16.000 veganisten in Nederland."
  25. ^ a b "Vegan FAQs". Vegan Outreach. Retrieved on 2007-03-11. "Is refined sugar vegan? It depends on how you define 'vegan.' Refined sugars do not contain any animal products, and so by an ingredients-based definition of vegan, refined sugar is vegan. ... However, if one accepts a process-based definition of vegan, then many other familiar products would also not be considered vegan. For instance, steel and vulcanized rubber are produced using animal fats and, in many areas, groundwater and surface water is filtered through bone charcoal filters."
  26. ^ "IVU FAQ: Drinks". International Vegetarian Union FAQ. International Vegetarian Union (2006-08-03). Retrieved on 2007-03-11.
  27. ^ "Information Sheet: Alcohol". Vegetarian Society. Retrieved on 2007-03-11. "The use of animal derived products in the production of alcoholic beverages is fairly widespread not because no alternatives exist, but because they always have been used and there is little demand from the consumer for an alternative. ... The main appearance of animal derived products is in the fining or clearing process, though others may be used as colorants or anti-foaming agents."
  28. ^ "IVU FAQ: Ingredients". International Vegetarian Union FAQ. International Vegetarian Union. Retrieved on 2006-10-30.
  29. ^ "IVU FAQ: Animal Derived Ingredient List". International Vegetarian Union FAQ. International Vegetarian Union (2006-08-03). Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
  30. ^ "IVU FAQ: Maybe Animal Derived". International Vegetarian Union FAQ. International Vegetarian Union (2006-08-03). Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
  31. ^ "On Living With Compassion". Vegan Outreach. Retrieved on 2007-03-10. "Our desire to oppose and help end cruelty to animals can help guide our choices, as well as provide a simple, easy-to-understand explanation of our actions. The question isn't, "Is this vegan?" but, "What is best for preventing suffering?""
  32. ^ "On Living With Compassion (Old version)". Vegan Outreach. Archived from the original on 2007-12-12. Retrieved on 2007-03-10. "We believe that framing veganism as the avoidance of a specific list of “bad” ingredients is not the best way to achieve results. When looked at closely, any ingredients-based definition of vegan collapses into inconsistencies. This is why we stress that the essence of being vegan is working to end cruelty to animals."
  33. ^ "Is honey vegan?". Vegan FAQ's. Vegan Action. Retrieved on 2007-10-03. "Many vegans, however, are not opposed to using insect products, because they do not believe insects are conscious of pain. Moreover, even if insects were conscious of pain, it's not clear that the production of honey involves any more pain for insects than the production of most vegetables, since the harvesting and transportation of all vegetables involves many 'collateral' insect deaths."
  34. ^ "About Veganism: For the Animals". Vegan Action. Retrieved on 2007-05-29. "Veganism emerges as the lifestyle most consistent with the philosophy that animals are not ours to use."
  35. ^ "PETA's History: Compassion in Action". People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Retrieved on 2007-05-29. "PETA operates under the simple principle that animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment."
  36. ^ "About Mercy for Animals". Mercy for Animals. Retrieved on 2007-05-29. "Mercy For Animals is a 501(c)(3) non-profit animal advocacy organization that believes non-human animals are irreplaceable individuals with morally significant interests and hence rights, including the right to live free of unnecessary suffering."
  37. ^ "Factory Farms". Why Vegan. Vegan Outreach. Retrieved on 2006-09-15.
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  39. ^ "Exploitation". Vegan Society. Retrieved on 2007-05-29. "The vast majority of these animals will have spent their brief lives in the cramped, distressing conditions of the factory farm. Their close confinement and the overworking of their bodies will have led to increased susceptibility to injury and disease. They will have been reared on an unnatural diet designed to increase productivity and many will have undergone various painful and traumatic procedures."
  40. ^ "Testing". Vegan Society. Retrieved on 2007-05-29. "Every year, millions of animals are subjected to the most horrifically painful experiments just so people can have a new brand of shampoo or a differently scented perfume."
  41. ^ "Circuses: Three Rings of Abuse". People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Retrieved on 2007-05-29. "Colorful pageantry disguises the fact that animals used in circuses are captives who are forced, under threat of punishment, to perform confusing, uncomfortable, repetitious, and often-painful acts."
  42. ^ "Rodeo: Cruelty for a Buck". People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Retrieved on 2007-05-29. "In reality, rodeos are nothing more than manipulative displays of human domination over animals, thinly disguised as entertainment."
  43. ^ "Animal Rights Uncompromised: Zoos". People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Retrieved on 2007-05-29. "PETA opposes zoos because zoo cages and cramped enclosures deprive animals of their most basic needs. The zoo community regards the animals it keeps as commodities, and animals are regularly bought, sold, borrowed, and traded without any regard for established relationships."
  44. ^ Regan, Tom (1983). The Case for Animal Rights. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. pp. 244–245. ISBN 0-520-05460-1. "…moral patients (e.g., animals in the wild)…For these reasons, the subject-of-a-life criterion can be defended as citing a relevant similarity between moral agents and patients, one that makes the attribution of equal inherent value to them both intelligible and nonarbitrary." 
  45. ^ Regan, Tom (1983). The Case for Animal Rights. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. pp. 327. ISBN 0-520-05460-1. "The principal conclusion reached in the present chapter is that all moral agents and patients have certain basic moral rights. … The principal basic moral right possessed by all moral agents and patients is the right to respectful treatment." 
  46. ^ Regan, Tom (1983). The Case for Animal Rights. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. pp. 328. ISBN 0-520-05460-1. "It was also argued that all moral agents and patients have a prima facie basic moral right not to be harmed." 
  47. ^ Regan, Tom (1983). The Case for Animal Rights. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. pp. 287. ISBN 0-520-05460-1. "To say this right is a prima facie right is to say that (1) consideration of this right is always a morally relevant consideration, and (2) anyone who would harm another, or allow others to do so, must be able to justify doing so by (a) appealing to other valid moral principles and by (b) showing that these principles morally outweigh the right not to be harmed in a given case." 
  48. ^ Regan, Tom (1983). The Case for Animal Rights. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. pp. 394. ISBN 0-520-05460-1. "This chapter traced some of the implications of the rights view. On this view, animal agriculture, as we know it, is unjust (9.1), and it is unjust because it fails to treat farm animals with the respect they are due" 
  49. ^ a b Regan, Tom (1983). The Case for Animal Rights. Berkel