Welcome!

[piggy]

Welcome to the Vegan Community!

What is a vegan? As mentioned at the Vegetarian Resource Guide

Vegans, in addition to being vegetarian*, do not use other animal products and by-products such as eggs, dairy products, honey, leather, fur, silk, wool, cosmetics, and soaps derived from animal products.

*Vegetarian does not eat meat, which includes beef, poultry and fish. Yes, we all know that your cousin's sister's boyfriend's Aunt Betsy's friend's daughter Jane eats chicken and she's "vegetarian," but she's not. Really.

I hope that this will be a place where we can encourage and inspire each other on this lifestyle choice we have made.

(I will probably come back when I am not sleep deprived and write a final sentence that isn't so corny.)

Comments

[purpletigron]

Thank you!

I thought people might be interested in the definition used by The Vegan Society, co-founded by Donald Watson who originally coined the term, 'vegan':

http://www.vegansociety.com/about_us/

"The Vegan Society promotes vegan lifestyles - that is, ways of living that seek to exclude, as far as is possible and practical, all forms of exploitation of animals for food, clothing or any other purpose."

http://www.vegansociety.com/business/trademark/opportunities/standards.php

"The Vegan Society understands the word "animal" to refer to the entire Animal Kingdom, that is all vertebrates and all multicellular invertebrates. The word may be used either as a noun or an adjective and to refer to either a species or an individual animal, depending on context. Unless otherwise stated, it usually means non-human animals."

[kinkihair]

*Vegetarian does not eat meat, which includes beef, poultry and fish. Yes, we all know that your cousin's sister's boyfriend's Aunt Betsy's friend's daughter Jane eats chicken and she's "vegetarian," but she's not. Really.
Don't forget, "but you eat fish, right?"

[piggy]

I'm wondering if anybody has started to say, "I'm vegan, so I don't eat chicken or fish, either, but I do drink milk."

[purpletigron]

I've heard someone describe themselves as 'lacto-vegan' !