From TIME magazine last month comes this interesting history of vegetarianism and veganism. It's a nice quick read, though why the media continues to insist that veganism is "extreme" and "out there on the fringe" is beyond me. Is that really what people still think about veganism? Incidentally, as the article notes, Donald Watson, who originally coined the word "vegan" lived to be 95 years old (81 of which were vegetarian!), though it omits the importance of the Seventh Day Adventist religion, which has been advocating a vegetarian diet since the 1860s. So, it looks like the good news is that vegetarianism is "an accepted health choice" mainstream enough for TIME magazine, but unfortunately, the bad news is that veganism still has a long way to go.
Comments
Yeah, that was kind of a silly & pointless article – although it *does* mention that he lived to be 95 – but they don’t really make much of a point out of it.
I don’t understand why they consider it ‘cheating’ to take a supplement for B12?
Veganism will never be accepted. Too many people in this world lack compassion.So sad.
I TOTALLY disagree, Kelly! Sure, lots of people lack compassion, but we’re seeing more and more people adopt vegetarian diets for different reasons – health, environmental concerns, food purity concerns, etc. 20 years ago, we wouldn’t have ever imagined vegetarianism being as mainstream as it is now….veganism has momentum behind it and is headed the same way for sure! But it will take time and effort. Viva la vegan revolucion!!
I just read the “article” from Time. What a piece of garbage! Did someone actually get paid to write this? It’s very condescending to start with, and without question tries to convey the portrait of vegans as really “out there” whack jobs. I agree with Kelly: too many people lack compassion. They may “care” about animals, but not enough to give up eating them. This goes double for the author of this trash.
Live and let live. If fear is your motivation, there’s a constellation of scientific studies supporting veganism.(The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Ornish, Pritiken) Meat is not macho. It takes more strength to become a vegetarian than to continue to eat dead, abused animals loaded with saturated fat,hormones, food coloring, and carbon monoxide. Do your research instead of attacking and the world will be a better place.
I guess we`re destined to learn patience and…compassion..for those who still don`t get it..!
i think money has something to do with time magazine calling vegans “whacks jobs”
loved this entry in your blog
yes veganism utterly rocks
not always so easy to be a purist
Most vegans are whack jobs. You some that go on about saving animals but will poison or blow up humans to make a point. Taking B12 is cheating because the supplement is made from animals. ALL vegans have eaten animal products at some point in life, starting with breast milk. Humans have always eaten meat. some cultures would not exist if not for eating meat due to living in places where vegetables can not be grown, north pole (Eskimos), deserts, nomadic tribes in Mongolia, Aribe tribes, central Australia and that is just a few.
HippyNZ, you aren’t acting like much of a hippy! “Cheating”? What does that even mean? Breast milk has NOTHING to do with eating vegan. And, I’m pretty sure neither Osama Bin Laden, Ted Kaczynski nor Timothy McVeigh were vegan, so what’s this about vegans blowing people up?