| Maybe you've seen their products in | | | | vegans as too extreme, and most meat-eaters, |
| supermarkets. Boca Burgers paving the way for | | | | who consider them downright loopy. But |
| Smart Links, rice bread showing up an aisle | | | | recently public opinion shifted from puzzled |
| away from Soy Dream. And suddenly more and | | | | disapproval to outright animosity, brought on |
| more you're meeting people who refuse eggs | | | | by a controversial study in 2005 and several |
| and cheese along with meat. You may have seen | | | | deaths. Lindsay Allen, a professor working |
| one carefully scrutinizing food labels. They | | | | for the US Agricultural Research Service, |
| are legion, and they have a name: The Vegans. | | | | studied the effects of vegan eating habits on |
| And although you've probably only noticed | | | | African children versus those of children |
| them relatively recently, they've been around | | | | given small, daily doses of meat. The |
| for over half a century. | | | | meat-eaters experienced healthier development |
| | | | and performed better in school, while the |
| VEE-gan? | | | | "vegan" group-fed daily servings of just corn |
| | | | and beans-fell behind. |
| Veganism is vegetarianism "turned up to | | | | |
| eleven." It avoids any product obtained | | | | Based on the study, Allen concluded animal |
| through the use-read, exploitation-of | | | | products contain nutrients not found anywhere |
| animals. That means meat is out, obviously. | | | | else and that forcing children into a vegan |
| So are eggs and dairy. But less obvious are | | | | diet is unethical and irresponsible. But |
| things like honey or silk. These are also | | | | vegans blasted the study as unscientific and |
| verboten; after all, those bees made the | | | | heavily biased; not only were all the |
| honey for themselves, not for some clumsy | | | | children starving, but the beef industry |
| farmer who crushes ten worker bees whenever | | | | financed Allen's study. |
| he checks on the hive. And imagine yourself | | | | |
| in a silkworm's position: all that effort to | | | | The deaths of several children by |
| create a cocoon, and for your trouble you're | | | | malnutrition did far more damage. Over and |
| boiled in it and tossed aside. | | | | over, the same story arose: vegan parents fed |
| | | | their infants nothing but soy, juice, and |
| According to the website of Britain's Vegan | | | | crushed nuts. The infants took ill and died; |
| Society (the world's oldest), the movement | | | | the parents were punished heavily for |
| started in 1944, when a group of concerned | | | | criminal negligence (and in some cases, |
| "non-dairy" vegetarians (as they were then | | | | murder). Again, critics claimed this proved |
| called) grew tired of seeing fellow | | | | the flaws inherent in the vegan diet, saying |
| herbivores consume animal products. Led by | | | | children needed animal products to survive. |
| Elsie Shrigley and Donald Watson, they chose | | | | Vegans countered that the parents were simply |
| a new name for themselves: "Vegans," from | | | | irresponsible, and that nothing was wrong |
| "vegetarian's" first and last syllables. | | | | with a proper Vegan diet. |
| Though the movement met with initial | | | | |
| resistance from vegetarians unwilling to | | | | While it's true that many vegans load up on |
| completely forego animal products, it has | | | | daily supplements (because things like |
| since grown dramatically. Britain is home to | | | | omega-3 or vitamin b-12 are hard to find in |
| at least 250,000 vegans; in the U.S., up to | | | | simple veggies), there are many who don't, |
| 1.4% of people refuse to eat or use any | | | | and most of them are living healthy lives. It |
| animal products. And with the rise of those | | | | may seem odd to a carnivore, but to a growing |
| vegan-friendly products, the | | | | number of people, it makes perfect sense. |
| convenience-factor is drawing more people in. | | | | |
| | | | If you're hungry for some vegan-friendly |
| Why? | | | | food, you should try the following recipes: |
| | | | |
| Vegans make the choice for a variety of | | | | Vegan Chocolate Cake |
| reasons. First of all, it's better for you. | | | | |
| Vegan diets are high in fiber and protein and | | | | Bold Vegan Chili |
| low in saturated fat and cholesterol. In a | | | | |
| time when heart attacks are the most likely | | | | Tofu Burgers |
| cause of death in America and obesity is on | | | | |
| the rise all over the western world, this is | | | | Shieldzini |
| no small benefit. Cancer risk is lessened, as | | | | |
| well; a regular consumer of red meat is twice | | | | Black Bean Chipotle Burgers |
| more likely to get colon cancer than a vegan. | | | | |
| | | | Wolfgang Puck's Spicy Bruchetta |
| Then there are the ethical considerations. In | | | | |
| the vegan view, snuffing out the life of an | | | | Broiled Vegetable Quesedillas |
| animal-or even making it uncomfortable-for | | | | |
| sustenance or comfort is a moral | | | | Brandia's Tex Mex Soy Lasagna |
| impossibility, even more so than with | | | | |
| vegetarians. Many even oppose the use of | | | | Black Bean Asian Tostadas |
| yeast in cooking, and why shouldn't they? The | | | | |
| process kills millions to of yeast molecules. | | | | Zucchini "Crab" Cakes |
| And if killing a one-celled organism is | | | | |
| immoral, then the factory farming of | | | | Wolfgang Puck's "My Mother's Garden Vegetable |
| everything from cows to honey bees is | | | | Soup" |
| downright intolerable. | | | | |
| | | | Steamed Yuca with Mojo |
| Under Fire | | | | |
| | | | And there are plenty more in our Vegan |
| Veganism has never sat well in the public | | | | Vegetarian Section! |
| eye, even with some vegetarians, who view | | | | |