The vegan lifestyle

Veganism defined

Veganism may be defined as a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as possible and practical, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose.
In dietary terms, it refers to the practice of dispensing with all animal products, including meat, fish, poultry, eggs, animal milks, honey, and their derivatives. (ref. International Vegetarian Union)

Veganism equals Respect for life

Veganism is a lifestyle designed to respect all living things as fully as possible. In particular, vegans try very hard to treat other sentient animals with real concern for their interests. We do not use their bodies for our own purposes. This means that we do not use their flesh, milk, eggs, fur, feathers, fiber, cocoons, honey, or wax. We do not use their organ systems for research, or manipulate their behavior for our entertainment or education. We try to engage in relationships with others only when they freely engage with us. Most importantly, we consider them not as property, but as living beings.

Veganism equals Not harming others

Insofar as is possible, vegans try to live their lives without harming others. An easy (but not foolproof) way to see if something is vegan is to ask yourself, “did someone have to suffer and/or die so that I could have this?” Dairy cows suffer when they are forcibly impregnated, separated from their newborns, milked exhaustively, and then slaughtered. Egg-laying chickens suffer when their bodies are manipulated to optimize egg production without allowing for natural behaviors like pecking on the ground or roosting in trees, or natural cycles like day/night or ovulating/not ovulating. They suffer when their beaks are seared in half and they are kept in tiny cages, unable to spread their wings. They suffer when they are either killed as male chicks or slaughtered as spent hens.

Veganism equals Not exploiting others and respecting the planet's ecosystems

We may not be sure that bees suffer in any way we can imagine, but they are certainly exploited when we take the honey and wax that they laboriously make and store for winter food or hive construction. They are killed when we harvest these products of their labor, and when we decide to start over with a new hive, rather than maintain an old one.

Salmon, which naturally swim hundreds of miles from rivers to oceans and then back again, are often kept in crowded tanks that breed disease and stress. Wild salmon and tuna are thought to feel pain in their lips and certainly suffer when they suffocate outside the water. Like every other animal-derived product, fish flesh, eggs, and oil are all unnecessary for us to live healthy, fulfilling lives, but they deprive fish of life and liberty. Vegans therefore choose not to use them.

By refusing to support fishing, vegans also allow the rest of the aquatic ecosystems to flourish. Farmed salmon are fed on large quantities of smaller fish, which are becoming rare, spelling trouble for the many other species that feed on them. Fishing nets kill other species as well, and some of the techniques devastate the habitat of ocean-dwelling organisms.