Veganism: What it is? When it started? How does it differ from vegetarianism?

 

Food consumed is for survival. But the types of food that individuals take vary from family to family and regions to regions of the world. Accordingly, there are different categories of people based on the foods they take and foods that they refrain from consuming. Most of the people stick to their categories throughout the year but there are some who switch from one category to the other for religious or health reasons. During air travel, the airlines companies serve foods of different broad kinds based on what the travellers would choose and order. The categories types are increasing and new groups are added every year based on their new food preferences! So what are these categories?

Broad categories of people based on foods intake

The broad categories of people based on their food intake are vegetarian and non-vegetarian. The term vegetarian has been in use since 1839 and refers to food that is made of vegetables. Animal food is totally out in this group. In the UK and the USA, stress on such type of food gained momentum in the 19^th century. This was to decrease animal cruelty and the propagators of this type of food claimed that it had health benefits.

In this group are the lesser severe types of food restriction. These include those who eat additionally eggs, milk, and fish. Thus they are ovo-vegetarian, lacto-vegetarian, ovo-lacto-vegetarian and the like.

Whereas, the non-vegetarian group eats all types of meats, fish, eggs, and milk and milk products.

Veganism

In 1944, a subgroup of the vegetarian society cropped up that was against drinking of milk and milk products. They started a separate group and called themselves Vegans. This word was coined by Donald Watson and Dorothy Morgan (his wife). Thus it was meant to imply non-dairy vegetarian. A separate society came up and World Vegan Day started to commemorate this. It is celebrated everyday on 1 November. The month of November is also considered as the World Vegan Month.

Veganism [Source: Viva UK]

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This group is not only about diet. It has a philosophy of going animal-free in clothing and preventing animal cruelty in any form. In 1947, Donald Watson had said:

“The vegan renounces it as superstitious that human life depends upon the exploitation of these creatures whose feelings are much the same as out won.”

In the USA, a vegan society was established in 1948. Side-by-side, other food movements came up. This was about organic farming and pesticide-free agriculture. Soon scientists also started showing the association of animal foods and poor health and diseases. But vegan was more associated with punk culture. It is only in the last decade that veganism has gone mainstream. Supermarkets started stocking such foods and had special corners for vegan foods. Governments also started regulating these items and making it compulsory to write about them on the labels.

Mock-meat markets came up around the same time. These had plant-based meat. Such foods were also introduced in schools. In 2016, plant milk was increasingly sold and consumed by over 50% of Americans.

New generation and veganism

The millennials are for veganism and China and Hong Kong also had increasing vegan population. These people had stopped use of animal furs in clothing and also not buying insect-based products and clothing material. Artificial replacements for these came up such as leather, and also hemp, cotton, synthetic use rose. Cosmetics and personal use products such as soaps also started putting the label of vegan when they were free of animal products. People started serving their pets also vegan foods. Food additive use was minimized. Soya products production and sales increased. Vegan cheeses and soy yogurt was manufactured. Egg substitutes were discovered. Raw foodism also started.

But are vegan foods healthy? American Dietetic Association has stated that plant-based foods are healthy and sufficient. But vitamin B and D deficiencies can occur. And hence one should take supplements for it.