A vegan is someone who does not consume or use anything that is derived from animal cruelty. Vegans pertain to this standard on various levels: Vegans never
eat milk, eggs, meat, or gelatin (boiled animal
bones), or products containing them. But some vegans consume
honey, and some consume white sugar (which could be filtered through charcoal made from cows' bones). Vegans never wear leather, but I have known a few who wear wool that is certified to come from farms where the sheep are
happy, healthy, hormone-free, humanely sheared, and not mulesed*.
Vegans are not necessarily hippies, activists, pacifists, or crazies... but some of them definitely are, and they scare me.
*Mulesing is the act of
cutting flaps of skin off of a sheep's hindquarters to keep parasites away; it is often performed without anesthesia.
I was vegan (still had sugar and
honey) for a
time, but my
family is full of cooks and bakers, so I eat dairy and eggs if it's a special occasion and the dish was made by a family member.
