Wondering what is a vegan? Ever struggled to explain the difference between a vegan and vegetarian to a waiter? You have? Then it's time for an official definition. But before we can learn what is a vegan we must talk about veganism.
You got that? Great...
What is a vegan? Simply put, a vegan is a person that practices veganism.
Vegans:
I must also add, "vegan" can be used as an adjective when talking about food. For example: "Is that ice cream vegan?"
Now,how about a bit of history?
The idea of following a vegan diet seems surprisingly foreign to most and totally weird, people tend to think it's a "new way of life". But is it? When did veganism emerge? Well if you are a Christian, Muslim or Jew or just vaguely familial with the story of the Garden of Vegan- oops, I mean Eden- then you should already know should already know that the first men/women on earth were vegans.
If you're not too keen on religion then just know veganism began some where around the beginning of time or maybe just around the time humans began walking the planet. I like to call that era "The period before fire", more specifically B.C.E (before cooking era). Yup, cooking is a technique used only by humankind, nothing natural about that. Surly the invention didn't come before the inventor nor did it happen to originate at the same time humanity was born. We simple never always cooked thus, since it's impossible for humans to consume animals as carnivores do in the wild (without dying), it is clear to the logically thinking that our first ancestors had to all be vegans.
However, the term "vegan" wasn't coined until 1944 by Donald Watson of the vegan society, our first ancestors probably referred to veganism by some other term, probably something like gu-gu-ga-ga.
"Hey, so you're a vegan now huh? What do you eat?" I get those questions a lot and usually reply by saying- "Food. What do you eat?"- I think that is funny. So I just want to put it out there that vegans eat tonnes of stuff but it gotta be plant based.
There are endless fruits, veggies, beans,grains and nuts to choose from but what vegans eat varies depending on the type of vegan person is. A health conscious vegan may eat only organically grown , chemical free foods where as a junk food vegan eats French fries all day. Learn more about types of vegans here. A vegan diet might seem a bit restrictive to some omnivores but it really is not. With a knife, some pepper and enough mangoes you can make a wicked pepper pot, all you have to do is get creative. You don't believe me? Well don't take my word for it just try any of these surprisingly simple vegan recipes, you're in for a treat :-).
Many of the foods meat eaters crave are also available in vegan style. Weather it's sausage, milk, cheese, burgers or good ole hot dogs, there is a vegan version. Yup it's true, you should try a veggie burger. Vegan versions taste way better on anyway, day or night.
I hope you have learnt just what is a vegan today but bear in mind that is not just about diet. I truly hope you are a vegan already and if not I urge you, with all my heart to go vegan. We can treat each other, animals and the planet so much better than we are now just by going vegan, by standing up for justice ,by trying to atone for the pain or species continue cause. Learn more about going vegan here or just hop over to this page to learn how to do it easily.