The following are definitions
of the most common kind of vegetarian (veggie) diets.
| Hindu/Jain
Vegetarian* |
Same as VEGAN, accepts pure dairy products,
but also avoids
onion & garlic and root vegetables. |
| Lacto
Vegetarian** |
Same as VEGAN, but also
eats milk products. |
| Ovo-Lacto Vegetarian |
Same as VEGAN, but also eats eggs and milk products.
This is the most 'popular' form of vegetarianism in many
Western countries. It is not accepted by Food for Life. |
| Vegan*** |
Excludes animal flesh (meat, poultry, fish and
seafood), animal products (eggs and dairy), and usually excludes
honey and the wearing and use of animal products (leather, silk, wool,
lanolin,
gelatin, etc.,). Some "vegans" also refuse to eat yeast
products. |
| Psuedo-Vegetarian or Aqua-Vegetarian |
Thinks eating fish and white meat is vegetarian.
These people are in complete illusion about Vegetarianism. |
*Food for Life Global affiliate projects accept
the Hindu/Jain diet
**Food
for Life Global condones the Lacto-Vegetarian diet only if
milk products come from protected cows that are never sent
to slaughter.
***Food for Life Global affiliate projects accept
the Vegan diet if devoid of onion and garlic.
Veganism  A
vegan (pronounced VEE-gun) is someone who does not consume
animal products. While vegetarians avoid flesh foods, vegans
also reject the exploitation
and abuse inherent in the making of dairy and egg products, as
well as in clothing from animal sources. While leading a purely vegan
life may be difficult for many, those who strive towards this
goal can consider
themselves to be practicing vegans.
Here are some of the items vegans avoid: meat,
milk, cheese, eggs, honey, fur, leather, wool, down, and cosmetics
and chemical products tested on animals.
Why Vegan?
Veganism, the natural extension of vegetarianism,
is an integral component of a cruelty-free lifestyle. Living
vegan provides numerous benefits: to animals and the quality
of their lives, to the ecological integrity of our environment,
and to ourselves, by protecting our bodies from the dietary problems
associated with consumption of animal products.
"One
of the
largest outbreaks of salmonella poisoning ever recorded
in the United States came from tainted milk.
- Source |
What's wrong with commercial dairy products?
Dairy cows are made pregnant yearly to
ensure they produce adequate milk. In nature the calf would
suckle for almost a year but nature,
like the calf, is denied by the dairy industry. Some calves may
be separated from their dams on the first day of life; others
might remain for just a few days. But as the inevitable by-products
of relentless milk production each will have to endure one of
several possible fates. The least healthy bobby calves will be
sent to market to be slaughtered for pet food; to provide veal
for veal & ham pies; or for rennet to be extracted from their
stomachs for cheesemaking. Some females will be reared on milk
substitutes to become dairy herd replacements and begin, at 18-24
months of age, the cycle of continual pregnancies. Some will
be sold at market at 1-2 weeks of age for rearing as beef in
fattening pens and slaughtered after 11 months, often without
sight of pasture.
Up to 80% of the beef produced in the UK is a by-product of
the dairy industry. Over 170,000 calves die in the UK each year
before they are three months old, due largely to neglectful husbandry
and appalling treatment at markets. A few will be selected for
rearing as bulls, spending their lives in solitary confinement
serving canvas 'cows' and rubber tubes. Artificial insemination
is now responsible for 65-75% of all conceptions in the dairy
herd. In the US the vast majority of unwanted calves are reared
for veal, all but around 12% of them spending their short miserable
lives in narrow crates (5'x2') on wooden slats and without straw.
Whilst none suffer such a fate in Britain they are now exported
for the purpose. In solitary confinement, unable to turn around
or groom themselves they must drink the only diet they are allowed
- a milk substitute gruel. Deliberately kept short of the iron
and fibre which would redden their fashionably white flesh, they
will suffer from sub-clinical anaemia and gnaw at the crates
and their own hair for the roughage they crave. Fed large doses
of hormones and antibiotics to promote growth and prevent the
onset of infections caused by the stress of confinement and malnutrition,
they will suffer scours, pneumonia, diarrhoea, vitamin deficiency,
ringworm, ulcers or septicaemia. After 14 weeks, barely able
to walk, they are taken over long distances to slaughter.
In 1905 the Lord Mayor's Cup at the London Dairy Show was won
by a 24 year old cow. Today it is impossible to find a dairy
cow of that age. The cow is usually sent for slaughter at five
to six years, less than one quarter of their expected lifespan.
Ketosis, laminitis, rumen acidosis, bse, mastitis, milk fever,
staggers, liverfluke, lungworm and pneumonia are just some of
the diseases facing the short life of the dairy cow.
"Sixty
percent of America's dairy cows have bovine leukemia
and AIDS!"
- Source |
Resources
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