You may have noticed that between my first post on the subject of plant-based eating a couple of months ago and my post of a couple of days ago, I've begun to use slightly different language to describe what we're doing. In my first post on the subject, I noted that we are now eating vegan. Now I tend to talk more about plant-based eating. There's a reason for this change in language. As I get more familiar with the culture that is encompassed within the spectrum of veganism, the more I realize that we may not entirely qualify for such a title. Yes, it's a simpler term and I'll likely continue to use it on occasion, because most non-vegan people understand its usage...but I'm intentionally shifting a little away from it.
There really is a whole spectrum of vegan people out there....waaay more diverse than I'd ever considered before jumping on the bandwagon. For many, this way of eating is about way more than a way of eating - it encompasses an entire lifestyle that includes animal activism. For people at this point on the spectrum, eating vegan is very much about animal rights and activism - how one eats falls within that larger purpose. Not that long ago, I read an argument on Facebook about who was entitled to call themselves vegan - and could a person who still carried a leather purse or owned other leather goods call themselves vegan? The jury seemed somewhat out on the answer to that question, but I'd say that more people than not felt that true veganism meant that as leather goods in our homes need replacing, they be replaced with items that are not involved in the harming of animals. And that makes total sense to me. One of the benefits of eating this way is that we aren't the cause of animal suffering or death, and I like that. But it's not the initial reason we made the change to eat this way, and I don't claim to be an activist.
What am I supposed to do about that as someone who might otherwise call herself vegan?
In addition, I had a grandfather who was a hunter - a big-time, big-game hunter who travelled the world. He was born and lived in an era when that was a celebrated pursuit, and something that only the wealthy could do. He loved it; it was a passion of his, and he and my grandmother travelled extensively to fulfill this love. He hunted, gave all of the meat to the natives of the land, and kept the hide. He had the largest trophy room in the entire country of Canada in his day! True story. He died about eleven years ago, in his late 90s, and with him passed an era of hunters - that's just mostly not done these days (or at least, not approved of by much of the world...and certainly not by those who espouse veganism in the fullest sense of the word). Most of my grandfather's trophies have been donated and sold elsewhere now, but I inherited a few of his pieces. For example, I am the owner of two buffalo hides, an elephant foot, a zebra skin, boar tusks, and two deer head trophies. All of them inherited, all beautiful, all beloved by my children.
What am I supposed to do about that as someone who might otherwise call herself vegan?
Also, I have a son who has inherited his great grandfather's love of hunting. He is driven by a love of fishing and hunting. He lives, talks, breathes hunting and fishing, and most of the conversations I have with him in the car, as we go about life, are about hunting and fishing particulars. This is not my interest, never has been, but he has been this way for at least five years and I don't know where he got it from other than through passed-down genes from his great-grandfather. He's careful with his pocket money, and the only thing he spends his money on are things he needs to further these interests. Ironically, he has been the easiest of my children to adopt a plant-based eating habit, and it is not uncommon for him to pack plant-based foods for snacking on while in the fishing boat. He is so very proud to be a hunter and fisher. What do I do about that conundrum? I don't like that he hunts, and it actually turns my stomach. But I support him and his unique interests (that don't need to be the same as mine), and he thrives on these things.
What on earth am I supposed to do about that as someone who might otherwise call herself vegan?
The simple solution, I think, is to describe myself as Whole Food Plant Based living. I'm not sure that I qualify as a vegan in the truest sense of the word.
Thoughts?
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