Sneaky Animal Ingredients

So by now, you all know that I'm a vegan. What you may not know is that I'm probably one of the most obsessive vegans who ever lived. The thought of supporting, in any way, the exploitation of animals drives me absolutely crazy. Anyone who has ever tried to go shopping with me knows that I spend a great deal of time and energy trying to remove all traces of animal products from my life. Have you seen Scott Pilgrim vs The World? Do you remember the part with the Vegan Police? Well they live inside my head and they are a lot pickier than they were in the movie.

That being said, I want to address the issue of those sneaky animal ingredients that go by mysterious names and make their way into everyday products. Over the years, several different people have told me that they could never be vegan because they could never live the way I do. They could never spend as much time as I do researching ingredients and they could never give up as many basic, everyday things as I have. When this happens, I always try to make it clear to these people that it doesn't have to be that way. Being a vegan does not mean that you have to be an obsessive vegan like me. I would never even consider holding anyone else to the same standards I hold myself to, not because I think they couldn't do what I do but because why should they?

The choice to become vegan is both an emotional and a logical one, though I'm sure most meat-eaters would claim that it's purely emotional. From the emotional side, it stems from a feeling of connection to and empathy for nonhuman animals. From the logical side it is a decision not to provide financial support to the industries responsible for causing the pain and suffering these animals face on a daily basis (and the destruction of our environment and widespread disease and obesity in the general public and extreme poverty in other parts of the world etc.)

The fact that veganism has these two distinct sides can make it very difficult to decide on the best way to fit it into your life. I have found that, for me, one of the most troublesome decisions is what to do about hidden animal products. This decision, again for me, required the answer to two questions, one logical and one emotional. The logical question is "Would I really be contributing to industries that exploit animals by using products with small traces of animal ingredients?" I believe the answer to this one is "No", and I will explain why in a moment. The emotional question is "Will I feel like I'm contributing to the exploitation of animals by using these products?" The answer to this one, unfortunately, is "Yes."

I have found that I, personally, cannot feel good about myself when I use a product that contains animal ingredients, no matter how small the amount and no matter how difficult it may be for me to find out where an ingredient came form. If I'm thinking of buying something and it doesn't specifically say that it's vegan, I will do extensive research to find out if it is or not. However, I would never recommend this to anyone else, because the truth is that animal products are everywhere. In reality, it's almost impossible to actually remove all animal products form your life and, logically speaking, I don't think it's necessary.

Almost all animal products are completely unnecessary. Just about anything that can be made from animals can also be made from plants. The only reason animal ingredients are used instead is that they are byproducts of animal agriculture. If people stop eating meat, milk and eggs there will no longer be any hidden animal ingredients because it will be infinitely more economical to make these ingredients from plants instead. Imagine how ridiculous it would be to raise a cow, provide her with food, water and shelter then slaughter her, which means paying for expensive equipment and labor just so you could take a small bit of her fat to make glycerin, when the alternative is just extracting it form a plant.

Another side to this issue, which I feel is equally important, is the fact that every one of us becomes an example to those around us. Vegans are becoming more and more visible all the time. There are many celebrities out there now who are outspoken vegans and animal rights activists and more average people are seeing the benefits of veganism everyday. Despite all of this, we are still a very small minority which means that we all need to do our best to promote a vegan lifestyle to others. I think one of the best, and easiest, ways to do that is by just making veganism look good. The people around you are much more likely to try veganism if they see vegans as happy, healthy, well-adjusted people. Unfortunately, I have only ever been able to pull off the healthy part. The thing is, I've never been happy or well-adjusted and veganism has nothing to do with it. I have always had obsessive and neurotic tendencies and because veganism is such an important part of my life now, that is where they tend to manifest themselves these days.

I know this has become rather long and rambling, but the point here is this. I don't think it's really necessary for vegans to obsess over all of those sneaky animal products that seem to be in everything. I really don't think it makes that much difference in the long run, and it will just drive you crazy and make all the meat-eaters in your life think that all vegans are obsessive, masochistic nut jobs (you know, like me.)

P.S. Animal testing is a little different, and I'm sure I will cover that topic eventually. Until then I will just recommend that, within reason, you try to avoid as many animal tested products as you can.