insideKENT Magazine Issue 75 - June 2018 | Page 126

HEALTH+WELLNESS
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
VEGANISM
MORE MAINSTREAM THAN EVER, VEGANISM IS THE HOTTEST FOOD TOPIC
ON THE BLOCK WITH EVERYONE FROM A-LISTER NATALIE PORTMAN TO TENNIS
CHAMP SERENA WILLIAMS AND FORMULA ONE DRIVER LEWIS HAMILTON JUMPING
ON THE BANDWAGON, BUT IS IT JUST THE LATEST FOOD FAD, OR DO CLAIMS THAT
IT'S BETTER FOR YOUR HEALTH AND THAT OF THE PLANET STACK UP? WE ASKED
THE VEGAN SOCIETY TO FILL US IN ON WHAT VEGANISM MEANS AND WHAT THE
REAL BENEFITS OF A PLANT-BASED DIET ARE. WORDS BY THE VEGAN SOCIETY
HISTORY OF VEGANISM
Although the vegan diet was defined early on
in The Vegan Society's beginnings in 1944, it
was as late as 1949 before staunch vegan,
Leslie J. Cross, pointed out that the society
lacked a definition of veganism. He suggested
the following: “the principle of the
emancipation of animals from exploitation
by man,” which was later clarified as: “to seek
an end to the use of animals by man for food,
commodities, work, hunting, vivisection, and
by all other uses involving exploitation of
animal life by man.”
126
When The Vegan Society became a registered
charity in 1979, the Memorandum and Articles
of Association updated the definition of
veganism as: "A philosophy and way of living
which seeks to exclude – as far as is possible
and practicable – all forms of exploitation of,
and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or
any other purpose; and by extension,
promotes the development and use of animal-
free alternatives for the benefit of humans,
animals and the environment. In dietary
terms, it denotes the practice of dispensing
with all products derived wholly or partly
from animals."
Essentially, veganism is a way of living which
seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and
practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and
cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any
other purpose. There are many ways to
embrace vegan living, yet one thing all vegans
have in common is a plant-based diet
avoiding all animal foods such as meat
(including fish, shellfish and insects), dairy,
eggs and honey – as well as products like
leather and any tested on animals.