RESEARCH TOPIC: MORE THAN JUST A DIET: AN INQUIRY INTO

VEGANISM

PROBLEM STATEMENT
The vegan diet is becoming more popular today – even celebrities and those in the spotlight are
making the decision to become vegan. With growing interest in the diet, whether among those
interested in making the transition to veganism or those just simply wanting to access more
information, , accurate portrayals of the diet are necessary. Easy access to information about the
vegan diet can be obtained simply by searching online using one of the many search engines.
However, this still begs the question as to whether a popular literature search such as this will
provide a full picture of the vegan diet – including the more scientific or medical perspective on a
diet that, to many, is worrisome due to the elimination of staple foods. That is, can a popular
literature search find scientific details about the vegan diet that provide information about the
health benefits, noteworthy concerns, and actual nutrient composition? This question is raised given
the inherent differences between popular literature and that of scientific or scholarly literature.
Popular literature is often written by journalists, covering news and/or current events in a field.
These sources tend to often summarize, omit, and/or sensationalize information coming from the
primary source, which with regard to veganism is the scientific community.

INTRODUCTION
“It is only by softening and disguising dead flesh by culinary preparation that it is rendered
susceptible of mastication or digestion, and that the sight of its bloody juices and raw horror does
not excite intolerable loathing and disgust.”1 The words of Percy Bysshe Shelly the 18-19th century
English Romantic poet and advocate for a vegetarian diet, illustrate the preparatory manner in which
humans must alter animal meat for consumption – hinting at the destructive process of “meat”
preparation. That is, it is only after the animal is stripped of its identity, the meat seemingly
unrecognizable from its prior living form, that humans are able to consume it. This notion highlights
what for many non-meat eaters is fundamental to their dietary choice, namely a sense of discomfort
or distress that comes with vividly picturing the meat as a once living, breathing, sentient being.
While the concept of vegetarianism can be traced back to ancient Greece, in particular to Pythagoras
and his followers, the history of veganism is seemingly far more recent. Presenting as a stricter
branch of vegetarianism, ‘veganism’ caught the attention of Donald Watson and Elsie Shrigley.2 The
idea of a non-dairy vegetarian diet had previously been proposed numerous times by members of
the Vegetarian Society in London, who argued that much harm came to animals as a consequence of
dairy production and egg farming.3 Attempting to bring the issue to the forefront, Watson and along
with his wife Dorothy, Shrigley, and three friends who advocated for a non-dairy vegetarian, formed
a new society in London in 1944, soon to be called the “The Vegan Society.”4 In the first Vegan
Newsletter, Watson wrote:

We should all consider carefully what our Group, and our magazine, and ourselves, shall be called.
‘Non-diary’ has become established as a generally understood colloquialism, but like ‘non-lacto’ it is
too negative. Moreover it does not imply that we are opposed to the use of eggs as foods. We need
a name that suggests what we do eat, and if possible one that conveys the idea that even with all
animal foods taboo, Nature still offers us a bewildering assortment from which to choose.
‘Vegetarian’ and ‘Fruitarian’ are already associated with societies that allow the ‘fruits’(!) of cows
and fowls, therefore it seems we must make a new and appropriate word.5 In an attempt to adopt a
name for this new movement, Watson coined the term “vegan,” combining the beginning and
ending of the word, “vegetarian” – symbolizing the transition to veganism, which starts with
vegetarianism and is carried only to its rational foremost conclusion, the elimination of animal
products from one’s diet as explained by Watson.6 “The pronunciation is ‘VEEGAN’ not ‘VAI-GAN,’
‘VEGGAN,’ or ‘VEEJAN.’ The stress is on the first syllable.”7 Greatly influenced by the vegan
movement in Britain and Donald Watson’s philosophy to prevent any harm to living creatures, Hom
Jay Dinshah founded the American Vegan Society in 1960. 8 Just as any movement progresses, the
beliefs, causes, and ideals behind veganism grew in strength and number. Veganism was initially a
shift to eliminate dairy from the vegetarian diet. Today, a vegan is defined as a “strict vegetarian
who consumes no animal food or dairy products” as well as “one who abstains from using animal
products,” extending beyond merely dietary exclusions. 9 Such forbidden foods include, eggs, honey,
and gelatin, while animal products such as leather, wool, fur, and silk are excluded from clothing and
upholstery.10 In other words, veganism is no longer simply a diet, but also a lifestyle, a key aspect
that often goes unnoticed today. The American Vegan society proclaims vegans to “live on products
of the plant kingdom” as veganism “is compassion in action. It is a philosophy, diet, and lifestyle.”11
However, the reasons for becoming vegan are numerous and varied.