Why not the V-word?

Firsties! Let's get down to business.

When choosing titles for this blog, I spent a lot of time contemplating titles in general. What we choose to call ourselves is a complicated thing, especially when done on a public forum. After a lot of thought and some good advice, I chose to dump the V-word. Not only for this blog, but also for myself.

Why? Aren't you a Vegan? Isn't this blog about Veganism?
Yes. and No.

To the average person, abstaining from all meat, dairy, eggs and honey products is being Vegan. But to others it goes a lot farther. Many food products may not appear to contain the above things, but still contribute to the death and suffering of animals. A few of these hidden and insidious things are Red Dye, Sugar and the filtering/purification process of some alcohols.

On Sugar, from Vegsource.com:

"During the final purification process, cane sugar is filtered through activated carbon (charcoal) which may be of animal, vegetable, or mineral origin."

Because you can never be sure of the type of activated carbon being used, you can never be sure if it is in fact animal free.

Here is the facts about Red Dye from Chow.com,

"Natural Red 4 (not FD&C Red Dye #40—that coloring is vegan), also known as crimson lake, carmine, carminic acid, or cochineal. The dye is made from an insect called the cochineal, which lives on cacti in Mexico and South America, and is neither vegetarian, kosher, nor halal."

And last but not least, from Barnivore, my source for V-checking my booze,

"Brewmasters, winemakers, and distillers may include animal ingredients in their products directly, or they might use them in the processing and filtration. When making the product, dairy, honey, and other things (including, in one case, a whole chicken dropped in the tank*) are ingredients in the final recipe. When filtering the drinks prior to bottling, companies can use things like isinglass (from fish bladder,) gelatin, egg whites, and sea shells, among other things. These products grab onto the impurities and make it easier to catch them in the filters, though there are many animal-free alternatives in use."

I list these as examples of some of the simple and more well known pitfalls of a Vegan diet, and Sugar is one of the pitfalls that I can't, at this time, cut from my life.

Being a Compassionate Eater is a journey. A never ending, always evolving journey, and although I have a blog and even work for a Non-profit that specializes in veganism, I'm no expert. I'm not perfect or pure, or as the title of this blog tells you particularly healthy, and I like myself that way.

Wait! You eat EGGS!?!?!?!
Also a No and Yes.

I eat Hard boiled, Scrambled, Over-Easy and many other forms of eggs. In my home. Eggs that my six pet chickens lay and discard around my backyard.

This above all else is why I gave up the Vegan title. I have pet chickens because I love them. I don't have pet chickens, because they lay eggs. Many chicks are raised in classrooms and homes for education, many chickens are raised for backyard laying operations, for whatever reason, There are plenty of homeless chickens. I'm fortunate enough to have a backyard that I'm able to keep formerly homeless chickens in. And boy, they are happy chickens.

As human women have a monthly menstrual cycle, chickens lay an egg almost every day. It is a waste product. No different from their feces. I use those feces to grow my vegetables. I also use their eggs to feed my dogs, my cats, I often recycle the eggs directly back to the chickens, and I also eat them. I do not eat eggs from any other source. I don't buy baked goods with eggs in them and I don't consume eggs from factory farms.

I may give you my recipe for compassionate egg salad, but other than that, all other foods will be completely egg free.