Vegan DietZach DahlMaia PalmaEllie MayneOlivia Jackson

What is a Vegan?•A strict vegetarian; someone who eats no

animal or dairy products at all▫Such as Milk or Cheese

•However – There are many types of vegans, and not all vegans are so strict.

Common reasons for a vegan diet•Morally

▫Animal Welfare▫Religion

•Avoid Hormones or additives in processed food

Vegan Diet : PRO

• Health Benefits• Healthy skin, Hair, and

Nails▫ From consuming

vitamins like A&E

• Less Fat consumption▫ Less weight problems

• Moral Justification

• Risk of heart disease and cancer has been correlated to go down with a vegan diet.

Vegan Diet: CON

• Difficult to find:• Protein • Calcium• Animal Fat• Immune system• Respiratory System• Cellular

Communication

• Many vegans are forced to take supplements to maintain a balanced diet

• Humans are by nature:

Omnivore

Historical Context•Vegetarianism was first mentioned by the

Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras of Samos around 500 B.C.E.

•Meatless lifestyles never caught on in the west until a strict religious sect named Ephrata Cloister founded in 1732 in Pennsylvania, advocated vegetarianism.

•The first vegan society was established in 1847 in England

Historical Context (Cont.)•Reverend Sylvester Graham, inventor of

Graham Crackers, cofounded The American Vegetarian Society.

•The 18th century utilitarian Jeremy Bentham believed that animal suffering was just as serious human suffering.

•In 1944 a British woodworker named Donald Watson announced that because vegetarians ate dairy and eggs, he was going to create a new term called “vegan”.

Historical Context (Cont.)•3 months after Watson coined his new

term, he announced his new term was pronounced “vee-gan” not “vee-jan”.

•By 2005, there were approximately 250,000 self identifying vegans in Britain.

•The U.S. had over 2 million.

Impact on the U.S.• “[T]hose who claim to care about the well-being of

human beings and the preservation of our environment should become vegetarians[vegans] for that reason alone. They would thereby increase the amount of grain available to feed people elsewhere, reduce pollution, save water and energy, and cease contributing to the clearing of forests.…

• “[W]hen non-vegetarians[non-vegans] say that ‘human problems come first’ I cannot help wondering what exactly it is that they are doing for human beings that compels them to continue to support the wasteful, ruthless exploitation of farm animals.”

• Peter Singer, Animal Liberation, 1990

Impact on the U.S. (Cont.)•Prison in California adopted a NEWSTART

program including a vegan diet•85% of inmates entering the prison

agreed to the NEWSTART PROGRAM•Under the vegan diet Victor Valley had

less than 2% recidivism rate

Impact on the U.S. (Cont.)•Vegan diet lowers blood glucose and

lipids in type 2 diabetics•Study shows A1C (tracks blood sugar) fell

1.23 pts in vegan diet compared to 0.38 pts

•Weight decrease 14.3 lbs in vegan diet compared to 6.6 lbs in control

Major players

Companies that produce food for vegans•Worthington•*BOCA foods•*Morning star farm

•garden burger•Light life

Websites for vegans• Vegetarian Society• SavvyVegetarian• VegetarianTimes • VegSource• VegWeb• The Vegetarian Site

Vegan start kit• http://features.peta.org/Ve

getarianStarterKit/index.asp

Money spending• Being a vegan can effect

your money spending. Normally meat eaters would spend at least $27.35 a day for breakfast lunch and dinner. When a vegan would only spend $23.60. the vegetarian saves $3.50 over the meat eater.

Solutions?•If there are benefits to a vegan lifestyle

for the individual and for the environment, the goal would be to encourage people to eat less meat.

•One option would be a public service campaign. Here’s an example of a short animated clip that could be shown on TV.

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj8fA4l2mcQ&feature=related

Solutions?•The question is to what extent a vegan

diet helps the environment.• If vegan food products are heavily

processed or come from far away, they can be just as environmental damaging as eating meat.

Solutions?•The vegan diet results in significantly

lower weight which would result fewer issues with weight related illnesses like heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

sources• http://features.peta.org/VegetarianStarterKit/index.asp• http://www.thevegetarianblog.com/best-vegetarian-websites/• http://www.worthingtonfoods.com/brand/worthington/about.shtml• http://www.mamashealth.com/veggie/foodcompanies.asp• http://www.learnvest.com/living-frugally/do-vegetarians-save-mon

ey/• http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1854996,00.html