Veganism
Veganism is the personal practice of eliminating the use of non-human animal products for any purpose (including food and food processing, clothing, medications, and personal care products) for ethical reasons. People who choose a Vegan diet (ie without meat, fish, poultry, dairy products, eggs, or honey) for reasons other than ethical also refer to themselves as Vegan. Environmentalist Vegans also reject the use of animal products on the premise that the industrial practice is environmentally damaging and unsustainable. See the Wikipedia entry on Veganism.
Vegan Mall embraces and encourages the adoption of Veganism as a consistent way of promoting Health and Sustainability at personal and environmental levels. Veganism is consistent with the majority of Vegan Mall's Core Values and Principles, and is not in opposition to any. However, the Ethics that support Veganism can be arrived at from a variety of Philosophical and Spiritual sources, many of which are outside Vegan Mall's aim, focus and interest. Vegan Mall welcomes any background that supports Veganism (and Vegetarianism over Omnivorism) from practical or ethical standpoints, but adheres only to its own chosen Principles and Values.
There is a lot of controversy in most societies surrounding the health and practical benefits of Veganism. A large number of people devote time and effort disputing these benefits, sometimes in a crusade-like quest against those who choose not to eat meat, many of them resulting from their concern about possible health complications arising from abstaining from eating animal flesh. These concerns are well founded, however generally taken to irrational extremes and disrespectful of the Vegan peoples' ethical standpoint. Vegan Mall considers that proper Nutrition may be achieved through a great variety of Diets and practices (including Vegetarianism, Veganism and Raw Veganism), each posing different health challenges and special requirements, and advises Vegans to be conscious and responsible for the challenges present in abstaining from consumption of animal products. Since humans have adapted over millennia to environments in which the food available was always contaminated with insects and microbes until recent times, the lack of nourishment from these minute quantities of animal material may lead to sickness and death. Vegans are usually required to take supplements of Vitamin B12 (produced mostly by ruminant gut microbes), ensure a frequent skin exposure to sun light in order to produce Vitamin D, and consume a variety of foods. For more information visit Vegan Mall's Nutrition section.