Ethics

A lot of people have confusion about fish when it comes to pescatarian, vegetarian, and vegan diets. It can be hard to keep straight all the terms and beliefs behind each of them. So, do vegans eat seafood? Vegans do not eat seafood, as they do not eat any animal products. However, there are strains … Read more

How strict should you be as a vegan? Should you maintain consistent adherence 365 days a year, or can you take breaks on special occasions? Do you need to avoid all animal byproducts, or is boycotting meat, dairy, and eggs enough? This debate is what the Paris Exception is all about. So, what is the … Read more

I love a good debate about what counts as “vegan” and what doesn’t… So let’s talk about oysters and other bivalves. They are animals, and vegans don’t eat animals—right? But a certain group of vegans, called ostrovegans, actually do eat bivalves. What is an ostrovegan? An ostrovegan is a vegan who eats bivalves (oysters, mussels, … Read more

Why be vegan? And specifically, what are the ethical reasons to be vegan? As someone who has been vegan for over 13 years, been a vegan activist, and talked to many people about vegan ethics, I can help lay out the common arguments for you. Here are the 13 common ethical arguments for veganism I’ll … Read more

I’ve been hearing from a lot of vegans about the Liberation Pledge. It’s a commitment that more and more vegans are making to try to maximize their impact for the animals. So, what is the Liberation Pledge? Adherents to the Liberation Pledge commit to (1) being vegan, (2) not sitting where animals are being eaten, … Read more

So, you’re thinking you want to stop eating meat, but you’re not sure how far you want to go: vegan or just vegetarian? Personally, I was vegetarian for two years before I went vegan—and I’ve now been vegan for twelve years. So I have some perspective on both! Here are five reasons to go vegan … Read more

What does it mean to be a “militant vegan,” as opposed to a regular vegan? In my 10+ years as a vegan, I’ve seen the term used to refer to different things. Usually, “militant vegan” is used in a negative way to label vegans who are more aggressive in their activism. Many sources online take … Read more

Does being vegan have anything to do with whether you’re pro-choice or pro-life? After all, vegans refrain from killing animals—wouldn’t they also want to refrain from killing a potential human as a fetus? Personally, I’ve historically been pro-choice, but I see both sides of the issue. I decided to research what most vegans think. So, … Read more

In my post about whether dogs and cats can go vegan, I briefly addressed the question of whether it’s contradictory for vegans to own pets in general. But one especially controversial topic is whether vegans support the use of service dogs, such as guide dogs and hearing dogs. So, do vegans support the use of … Read more

As a vegan who’s usually on a tight budget, I’ve usually eaten conventionally-grown produce rather than organic. But I’ve long wondered if vegans really should eat organic as a rule, to be ethically consistent. Recently I finally did some research on the subject. So, should vegans eat organic? It’s up to you. While conventional farming … Read more