Ask the Editor

I am vegetarian preparing to take the plunge to vegan. I have issues with honey. Some of my vegan recipe books written by a Registered Dietician include honey and butter flavored cooking spray. I have read that these things are not vegan. I understand about the "butter" spray. Can I be vegan and still use honey? Some information I have read describes a vegan not eating meat, dairy, or eggs; others have been very detailed saying no honey or pollen. Is it either or, or is there degrees of the diet? – Jennifer

Dear Jennifer,

The official definition of "vegan" dictates that you would consume no products that contain animal ingredients and use no products that came from an animal or harmed them in any way (such as with animal testing). Veganism is a lifestyle choice, not just a diet.

Some would say that if you ate no animal products but continued to wear leather or pearl earrings then you are not vegan, but a strict vegetarian, which is used to describe a person whose diet is vegan but whose lifestyle is not.

My whole view on this is that we need to stop using labels. I would rather someone be a "vegan who eats honey" than "someone who eats animals." Other people would sic the vegan police on you and emotionally beat up on you if you called yourself a vegan but still ate honey.

Whether people want to admit it or not, there are degrees of veganism. These are not officially sanctioned degrees, but everyone knows they exist. With labels come judgment. And that's counter to what I think we as a people should strive for. To me veganism is a path, a journey. As is life. Why can't a person just be "someone who is learning to eat in a way that does not harm animals" instead of applying a label to them?

Once a woman wrote to me and said her husband wanted to go vegan with her but he was getting a lot of ridicule from his fellow construction workers, especially when he brought tofu or veggie sandwiches to work. It was the label that was tripping him up. When I suggested she tell her husband merely to say, "I'm avoiding dietary cholesterol so I can be healthier" she was very excited! She wrote later to tell me that this worked wonders! Other people he worked with began bringing lunches that were also "low in cholesterol" so they could be healthy too.

So I say, drop the label. Stay on the path. Do what's right for you. And don't call yourself anything. If you must call yourself something you could say, "I'm human, just like you." Be at peace with who you are and where you are on the path. And don't let anyone tell you you're wrong. You're not.

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