Ask a Vegan

The food we give our animals is based on dietary and health requirements. Two of our animals are geriatric, and so we have more than one kind of special food for them. I am not about to pass on my ethical decision to my SO let alone my pets, so there won't be any changes based on that.

I have mixed reactions to the practices that are out there. I know some vegans feed their dogs and even their cats vegetarian or vegan diets. I tend to oppose the idea on the basis that these animals aren't capable of making the same ethical decisions we do, and so the decision is being made for them, possibly to their detriment. While dogs are more or less omnivorous, they have a carnivorous bias, which means they tend to fare better with meat in their diet than without. Cats, on the other hand, are strict (or obligate) carnivores, which means their physiology requires meat consumption. I think it's unethical to feed a cat a vegan diet.

It should be noted that many vegans are against the idea of pets period. I myself am against the idea of pets acquired from breeders, as there are too many abandoned/given-up animals that need homes, millions being euthanized in North America annually. Our animals (a dog and two cats) are either rescues or adoptions. The cats are rescues, while the dog we adopted from a family that no longer wanted her because of two young children added to the family. All of our future animals will be adopted.

 

Your dog is very sweet, if a bit of a bumbler. I suspect that's a natural consequence of being effectively blind.

I was more thinking of pet food derived from humanely raised and slaughtered animals. Assuming such a thing exists, which I'm not at all certain.

I suppose that then branches into a larger question that you may have addressed already: do you take issue with the consumption of meat entirely, or just with current practices? If I were for example to raise and slaughter chickens humanely in my backyard (presupposing I should ever have something so luxurious as a back yard in the first place) would you still take issue with their consumption?

 

I take issue with the term humane when it comes to slaughtering animals. As I understand it, it is used to refer to the practice of "inflicting the minimum of pain" (Oxford) when killing or otherwise using animals for food products. My own perspective of humane is broader and in line with Buddhist and other views: "having or showing compassion or benevolence" (Oxford).

I don't see a truly humane way of taking another life (euthanasia is, however, a complex matter). Animals suffer in death, and so I choose not to be a part of a food system that conducts such practices---at all. Current industry practices range greatly from quick and considerate to downright atrocious. Regardless, with no exceptions (none that I can think of anyway) do healthy animals prefer death over living. To inflict death upon them, in my view, is inhumane. In this case, it is done specifically for the purposes of food that I do not require. I therefore choose not to consume it out of compassion for the animals.

Another way to look at it: when carrying out capital punishment, most authorities try to find and use the most "humane" way of doing it. I suppose I am grateful enough that people would give a quick death rather than a drawn-out death, but I would prefer no killing at all.

I have already answered this, but you may wish to note my response to the question Charlatan posted above about perfecting lab-grown meat. If meat can be produced in a lab independent of a living being, I do not see a problem with consuming that. The basic problem vegans have with animals used for products is with their killing and other maltreatment.

 

I'm not entirely sure what you mean. Do you season vegetarian/vegan dishes different than meat dishes? Well, yes, often. Do you cook tofu and tempeh different than chicken and beef? Yes.

The techniques vary dish to dish, but in essence, it's not exactly the same cooking vegan vs. nonvegan. Meat is more forgiving when it comes to flavour. Tofu, not so much. Animal fat carries many dishes, weather it's meat juice or heavy cream. Plant fat has many different properties depending on the source, and you need to treat each differently.

Is that what you mean?

 

Baraka_Guru, I don't want to take over your thread, but MSD's question is just so interesting to me I can't help but respond, especially since I have gone from cooking meat to cooking vegetarian to cooking vegan.

Personally, I think seasoning does not change so much--the flavor elements are still the same--you still want to balance acid, sweetness, umami, etc. However, there are some different seasonings to use as a vegan that someone who is even just vegetarian might not use, such as nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast provides the umami/savoriness that parmesan cheese does. My three main seasonings in cooking have always been salt, black pepper, and red pepper. Beyond that, I still use many of the same things to bring flavor to dishes that I used before--garlic, onions, lemon juice, soy sauce, etc. Many of my soups start with a mirepoix, just as they did before.

I would disagree with Baraka on cooking methods--after tofu is dried out in the toaster oven, we cook it in a manner markedly similar to how you would cook a cut of meat, in a pan with a bit of oil. We then season it with soy sauce and nutritional yeast (oddly, it ends up tasting like chicken). Tempeh is also very good fried. However, this obviously isn't the healthiest preparation. I like to use tempeh as a base for "meatballs"--which are seasoned with traditional meatball seasonings like basil and oregano. Both can go into stir-fries in much the same manner as meat would, and they're both great to marinate, just like meat. I think there is this inclination to believe that tempeh and tofu must be heavily seasoned because on their own they don't have much flavor, but I know that I have come to appreciate their flavor on their own, although I do enjoy the marinated tempeh that tastes like maple bacon

One example I have of how cooking is not that different: think about marinara--a good marinara doesn't need animal fat to carry the show because there is enough going on between the aromatics and the acidity of the tomato.

Yes, there are some different seasonings vegans use to bring other flavors to the table, such as nutritional yeast or liquid aminos (which is similar to tamari/soy sauce), but generally, cooking is cooking. However, I will say that cooking vegan made me think harder about what flavor elements to put into a dish in order to ensure it was satisfying and balanced. It is a challenge to cook without the crutch of animal fat, that is certainly true.