Welcome to define: vegan!

We're here to step up and give our two cents worth on what defines a vegan (and the many, many definitions out there), as well as share some great articles and information about the vegan diet, some great vegan recipes, and pass along the knowledge I've gleaned from being a vegetarian, then vegan for years and years, raising a vegan child, being married to a vegan professional athlete, and working as managing editor at vegfamily.com and editor of tofuguru.com.

define: vegan - offical definition of the week.

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Wikipedia!

The word vegan was originally derived from "vegetarian" in 1944 when Elsie Shrigley and Donald Watson, frustrated that the term "vegetarianism" had come to include the eating of dairy products, founded the UK Vegan Society. They combined the first three and last two letters of vegetarian to form "vegan," which they saw as "the beginning and end of vegetarian." The British Vegan Society defines veganism in this way:

The word "veganism"denotes a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practical — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.

Other vegan societies use similar definitions. Although these definitions exclude all animal products as non-vegan, some vegans consider the use of insect products such as honey or silk to be acceptable.