Vegetarianism Frequently Asked Questions
(VEG FAQ)
Hamburger chains frequently get blamed for deforestation in Latin
America. This isn't really true, and saying it over and over just
makes us look bad, since knowledgable carnivores can just refute
it. The situation is this: in Brazil in particular, but
throughout the region, governments, in misguided attempts to
'develop' rainforest land, sell/give away land to 'developers' at
fire sale prices as long as they do something to 'develop' the
land. The cheapest way to do this is to clear cut and use the
land for cattle pasture. Thus cattle grazing is a main cause of
deforestation. The problems w/going from this to blaming the
Whopper are: as the knowledgable meat-eater will tell you, most
Latin American cattle have hoof and mouth disease and just waste
land for the sake of wasting land because they can't be sold for
beef. As a result, the Amazon is a net beef importer, and second,
rainforest land is so poor that it's only suitable for grazing for
a few years. An excellent book on this and other rainforest
issues is The Fate of the Forest by Susana Hecht and Alexander
Cockburn.
Other sources indicate that, while South America IS a net importer
of cattle (ignoring the huge quantities of processed meat product
exported from Argentina and Brazil to the U.S.), central america
does export live cattle to the U.S. These cows are labeled as U.S.
when they cross the country line. Another important aspect to
this is that soya cattle feed, grown on rain forest plots, is
exported in huge quantities to feed the cattle in other countries.
It is not possible to say that the beef burgers in the U.S. are
not directly or indirectly responsible for the destruction of the
rain forest. It is not possible to say that the U.S. imports NO
beef from the rain forest. Even if the cow herself has not been on
rain forest land, the food that she has eaten most likely has.
See the separate posting in rec.food.veg, for a much larger list of
substances derived from animals. The subject is "LIST OF
SUBSTANCES DERIVED FROM ANIMALS".
It is very difficult to avoid animals products in this 'modern day
and age'. Here is a list of some common things that surprisingly
contain animal derivatives and others that are safe.
CALCIUM PHOSPHATE: This is often used in English muffins,
breads, cereals, and other baked goods as a
preservative. This one is really just a fancy
word for ground up animal bones and teeth.
CASEIN: This is a product made when milk is heated with an acid,
like lactic acid. This stuff mostly occurs in
"no-lactose" soy cheeses like Soyco or Soy Kaas. The
labels say "lactose-free" (lactose is another milk
derivative), but that doesn't mean they are therefore
vegan, as we used to incorrectly assume. Soymage soy
cheese is 100% vegan, but it's kind of gross. Casein is
also used in plastics, adhesives, and paint
manufacturing.
CASEINATE: Casein mixed with a metal, like calcium caseinate or
sodium caseinate.
CHEWING GUM: Some chewing gums contain glycerine. Wrigleys gum
contains a vegetarian source of glycerine.
ENVELOPES: Apparently most envelopes have a synthetic glue on
them, not an animal or fish based glue.
MARGARINES: Can contain fish and other marine oils. Many
margarines contain whey.
MOHAIR: From goats. They can be sheared or skinned.
NOUGAT: Usually contains gelatine.
ORGANIC: Dried blood, bone/hoof meal and fish meal can all be
used a fertilizers etc. Try finding out about Veganic
Gardening as an alternative, by using seaweed
fertilizers which are widely available.
PASTA: May contain egg, especially if fresh. Some pasta in
Italy contains squids's ink; this can easily be
recognized because the pasta is black.
PASTES: Glues. May be animal or fish derived.
PASTRY: Animal fats used in most shop-baked pies etc. Check
ingredients.
PHOSTATES: Derived from glycerol and fatty acids. May be from
animal bones too.
PHOTOS: Developing paper contains gelatine.
POSTAGE STAMPS: These do not contain an animal or fish glue.
PROGESTERONE: A hormone. May have been taken from the urine of a
pregnant mare, and could be used in hormone
creams, etc.
RENNET: An enzyme taken from the stomach of a newly killed calf.
Used in the cheese making process. Look for rennin or
the words "made without animal rennet".
RUBBER: Processed with animal products.
SHORTENING: Can be made from animal fats. Used in the food
industry especially pastries and biscuits.
SOAP: Most soaps are not vegetarian because of the tallow
(animal fats) and because many will have been tested on
animals.
STEARATE: This usually comes in the form of calcium
stearate,
and it is found in hard candies like Gobstoppers and
Sweetarts as well as other places. It comes from
stearic acid, which usually is derived from tallow, or
animal fat. Stearate is also used in vinyls (like car
seats) and plastics.
SUEDE: Leather.
SWEETS: Watch out for gelatine, eg.: wine gums.
Nearly all mints eg.: Polo, Trebor, Extra Strong etc contain
gelatine. See also Nougat.
VIOLINS: Traditionally violins are stuck together with an animal
based glue. The bows are usually made from horse hair.
WHEY: Liquid part of milk.
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