the mooing vegan

 "May Contain..." By:Megan     The words "may contain" are on most food packages. The meaning of this can be kind of confusing for every new vegan. Basically, the only reason these warnings are placed on food packaging is for people with food allergies. The product is made on the same equipment as products that contain these allergens. The company has to disclose this information just in case someone with a food allergy consumes the product and has an allergic reaction; this keeps the company safe from a lawsuit. However, many new vegans will be wary of products saying "may contain milk" or other non-vegan ingredients. Products like these are completely vegan. The machines are sanitized in between product switches, so there is a very small chance that these products have these ingredients. Some vegans choose to not consume these products still because they refuse to support non-vegan brands and companies. I choose to eat all vegan products no matter what b

Is Honey Vegan? By: Megan       There has been a debate for years on if honey is vegan or not. The answer is not as simple as it should be: it all depends on personal opinion. By the definition, veganism is a way of life that excludes all animal abuse, exploitation, and cruelty as much as humanly possible and practical. The real question that lies is if bees are abused or exploited in the honey industry or not.       Honey is made from nectar. Bees collect this nectar and store it in their stomach. They then return to their hive and the bees kind of play hot potato with the nectar and share it all until it turns into a thicker substance. Then they just kind of leave it in the comb. The process sounds disgusting to me, but that is not even the worst of it.     The ethical side of honey all depends on the beekeeper themselves. Commercial beekeepers tend to be harsher than a small business would be because commercially they are in it for the money. Honeybees will typically eat their own h

 Vegan at Restaurants Part 2: Burger King By: Megan   In this series, I will be discussing vegan options at popular restaurants and will be trying them and giving my thoughts on them. Everyone always downs Burger King saying they always get the orders wrong or mess them up. Coming from a small town and a not-so-fancy family, Burger King has always been one of my favorite fast-food restaurants. They are most known for the Whopper which is a quarter-pound beef patty with a sesame-seed bun and topped with lettuce, onions, and tomato. Personally, I was more of a plain cheeseburger gal, but Burger King was still my kind of place. Since going vegan, I have realized that Burger King has a lot of vegan options that I believe should be discussed.  1. French Toast Sticks The french toast sticks at Burger King are so good. I mean they are just regular french toast sticks, but usually, french toast sticks are not vegan, so I haven't had them in a while. These sticks are accidentally vegan, so

Vegan Snacks Part 3: Cookies By: Megan   Cookies are one of my favorite snacks. I definitely have a sweet tooth and love all types of cookies. There are tons of vegan brands of cookies.  1. Oreos Oreos were probably the only reason I thought I could make it as a vegan, to begin with. My motto at the time was "I could survive on Oreos". I am not sure why I thought that was possible, but hey I am here and am still vegan, so something must have worked. The really cool thing about Oreos is every single flavor is accidentally vegan. Even the new Gluten-Free Oreos are vegan, which is an exciting new addition to the growing number of Oreos. 2. Voortman Wafer Cookies I know I am a bit of an old lady for this, but I think wafer cookies are the bomb. There's just something about them that I love. The brand Voortman is the only brand I have come across that has vegan wafer cookies. All of the wafer cookies from this brand that I have seen were vegan including flavors such as Chocola

    Responding to Vegan Myths: Part 3 By: Megan        A very common thing I hear a lot is "vegans are healthy". This can be true, but not all vegans are healthy. It is a widespread idea that vegans are healthier than omnivores because meat and dairy are known to cause a lot of health issues, but does being vegan automatically make you healthy?      Becoming vegan does not automatically make anyone healthy. Maybe 10, 15 years ago, a vegan would be very healthy, but these days there are so many vegan junk food options. Pretty much anything that a non-vegan eats, there is a vegan equivalent to. There are many vegans who eat whole foods and are extremely healthy. There are also many people like myself who are not necessarily vegan for the purpose of being healthier. Being vegan doesn't mean that I have to give up anything. I still have an enjoyable life and love everything I eat. It does not always have to be just eating fruits and veggies although we should all strive to ge