Central Illinois Vegan

Have you ever been a vegan in a non-vegan grocery store? Chances are, you've had a vegaccident. What's a vegaccident? How do you have one? Did I just make that word up? Why yes, I did just pull that word from my nether-regions. A vegaccident is when a vegan or vegetarian accidentally buys or eats something that is not vegan or vegetarian friendly. Please note, this is different than a vegolation (yes, I just made that word up too), which is when a vegan or vegetarian knowingly and willingly consumes a product containing meat- or animal-based ingredients.

How do vegaccidents happen? Perhaps I was too excited about a grocery item and didn't check ingredients closely enough, perhaps I didn't know casein was a milk derivative, or perhaps I never imagined there'd be something like gelatin inside those chocolates. Either way, vegaccidents are stressful for any ethical vegan or vegetarian, both emotionally, and often times digestively.

How does one prevent vegaccidents? Unfortunately the only way to do this in a grocery store context is to always check ingredients on everything. Get into the habit of checking ingredients even on items you've bought before, unless it has "Vegan" or "Vegetarian" stamped on the package, this is the only way of telling whether or not you're holding an item which goes against your lifestyle.

Tips for reading labels and avoiding vegaccidents:

• Know your ingredients. PeTA has a page where they list several ingredients and some tips on reading labels and going around in restaurants. That document can be found here: http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=72
• Favor products with vegan or vegetarian guarantees, get to know symbols for vegan-minded products (see below).
• No printed ingredients? Don't be afraid to ask.
• Most restaurant food comes in packaging with labels, ask them to check or ask them to bring you the package.
• The most important thing you can do is to cook fresh food from fresh ingredients. Favor local grocers over big chains, and support local agriculture as much as possible. Local growers are a great resource to not only know what you're eating, but also to save money. Most local producers sell at a much better rate through community-supported-agriculture programs or CSAs. Farmers markets are also a great resource.

Vegans and vegetarians are at a disadvantage in the marketplace. Food companies are under no obligation to label things as vegan or vegetarian, and given the size of most food producers and retailers there's no real impact something like a boycott or angry letter would have. We do need regulation requiring food producers and packagers to label products as either containing or not containing animal products, or at least whether they're suitable for vegetarians. Many ingredients such as casein and gelatin aren't always known to be animal products, and manufacturers are more than happy to keep it that way. Many "natural" flavorings are derived from animal products with zero disclosure to consumers.

The best thing you can do is to just give yourself some slack. Vegaccidents are bound to happen. I've yet to meet a vegan or vegetarian who hadn't had several. It happens, learn from the mistake, and try to do better next time.

Good luck!