Vegan Ethics

Vegan Ethics

Introduction by Lisa Kemmerer

Food and eating are basic, central, and important to our lives. While food is a biological necessity, the place and importance of food extends far beyond physical needs. We usually eat at least a few times every day; some people are perpetual snackers. We eat for pleasure, nutrition, and to waylay stress. Individuals also have particular food patterns such as morning drinks, reward snacks, after-exercise meals, and comfort foods. Many people enjoy food preparation and sharing food; most people look forward to the next snack or meal. Food claims a notable portion of each day, from earning what we need to buy food, to shopping for what we need (or gathering foods directly from the earth), to prep and cooking, and finally, the meal itself.

Partaking of food is often a social activity—so much so that it is difficult to imagine a gathering without drinks and snacks or a shared meal. Every culture has food specialties and long-held food traditions. Families develop much-loved recipes and treasured food traditions. Sharing treasured foods or recipes is often part of friendship, and some of these foodways have traveled from faraway homes, whether an Asian veggie stir-fry, North American bagel, or European tomato pasta. Sharing food can be a way of spending time with others, of stopping the perpetual doing of life independently in order to spend time directly with our closest contacts. Food is central to our lives as individuals, families, and communities . . .   Read more