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by master-lincoln 1566 days ago
How is milk from a breast of a human vegan? Is there a definition of veganism that says an animal product that was given with consent is considered vegan?
2 comments

There are a few different definitions of veganism, the word itself isn't very old and has often been used to describe not just the a plant-based diet, or abstaining from all animal products, but the philosophy behind it.

This is one of the reasons why currently "plant-based diet" is gaining traction, to take the emphasis off the word vegan because it's been connected to the animal rights and ethics of the vegan movement. [1]

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20150611163242/http://www.tampab...

> " I taught cooking classes for the national non-profit, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and during that time, the phrase "plant-based diet" came to be used as a euphemism for vegan eating, or "the 'v' word." It was developed to take the emphasis off the word vegan, because some associated it with being too extreme a position, sometimes based exclusively in animal rights versus a health rationale."

I think it's easy to argue that, specifically, milk from the breast of your mother, as an infant, is not in conflict with any possible interpretation of veganism. It's of course not plant-based, but it is a very special case, as essentially as an infant you are not entirely a separate entity from your mother, even after birth.