Comments on: Pseudo-Vegan Scarves

By: Eve

Eve — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:46:35 +0000

I was talking to a friend of mine two days ago who is vegetarian, and she explained that “vegan” means different things to different people. For “orthodox” vegans, absolutely no animal products are allowed, but some vegans will drink milk if the animals weren’t harmed and were still able to feed their calves. I’m assuming that since some chickens don’t have their eggs fertilized even when they are left to their own devices, eating those eggs would be fine to some vegans as well. She mentioned that road kill is kosher to some vegans, because otherwise it would go to waste. To which I say, “gross.”

By: A

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:05:48 +0000

Insects are definitely animals (they’re not bacteria, protists, fungi or plants). This scarf is definitely not vegan. I am definitely confused about why they called this silk vegan.

By: Eve

Eve — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:00:34 +0000

lol yeah, I was going to mention that too… I suppose the artisan doesn’t claim to have a completely vegan scarf, so they can ground up as many bugs as they want, but the other stuff seems to suggest they are trying to be as vegan as possible. So it seems a bit weird to say you’re worried about a few silk worms but no cochineals.

By: mote

mote — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:31:28 +0000

Um, the other problem with this is that cochineal dye is made from ground-up bugs. So even if you were to accept the idea that tussah silk can be considered vegan, cochineal is definitely not vegan.

By: Liz

Liz — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:25:48 +0000

Is a moth/insect an animal though? I didn’t know veganism frowned on using bugs too… What I don’t understand is how whether or not the moth was boiled alive makes a difference.