Vegan Practically

Earlier this week a friend tagged me in a post, suggesting a possible blog topic (thanks, Sam!). The gist was that they keep hearing complaints about how vegan foods are “highly processed,” and yet the Gusto vegan sausages they had for dinner didn’t seem to be. The ingredient list, which my friend included a photo of, was simply: water, wheat protein (gluten), canola oil, apple cider vinegar, spices, sea salt, natural smoke flavour, yeast extracts. I have to agree — that doesn’t seem so far off an ingredient list for a recipe someone might make at home. The post generated a lot of activity.

My first reaction to the post was to comment that there are various levels of processed food of all kinds, vegan or not. And I would much rather eat those ingredients than whatever is in meat-based sausages. Even Beyond burgers, which most people think of as highly processed, aren’t terrible in terms of ingredients: Water, Pea Protein*, Avocado Oil, Natural Flavors, Rice Protein, Lentil Protein, 2% or less of Methylcellulose, Potato Starch, Pea Starch, Potassium Lactate (to preserve freshness), Faba Bean Protein, Apple Extract, Pomegranate Concentrate, Potassium Salt, Spice, Vinegar, Vegetable Juice Color (with Beet). I also agreed that it’s a good idea for a blog post. So here we are.

People find all sorts of ways to discredit the very possibility of going vegan. This “highly processed” complaint is high on the list. Lodged as a complaint against “vegan foods,” it’s a very strange thing to say. As I noted above, there are of course all sorts of processed foods. But take a look around the produce section of any supermarket or browse any farmer’s market and notice the abundance of “vegan food.” Fruit, veggies, bread. It’s mostly all vegan. Not at all processed.

But the more interesting complaints were about how “processed” is to be understood at all, and further, as an objection. What does it mean? And how is it automatically a criticism? Is subjecting something to processing inherently bad? Surely almost all foods need to be processed in some way, even if that’s just needing to be peeled or shelled or cooked before we can eat them. And isn’t anything that involves combining several ingredients also in some sense processed? Don’t many of the most “wholesome” and natural ingredients already come to us processed?

But this isn’t quite what the critics are getting at. In some circles, it seems that they are conflating “processed” with “having additives.” Even then, are all additives objectionable? It probably depends. My soy milk (already processed) has B12 added to it, and I like that it does because I need a source of B12.

One person on said thread linked to an article about the health dangers of “ultra-processed foods,” which evidently account for 60% of daily calories among Americans. The first thing on the list of the suspect foods is “highly processed meat.” That’s followed by sugary breakfast cereals and “sugar- or artificially-sweetened beverages.” Dairy-based desserts are also mentioned in the study. These things, according to the research, are associated with risk of early death.

My main concern here, however, isn’t actually to philosophize about what it means to be processed so much as to challenge the idea that this is somehow a relevant argument against adopting a vegan lifestyle. Here’s an idea, go vegan, but don’t eat the vegan foods that you think are “processed” in the way that you consider objectionable. If there is something you find unappealing about processed or ultra-processed foods, then don’t eat them. This applies equally to vegan foods as it does to animal products.

Objecting to things like tofu for being processed is not much different from objecting to cheese (the dairy kind) or to poultry for being processed. They need to do something to it before it shows up in your local supermarket. Cheese and tofu both need to made. That’s processing. For poultry, they need to kill a chicken, de-feather it, and cut it into pieces. That’s processing. If you’re worried about certain additives, then read labels and avoid them. This isn’t an objection to pursuing a vegan diet.

And it’s worth adding that veganism isn’t just about diet: “Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.” (The Vegan Society)