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Hmm.. Veganism might seem a strange heading for an article appearing in the Fruitarian Network newsletter.. After all, haven’t fruitarians already been through that stage? Wouldn’t veganism be taking a step backwards? This may well appear to be the case assuming, as many do, that veganism is just a diet void of all animal products, but generally abounding in cooked vegetable stodge.. But I am here to propound otherwise, and to put the whole vegan/fruitarian thing straight.. well.. uhh.. maybe I’m getting a little too enthusiastic… let’s just say.. straighter.. (?)

"The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper..."

The 2 philosophies, although of undeniably relatively similar natures, are actually parallel ideas, each with their own separate impact on our lives and the world about us, and neither one of them superimposing the other.

Veganism, as a concept, has never been, and never will be, a diet.. This is just a popular misconception based on the fact that diet becomes such a relevant issue once opting for a vegan lifestyle.. Indeed, the term vegan itself has only been around since the mid 1940’s when it was coined in Britain, and implies a serious attempt at Ahimsa, the Sanskrit term for dynamic harmlessness .. - A statement of nonviolence and compassion, which on a more practical level boils predominantly down to an attempt to abolish ethically unacceptable items from our consumer choices. - mostly this is taken to mean anything which originates or has part origins from within the animal exploitation industry.

Clearly, the dietary issue, although playing such a fundamental role in the average vegan life, is basically just an unavoidable side issue, and does not encompass the general essence of veganism.

Fruitarianism is a philosophy of diet, which when put into practice, affects our morals and lifestyle profoundly.. On the other hand, veganism is a philosophy of moral, which when put into practice, will affect our diets and lifestyles profoundly.. The 2 are complementary, and can be practiced together or separately, but when practiced hand in hand will cause our lives to have even less impact on the environment and the ecosystem of flora and fauna, (and consequently our own individual health and state of being) than either one will do, practiced without the aid of the other.

As fruitarians, we are generally already quite aware of how comparatively little impact our lives have on the world around us, as opposed to the average meat and 2 veg family.. For many, this is no doubt a fundamental part of the reasoning behind choosing to live on a predominantly fruit & raw food diet.. After all, through being fruitarian, we are already saying "no" to much of the quite unnatural, energy intensive (and destructive), annual (as opposed to perennial), monocrop, agricultural farming methods, not to mention the enormous change and reduction in kitchen "necessities" - no more extremely wasteful cooking requirements (in terms of both personal time and energy and the energy squandered to destroy food with heat), no more pots, pans, ovens, stoves, fancy kitchen mixers, soaps and detergents to clean those greasy plates, etc..

Fruitarianism seems to cover such a wide range of issues that it might be natural to wonder where veganism fits into all of this.. Well.. our power as a consumer stretches far beyond our daily culinary related choices, and basically there is so much out there on the supermarket shelves whose manufacture has had (and continues to do so) such a negative impact on the environment and on other sentient individual beings.. - Surely these are worth deep consideration while exercising consumer choices? Harm to a part is, after all, harm to the whole..

As a practicing vegan and aspiring fruitarian (with complete and utter faith and belief in both vegan and fruitarian philosophies), my consumer choices extend also to the nonpurchase of items manufactured in part, or in whole, from animal skins (fur, leather, wool etc.), items that may have been tested on animals -including medicines (read - drugs/poisons - admittedly not often found in the fruitarians shopping trolley either), cosmetics and toiletries, and other items which all too often contain hidden animal ingredients (as well as the somewhat likely vivisection factor)

I consider life to be an ever unfolding series of lessons, requiring continuos refinement based on new revelations.. For myself, there is great desire not to be an unwitting passive supporter, at any level, of the ongoing global destruction. Practically this involves the choices I make daily as a consumer, and my lifestyle in general. I know I do not always succeed, and my habits are not always the best, but the intention is there, and improvement hopefully an ongoing process....

Many on a fruitarian path still include some animal products in their diet, goats milk seems to be a comparatively common one in certain areas, with a popular misconception that fruitarianism per se, is lacking in something or another that goats milk/cheese seems to fill the gap with.. It has already been stated on numerous occasions how illogical this is, so it’s hardly necessary that I do so again, but milk from other species could never have formed a natural part of a humans diet, children’s or otherwise, and can only be obtained through imprisonment and exploitation of goats, and brutal bloody murder of male goat kids that are not needed and would otherwise compete with us for their rightfully owned milk if left to live..

Similarly honey is often employed by fruitarians, which once again I believe to be both unnecessary and exploitive of the bees who work hard for their supplies and sign no agreeing contract to having it stolen periodically..

Also, although fortunately probably not generally the rule, I am aware that there are even some on a raw food path who include raw fish, meat, and eggs in their diet.. Naturally, as a vegan, I would love to be of some influence in making the inherent suffering based on such a dietary choice more clearly understood.. Animals are not ours to Eat, Wear, or Experiment on.. Contrary to the Instincto belief, I do not believe that "scavenging" is really an inherent part of our nature (Just to explain myself here, it is often quoted in opposition to the Instinctos, that we are not predators, but the Instinctos don’t believe that we were either!! Their belief is that man fell into the class of animals that would wait around for other carnivorous animals to do the dirty work, and then move in and eat the rest when the predators had had their fill - this often meant a wait of many hours, sometimes days, and thus putrefaction of animal flesh would have often already begun..). Nowadays, Instinctos generally get their flesh from the butchers just like the rest of the zombie flesh eaters out there..

Even if not purchasing animal products for ones own consumption, it is probably not unknown that a fruitarian might still be buying meat and such in order to feed a companion animal or 2.. A friend of mine once asked me what I would feed a cat if one lived with me.. I replied that I’d do so with purely vegetable and vegetable derived foodstuffs.. "What!" she cried, "I’d report you for being cruel to animals!".. I wasn’t phased.. Especially considering the theoretical cat could alternatively be eating an average of 300gms of cat food daily, which over a 10 year period would mean the death of z amounts of cows, y sheep, x pigs, w chickens, v fish and more.. (mostly animals which the cat would never have eaten under natural circumstances anyway!). Besides if one knew just what kind of flesh got packed into those tins, one would soon understand how cruel it is feeding them to companion animals.. It is possible to feed a cat healthily on vegetarian food only, and for dogs the issue is even easier, as they are often only too willing to adopt the same diet as their companion human..

The rearing of animals for food consumption is grossly inefficient and environmentally disastrous regardless of whether the end product is to be 3rd degree burnt (cooked) before consumption, left to rot for a while before eating (instinctos!), or packed into tins labeled unfit for human consumption to be fed to a cat or dog friend..

Rearing animals for whatever purposes is highly unethical, but this will naturally come to its fitting end as more and more people turn to vegan/fruitarian (hopefully combined) lifestyles.. I am a forever optimist!

Please consider the non animal alternatives to all your shopping list items.. and boycott all products where you know that exploitation of any sentience (regardless of species) has gone on at some level..

For more Information on the vegan philosophy and lifestyle, please contact "Vegans International Australia", PO Box 1215, Lismore NSW 2480.. (veganforum@lis.net.au) - They produce a quarterly magazine and bring together many like-minded souls from all corners of the globe as well as just Australia.. Alternatively, please feel free to contact myself on my email address (given below)..

Vegans and Fruitarians unite!!

Peace, love, durian, hugs and laughter to all sentience..