4 ms·

I thought freeganism was a branch off of veganism, but the word "vegan" doesn't appear in the article. Did I have the wrong definitions in my head? Vegan: Don

I thought freeganism was a branch off of veganism, but the word "vegan" doesn't appear in the article. Did I have the wrong definitions in my head? Vegan: Don't consume or benefit from any animal products if you can help it. (This entails not buying animal products for yourself) Freegan: Don't pay for any animal products, but consume them if they're free.

rowanajmarshall 5y ago
A bit, yes - Freeganism isn’t to do with animals or animal products (although I imagine there’s a significant crossover), it’s about scavenging and re-using thrown out goods in a bid to reduce consumption.
- pcthrowaway 5y ago
  In the context of veganism though, there are many people who call themselves freegans to distinguish that they may consume animal products, but won't pay for them (the distinction is important because many people see veganism as a diet, even though 'plant-based' is a better descriptor for the dietary aspect, and would argue freegans aren't vegan) Ethically there's some crossover, freegans are anti-waste, largely for environmental reasons, and vegans are anti-cruelty, but also often opting out of animal consumption for environmental reasons. Many freegans (who are otherwise vegan) would consider eating food which would be wasted (even if it involves animal products) to be OK from the vegan perspective because you're not supporting the exploitation of animals as long as you don't pay for it, and it's better for the environment to reduce waste. In fact, buying new things when there is so much waste (arguably unnecessarily) supports a whole supply chain in which there are inevitably human and animal casualties along the way.
standardUser 5y ago
From Wikipedia: "Freeganism is an ideology of limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources, particularly through recovering wasted goods like food. The word "freegan" is a portmanteau of "free" and "vegan". While vegans avoid buying animal products as an act of protest against animal exploitation, freegans—at least in theory—avoid buying anything as an act of protest against the food system in general." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeganism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeganism
forgotmypw17 5y ago
I consider myself under the fregan label, and for me, it is about reducing consumption in general. A lot of it is about animals for me as well, because no mass-produced food is really clean of animal suffering. Even if you buy organic soybeans, if they're coming from the supermarket, and you're paying a dollar for the bag, that dollar is sending a clear and unmistakable signal to the supply chain: "please replace this bag of soybeans". From there, a whole chain of events unfolds... a bag is pulled from the case, a case is pulled from the pallet, a pallet is pulled from the warehouse (on a diesel truck), and so on. There's lots of diesel and machinery involved, and all the way at the other side, there is land being cleared from animal use, probably with some animals dying as a result, in order to grow some more soybeans. Sure, a good portion of this is unavoidable. Our entire existence has a baseline of suffering which we cannot get rid of completely. But if I can reduce my contribution to it when it's totally unnecessary (because there are 50 bags of organic soybeans in the dumpster, for example, or there are are many soybean servings left over at the cafeteria after it closes) then I'd rather do that.

rowanajmarshall 5y ago

A bit, yes - Freeganism isn’t to do with animals or animal products (although I imagine there’s a significant crossover), it’s about scavenging and re-using thrown out goods in a bid to reduce consumption.

pcthrowaway 5y ago
In the context of veganism though, there are many people who call themselves freegans to distinguish that they may consume animal products, but won't pay for them (the distinction is important because many people see veganism as a diet, even though 'plant-based' is a better descriptor for the dietary aspect, and would argue freegans aren't vegan) Ethically there's some crossover, freegans are anti-waste, largely for environmental reasons, and vegans are anti-cruelty, but also often opting out of animal consumption for environmental reasons. Many freegans (who are otherwise vegan) would consider eating food which would be wasted (even if it involves animal products) to be OK from the vegan perspective because you're not supporting the exploitation of animals as long as you don't pay for it, and it's better for the environment to reduce waste. In fact, buying new things when there is so much waste (arguably unnecessarily) supports a whole supply chain in which there are inevitably human and animal casualties along the way.

standardUser 5y ago

From Wikipedia: "Freeganism is an ideology of limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources, particularly through recovering wasted goods like food. The word "freegan" is a portmanteau of "free" and "vegan". While vegans avoid buying animal products as an act of protest against animal exploitation, freegans—at least in theory—avoid buying anything as an act of protest against the food system in general." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeganism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeganism

forgotmypw17 5y ago

I consider myself under the fregan label, and for me, it is about reducing consumption in general. A lot of it is about animals for me as well, because no mass-produced food is really clean of animal suffering. Even if you buy organic soybeans, if they're coming from the supermarket, and you're paying a dollar for the bag, that dollar is sending a clear and unmistakable signal to the supply chain: "please replace this bag of soybeans". From there, a whole chain of events unfolds... a bag is pulled from the case, a case is pulled from the pallet, a pallet is pulled from the warehouse (on a diesel truck), and so on. There's lots of diesel and machinery involved, and all the way at the other side, there is land being cleared from animal use, probably with some animals dying as a result, in order to grow some more soybeans. Sure, a good portion of this is unavoidable. Our entire existence has a baseline of suffering which we cannot get rid of completely. But if I can reduce my contribution to it when it's totally unnecessary (because there are 50 bags of organic soybeans in the dumpster, for example, or there are are many soybean servings left over at the cafeteria after it closes) then I'd rather do that.