by Yes. Vegan!
(Image from wikipedia)
Wheat is a grass product grown world wide. The top is milled and produces flour, spelt and a bunch of other products (depending on the species).
Now, some of you may think this is a weird or basic question, but according to our server logs, we get this one often. Very often. These questions could be coming from concerned parents, friends or people trying to figure out “what the heck veganism is all about.” It happens. We’re guessing these individuals are actually curious if bread and other wheat based products are vegan. Of course, this depends on the other ingredients. But if you have a question, send us a note and we’ll get it answered.
funny, i thought vegans didnt eat wheat! no idea why i thought this and it wasnt until I was vegan that I realized they do!
That’s too funny. Somehow I think that there is more confusion in recent years as people become more aware of different diets. Diary Free, Gluten Free, Sugar Free….There’s lots of “free” out there now!
Dairy*
Interesting! I wonder if the question has something to do with genetic modification? If people are thinking about genetically-modified wheat (which, as far as I know, is not actually on the market right now), they may be wondering whether some of the viral or bacterial methods of gene insertion have been used. That actually IS an interesting question: would (any, many, most, some…) vegans care about that sort of thing?
Chris MacDonald,
Food-Ethics.com
Interesting point Chris. I’m not sure I would have drawn that link. I would still say vegan…but others may disagree. I guess I’m not well versed in the process of genetic modification. I do know that there are many out there who make a habit out of staying away from any genetically altered foods – but I don;t believe I have ever heard someone lump them into the not vegan category.
The argument is that animals are killed in crop production, namely rodents, insects, or other animals that may be in the field at the time of harvesting. Thus, since the harvesting of wheat, corn, etc. results in the death of animals, some consider it not truly “vegan.”
Some data is available here: http://www.animalvisuals.org/data/1mc/
Sam:
Interesting point, but odd that wheat would be singled out. Every form of agriculture involves some “collateral damage” to members of various animal species. If vegans want to avoid that, they’ll have to go much farther than avoiding wheat!
Chris.
From what I recall, Sam is at least a “level 5 vegan.”
Thanks for the information, Sam. I learn something new everyday.
Organic farming can not be vegan since the fertilizer comes from farmed live stock. Ie mostly cattle.
Interesting, I was recently told by a man who had been vegan for a few years now that “wheat isn’t vegan, there are multitudes of ground up bugs in it” kind of threw me for a shock, so I figured I would look it up. Is this an actual factor in it being vegan?? (Sorry if this is a silly question)