Question about this food? Please answer!?!
Question about this food? Please answer!?
I live in an apartment and I was eating oatmeal today and i thought of the possibility that maybe it was processed on equipment that had animal products. I know that people can sometimes become obsessive compulsive about staying away from animal products which isn't too healthy.
Anyway i am really OCD about being a good vegan. i bought some Quaker oatmeal because I love oatmeal, but then I thought to myself that i had seen other flavors with syrup, honey, sugar, and other maybe non vegan- friendly ingredients.
I finished the bowl I had made because I've been throwing out food lately due to my fear of irrational animal product contamination and i feel bad wasting food. Does anyone know if the Old Fashioned Quaker Oats or the Instant Quaker Oatmeal is vegan? The ingredients say only 100% Natural Quaker rolled oats. I'm just worried that they process the oatmeal on equipment for the other non- vegan oatmeal -or any equipment with non- vegan ingredients.
20 hours ago
Did I make a mistake by eating the rest of the bowl of oatmeal? Must I start time over? And is it okay to eat the rest of the oatmeal in the containers?
Answers:
I am a vegan, and I understand that it is literally impossible to be 100% vegan all the time. For instance, car and bike tires contain animal products - Does that mean vegans can't drive or ride a bike? Some sugar is processed with bone char, but so is most city water - Does that mean tap water is unethical? Even the production of organic vegetables injures and kills animals during planting, harvesting, and transport.
Does that mean we should all give up on being a vegan? Of course not! But we can't be obssessive and petty and unreasonable either. For me, being a vegan is a heart issue. I do my best to avoid any products that resulted in the exploitation of animals. I avoid meat, dairy, gelatin andeggs. I also try not to wear leather, fur or silk.
I don't believe, however, that all living beings are equal. I will never think an animal is equal to a human, and I don't think insects are equal to mammals. Sometimes I eat honey (not by itself, but it might be an ingredient in bread), I make my husband kill insects in the house, and Lord knows how many I've inadvertantly killed with my car. But I don't mourn their deaths. They're bugs. People would think I was crazy if I did!
Okay I'm rambling. My point is, stop worrying about how things are processed so much. Be a normal person who cares about reducing the suffering of animals, not about dietary moral superiority.