Is Veganism Natural

I dont believe that veganism is a natural lifestyle. A natural lifestyle is to eat anything that your digestive system can process, and, when theres a choice, to give precedence to the highest energy foods available. Prior to the invention of philosophy, Im sure that any human who did not use animal products did so because he wasnt able to catch any animals. (The author of this funny column said that growing up in Kamloops, anyone on a meatless diet would be presumed to be both poor and a poor shot). Biologically, we have omnivore teeth and enzymes that can process animal proteins. Many of us (me included) even have a cool little mutation that allows us to digest milk long after weaning. These abilities are natural and I dont see anything unnatural in using them.

Animals are the source of a lot of useful things: meat, milk, butter, cheese, whipped cream, honey, leather, fur, wool, gelatin, shellac, and even some medications. There are substitutes these days, but in many cases the substitute item is less natural and probably has a greater environmental impact than the genuine, natural product. Leather and fur are truly awesome materials, even more so because they are available outdoors in the winter, right where they are needed. Almost every single item in the lifestyle of a traditional Inuit family was animal derived: meat, oil lamps, hide kayaks and parkas, bone needles and harpoons, floats made of bladders and dog-powered hide & bone sleds. Is that more natural than subsisting on soda pop and potato chips? The latter diet, if you find the right brand of potato chips, is vegan.

But humans do a heck of a lot of unnatural things, many of them to our benefit, so whether veganism is natural or unnatural isnt a particularly good argument either for or against.

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