Lately, I’ve noticed a growing number of products at the healthfood store that are labeled veganic. Maybe you’ve noticed the same thing.
I’ve never heard of that term before until recently. As a result, I decided to dig in and figure out what this new trend is all about.
My first question was this: Is veganic food healthier, the same, or lower quality than organic food?
My second question was this: Is the veganic food movement a beneficial development in light of the continued watering down (pun intended) of USDA Organic standards over the past two decades?
What is Veganic?
A common misconception is that veganic food is somehow vegan approved. This is far from the truth. Let’s start with a definition of terms.
What Does “Vegan” Mean?
The term “vegan” refers to a specific food philosophy. A person who is a vegan chooses to exclude all animal foods from the diet as discussed in the propaganda ridden documentary What The Health. This includes all dairy as well as eggs. Some vegans also exclude honey from their diet because it comes from a non-plant based source.
Currently, about 2.5% of the US population is vegan, with the vast majority returning to meat sometime during their lifetime. Nine years is the average length of time of abstinence with persistent physical weakness the primary reason given for eating meat again.
What Does “Veganic” Mean?
While the term vegan describes a person’s dietary choices, the word veganic refers to a specific set of farming methods for growing food and enhancing the soil.
Here are some important differences to keep in mind:
- Farmers who grow food veganically may or may not be vegans themselves.
- Consumers who seek to purchase veganic products are not necessarily vegan.
- Products labeled “veganic” may actually not be vegan at all!
Are you thoroughly confused yet?
The Principle of Growing Food Veganically
In essence, the term veganic really has little to do with veganism beyond the fact that veganically derived farming methods exclude animal based fertilizers. This is probably a good thing given that most farm animals are exposed to pesticides and other chemicals and routinely given antibiotics and other drugs either directly or via their feed. The residue of these chemicals would likely show up in their manure.
Even many organic farms which use animal remains or waste as fertilizer may inadvertently expose crops to hormones, antibiotics, pesticides and other chemical residues. You see, the manure used on an organic farm is not required to be from an organically raised animal (although some organic farms do go the extra mile to ensure this is the case).
As you can see, the reason for using only plant based fertilizers on a veganic farm is to keep pathogens and contaminants away from crops. It is not because this agricultural method would be appealing to vegans.
The truth is, the idea is appealing to vegans and non-vegans alike!
Vegans and consumers who love veganically produced products (like me) desire food that is bioavailable for the body as well as sustainable for the planet.
In essence, veganic is a logical step beyond organic for those who seek safe food grown in a sustainable manner.
Veganic in Action
From a practical standpoint, I have personally found veganic food to be more digestible, tasty and satisfying than the same food grown only organically. The dilution of organic farming principles in recent decades is one big reason why.
Here are some more factoids on food grown veganically:
- Veganic farms use ancient techniques to build and retain nutrients in the soil. These methods include crop rotation and allowing fields to lay fallow some years.
- Vegetable compost, “green” manure (replowing cover crops back into the soil), and mulching are other ecological methods of improving the soil.
- Veganic farms occasionally use lime, gypsum, rock phosphorus, dolomite, rock dusts and rock potash. However, as they are non-renewable sources, they strive to not depend on them (1).
- The raising of livestock may occur on a veganic farm although the manure would not be used on the agricultural fields.
- Fish emulsions are not used. Farm raised fish are routinely treated with antibiotics and even tests on wild fish indicate the presence of residues (2).
- Natural worm populations in the soil are encouraged, so animals are a key part of the veganically inspired cultivation process.
- Crops cultivated in this manner are grown without chemicals or animal-based fertilizers.
- The assistance of honeybees is important to the process as necessary.
- Veganic food is frequently sprouted, as bioavailability of nutrients is a key tenet of this emerging farming philosophy.
- Veganic food is cultivated with transparency. One company that produces veganic food actually lists the names, pictures and locations of the specific farmers who produced the raw materials contained in the box (check it out here)!
Have you tried any foods yet that were produced veganically? Did you find them to be more digestible and flavorful than the same foods that are labeled USDA Organic only?
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
I enjoyed this article although the claim that livestock can be raised in a veganic system is false. That is contrary to the definition of veganic agriculture.
False according to who? This information came from a reputable veganic website (referenced in the article).
I agree with Matt… your article does a great job of identifying the non-vegan benefits of veganic farming. I will however disagree with the theory that veganic tomatoes would taste bland and be watery because they are lacking animal fertilizer. My veganic farm is currently in its seventh growing season and we have had a great track record with some of the best tasting tomatoes our members have tried (their words, not mine.) The same has been said about so much of what we grow. As Matt said the commonality in veganic farming is our source of fertility (plant-based as opposed to animal byproducts) but from there we tend to differ in our approach to dealing with insect and disease problems that might otherwise be controlled on chemically grown produce. Some farms work on establishing and promoting beneficial insects. On my farm I’ve found a way to work around some insect problems we are prone to in our area is to plant the commonly affected crops at times during the season that the harmful insects are not prevalent. For example, planting kale in the last summer for a fall crop instead of in the spring when we’d typically see flea beetles devour the kale before it even got it’s second set of leaves. We’ve also been able to avoid blight problems with our tomato crops by growing them undercover and irrigating them without wetting the foliage. There are so many ways to move toward more sustainable farming practices and I feel that growing veganic is an important one. Great article!
Great read! I kind of expected you to talk some trash at the beginning Hahaha but I thought it was a very thoughtful article. We’re a veganic farm in Salinas, CA, and the main commonality between all of us is our source of fertility. Other than that, we all do things differently. We (and probably most other veganic farms…) won’t set traps for mammals. But, while not trapping animals is a “vegan” reason to support veganic agriculture, your article touched on many very true “non-vegan” reasons veganic agriculture makes sense! Another non-vegan reason not mentioned is the environmental issues with raising animals and how organic farms are helping slaughterhouses make money off of something that would cost them money to dispose of. Also, very interesting you though veganically grown produce tastes better… THOUGH it could just be you know a very, very good farmer 🙂
Anyway, well done. Great read. Thank you
Thanks Sarah, for sharing this insights and all the details about Veganic food.
Veganic is a marketing term that has no real application in farming. It is impossible to exclude the interaction of animals and plants. There is not a healthy eco-system anywhere on the planet that does not have animal/plant interactions, the only time this happens is if all of the plants, or all of the animals have died or been killed.
Veganic does not exclude animal interactions. Veganic farms just don’t use manure or animal remains as fertilizer. Wild animal manure on the fields is natural and is not a problem. Veganic farms aren’t fenced in to keep wild animals out. Also, worms and honeybees are used. As mentioned in the post, the only reason commercially available animal manure is not used it due to contamination concerns, which many consumers share. Also, “organic” used to be primarily a term used by sustainable farms too until the USDA got involved and made it a money-making and political endeavor for government cronies and then subsequently basically ruined it. Organic food tasted better and was much more nutritious 25-30 years ago when I first started eating organic … long before the government got involved and imposed “rules” about it.
So what about GMO’s?
Veganic most definitely is not GMO … remember that it is a step beyond organic, so if organic is nonGMO then so is veganic.
I have been getting a CSA-style box f produce per week from a Veganic farm. I live in Arizona, so the selection is limited. I mainly got tomatoes and cucumbers {small ones like baby cukes} from them. Howeever, I eventually stopped ordering because, while their cukes were heavenly, the tomatoes were consistently bland and watery tasting. I chalked it up to having no animal fertilizer…..nutrients = flavor. Perhaps I was wrong, but I did get a large variety of tomato types from them, with much the same problms within each variety. However, the cukes…..EXCELLENT!!! Do you think there could be any truth in my theory?
You could be onto something there. So far, the only veganic products I’ve tried have all been sprouted and they’ve been consistently of excellent quality. I have not tried any veganic produce yet.
I didn’t know that we were Veganic farmers, until I read this article. We use both plant and animal-based fertilizers. But NEVER do we use antibiotics, or vaccines, on our animals. Naturally pastured, only.
I believe the answer to your question on the blandness…has to do with the variety of the tomatoes grown. I’ve learned to never accept tomato plants/starts from friends. These friend-grown plant varieties are mostly horrible tasting (aka, no taste)…even though the tomato plants were raised totally organic. I have a friend who will only grow Cherokee Purple tomatoes because the taste is always good. I believe the “watery” issue is also variety specific. Very few tomatoes (in my opinion) taste good. I did try one new tomato plant this year, a “Black Tomato” which totally surprised me with great taste. Last year I threw out half of my tomato plants due to no taste, or bad taste. I wasted a lot of water and time on them.
Your CSA farmer might be growing the “tried and true” tomatoes that are easy to grow, disease resistant, early/late, etc. Which does NOT necessarily equate to great taste.
I have found that all foods grown in my large greenhouse are way more tender than when grown outdoors…as well as ripening earlier.
I have never heard of veganic, & yes, I thought it had to do with vegans. I will look into it more. Very interesting.
I might have missed this in the article. Do they use any chemical sprays after planting?
Veganic involves no chemical use at all. It is a step beyond organic.
Very interesting article. I did want to mention that manure from animals raised on pasture, without hormones or antibiotics is an important component of regenerating healthy soils.
Great point! Thanks for adding this. I do think that veganic farming would benefit from using animal manure as long as it was free from contaminants. I don’t know of any commercial process to test for this, however.
As a ecologically minded livestock farmer, I found the veganic label a little disconcerting. If a farm sources its composted manure from certified organic livestock producers, the manure should by current organic standards contain no residues of antibiotics, GMO growth hormones, GMO feed, conventional plant sprays (like bromide or glyphosate, etc.) or chemical fertilizers. It’s not that hard to find manure from certified organic dairies, poultry farms, or other operations.
Also, when a standard requires farmers to avoid the rotating of animals through crop land, or the resting of crop land as pasture, it is pure faddish foolishness. Grazing cover crops has been proven in studies to return fertility to the soil faster than simply tilling or crimping it. The beneficial bacteria from the stomach of the animals eating the crop feeds the diversity of soil life, and the process of digestion makes the manure easier for the bacteria, fungi, worms, dung beetles, etc. to utilize the nutrients in the plant material to build rich and living soil.
You can certainly do good things with cover crops and “green manure”, but this article, and the originators of the “veganic” concept have divorced their ideals from the reality that animals, and their poop, have been a massive part of all healthy soil ecosystems since the beginning of time. And, traditional farming wisdom around the world has always emphasized the importance of manure to soil, particularly as a key part of building healthy soil to support the growing of grains and vegetables without depleting soil nutrients over time.
I would suggest looking for foods that have been grown “biodynamically”, or “regeneratively”. Regenerative agriculture is a sector of the certified organic, and better than organic, farming world, and farmers who identify as such are looking for ways to make their soil as healthy as possible without harsh chemicals or quick fixes. The result is very nutrient dense food, and not a fad that could potentially hurt the soil and waste a precious resource that has been, and will always be, a key dynamic of healthy soil–well aged or lightly spread manure.
Melissa Tregilgas
Great points. Biodynamic is an important step beyond organic as well.