Why aren’t all vegetables vegan?

I’ve come across many arguments against veganism, from humans having evolved to eat meat to the perceived threat of protein deficiency. Some of the more unusual objections are things like figs aren’t vegan, or the headline that kept popping up all summer, vegans can’t (or shouldn’t) eat avocados (and not because of their carbon footprint). This was postulated on the premise that any plant pollinated by bees isn’t vegan because the process exploits bees. I suppose that the makers of the QI comedy quiz show thought that this was amusing. But, of course, if you followed that type of argument through you’d reach the logical conclusion that you shouldn’t actually eat anything. Yes, plants are pollinated by bees, crops are fertilised with manure, combine harvesters may exterminate the local mouse family – it’s an ethical nightmare.

Raising these sorts of arguments against vegans is a common deflection technique often used by the meat lobby and meat eaters. It all strikes of ‘whataboutism’: “attempts to discredit an opponent’s position by accusing them of hypocrisy without directly refuting or disproving the argument”. It reminded me of another stupid comment that I’ve seen many times: vegetables aren’t vegan. This isn’t the even more ridiculous ‘plants feel pain’ comment, but is based on the fact that many vegetable crops are fertilised with animal manure (from farming), or with slaughterhouse by-products, like blood, fish and bone. This led me to research whether there were any vegan vegetable growers and what type of fertilisers would be acceptable to vegans.

Like many of these grey area arguments, it’s all a question of degree. I always come back to the basic definition of vegan, from the Vegan Society: “as far as is reasonably practicable” do no harm. Avoiding produce that may have been grown with animal manure is going to very difficult, unless you grow your own. It’s not going to be on the label of supermarket or market stall produce. So, I wondered if organic products would be any better? However, I was aware of the comments of a local expat acquaintance earlier this year who was trying to persuade me to buy their allotment surplus by stressing the fact that it was all grown using organic principles, including blood, fish and bone fertiliser. Yikes, the very thought of powdered slaughterhouse residue was enough to turn my stomach. Needless to say, I never took up the offer.

I wondered then, what exactly are the rules for bio or organic growing? Organic production does not permit the use of any artificial pesticides, fertilisers and herbicides (weedkillers). It also prohibits routine use of any drugs, antibiotics and wormers. The UK’s organic certification is managed by the Soil Association according to the universal European Union organic standards (EC 834/2007 & 889/2008). The rules cover three aspects: fertilisers, compounds and microorganisms. Whilst plant-based fertiliser and seaweed compounds are common, manure and poultry-based compounds are also permitted. What’s the problem with manure-based fertiliser? Apart from the animal exploitation objection, animal agriculture by-products pose other risks. The first is the potential for health problems from the animals themselves – zoonoses (diseases that cross species), antibiotics and parasites. In the EU, antibiotic contamination should be less of a problem than the US, as there are strict regulations governing use. However, farmed animals are carriers of parasites which contaminate their manure and pose problems to the food chain. In fact, food poisoning such as E. coli when found in salads can usually be traced back to manure contamination of the crops.

In the course of my research I came across the concept of biocyclic vegan agriculture. Essentially, this boils down to using plant-based compost to grow vegetables. Seemed to be common sense to me. In the example featured in the Guardian, its proponent was using compost made from vineyard and olive grove waste in Greece and Cyprus. The production process was quite lengthy – up to four years – so not a short-term solution, but there are other well-known fertiliser methods like green manures that have been around for years.

I wondered if the concept of truly vegan vegetables exists, apart from the Greek project. Turns out that it does, and it is called ‘veganic farming’, ‘veganorganic’ or stock-free organic farming. There are several groups promoting it in the UK, Europe and North America. There are about twenty veganic growers in the UK and Ireland, including the long-established Tollhurst Organic Partnership in Reading, which has been offering veg boxes, a farm shop and education with Soil Association certification for over forty years. There are also a couple of producers recorded as being in France, but I was unable to track down any more details about them on the internet. Not surprising given the French reluctance to engage with modern media.

There’s also an EU initiative called Safe Food Advocacy Europe (SAFE) which states its objective as “striving for safer food for European consumers”. It’s supported by the EU Commission. SAFE promotes stock-free organic farming, which excludes not only livestock but the use of artificial fertilisers, livestock manure, slaughterhouse residues, GMOs and anything of animal origin. Interestingly, France is not one of countries that participates in the programme (currently the UK, Germany, Italy, Cyprus, Belgium and Greece). With growing interest in veganism, and rising numbers of vegans the demand for purely vegan vegetables is only bound to increase. I’ll certainly keep a look out for vegan vegetables, but in the meantime I can only continue to do “all that is reasonable and practical not to cause harm”.