Veganism in The Media

I write (too?) often about the increase in non-vegans' co-opting (and often distorting) the term "vegan" to cash in on the current mainstream interest in exploring the ethics of eating; it's getting even more annoying to see a rising trend in bits or interviews with vegans engaging in confessional-like admissions to non-vegan indulgences, often shrugging them off as indiscretions. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between non-vegans pretending to be vegan, and vegans trying to gain the approval of mainstream foodies by offering up titillating bits of information that only seem to perpetuate the current foodie obsession with presenting the eating animals (and their products) as overwhelmingly enticing.

For instance, yesterday there was a quick reference to Lorna Sass' new cookbook Short-Cut Vegan by Boston Globe foodie Sheryl Julian. Tucked away in it was yet another supposed vegan's confession, and its mangling of the meaning of veganism:

Sass was vegan for almost a decade and wrote a bunch of vegetarian books, which she told me are really vegan books. She only broke her very strict vegan regime when she met a guy who liked to eat cheese and sip wine.

Well then, she wasn't vegan for almost a decade if she ate cheese, was she? The full interview with Sass should appear next Wednesday; it'll be interesting to see how she ends up clarifying her statement, if she does so at all.