All answers. When did you first hear the term 'vegan'? (***If you haven't heard the term don't answer)

Question

I first heard it 20 years ago. Rick Allen from one of my all time favourite bands Def Leppard is a vegan. I did not fully understand how a vegan would eat at the time because my family are omnivores. A full twenty years later via vegetarianism - I followed in his footsteps!!

Answer 1

I don't really remember exactly when (or where) I first heard the term but it was almost certainly when I joined the IVU while in college. That means sometime in the '60s; I know the topic was discussed at the IVU shindig in Maine and Vegetarian Times magazine had already done some vegan stuff by then (mid-'70s I think).

This link might not work for everyone but it's William Safires' "On Language" column from two years ago when he discussed the work "vegan". Please note his paragraph about fish eating vegetarians!
Since you're in the UK; you might want to dig through back issues of the "Guardian" ;-)

BTW; I was *never* a hippy; I bathe!


Ihttp://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/magazine/30ONLANGUAGE.html?ei=5088&en=e274594270494bdf&ex=1264827600&pagewanted=print&position=

Answer 2

I first heard the term about five years ago. I was high school walking to class with a friend. He told me that he had a friend who was vegan and explained what it meant to me. My first response was..."Is your friend crazy?!??! How can someone live like that." Things have changed a bit for me since than. I am now a vegetarian. I have considered becoming a vegan several times. I doubt that I will every become a vegan. I am really curious about how healthy the vegan diet is. Maybe a little more research will convince me.

Answer 3

I first heard the term when I was little. It was in the late 80s and I was watching a documentary (I know, I was a dorky child!). They were talking about events of the 1960s and the different counter-cultures that became dominant.
Of course, they mentioned vegans. The images they showed were kinda strange to me: some were protesting, they looked like they hadn't showered, some were doing drugs, others were dancing around with flowers in their hair. It's kinda comical when you think about it! I now know that not all vegans act like that...but when I was little, I was always on the lookout for "THE vegan" - skinny, bell bottom-wearing, shaggy haired person in a drug fog.
I'm a vegetarian and I don't look like that. Yet. J/K!! :-)

Answer 4

Hmm - 20 years ago sounds about right, maybe a bit less. My dad always read lots of stuff on nutrition, and he told me about it. We were a meat eating family - my parents still are, but I've been a vegetarian (not vegan) for about 7 years now.

Answer 5

First time I heard it was on a really old episode of wife swap or something like that,back in 2000.I was in fifth grade.The husband and wife and kids all followed a strict vegan lifestyle and they swapped wives.I'm almost sure that was the first time I heard it,I'm not sure though.When I first watched this video I already knew what a vegan was,so I learned it before 2002.

Answer 6

I first heard of veganism in the mid 70's while visiting the health food store. Back then, you could not get the specialized ingredients or organic foods in a grocery store. You went to this little hole in the wall place that was packed with vitamins, bins of dry loose tea and very few, if any, prepared foods. This is also where I first tasted frozen yogurt......plain yogurt without sugar or fruit, frozen in a soft-serve machine.......It tasted wierd at the time!

Answer 7

I heard it when I was 6 years old (about 8 years ago). I had just become a vegetarian and my uncle's girlfriend suggested veganism.

Answer 8

I guess it was about 15 years ago. I was baking bread for several gourmet shops at the time. One of them had a few vegan dishes and I tried some of them. I was impressed. I still eat meat and cheese and all of that good stuff, but I enjoy vegan dishes occasionally.

BTW, how do you pronounce "vegan"? For the longest time, I thought the "e" was short and the "g" was soft, as in "vegetable". My sister, who worked at one of the gourmet stores, told me it was pronounced with a long "e" and a hard "g".

Answer 9

hey, there, better late than never! I first heard the term many years ago but hadn't a clue what it meant. I have learned more about it since going vegetarian. I have multiple food allergies that keep me from being completely vegan, but have found some options. I do drink milk, but only from my pampered, well loved, and well cared for cow. She would engorge and be in pain if she wasnt milked, so I thank her for her gift of milk and turn it into homemade butter, raw cheeses, and fresh milk and cream. When she calves, we do without so she can nurse her baby. I have no guilt issues with this at all. I have to consume fish, once or twice a year just to boost my protein, or I get sick. I can't eat wheat, soy, eggs, and other proteins that vegans and vegetarians do, so I have to sacrafice. I try to live as true to vegan as I can-no animal tested products, etc. But, we all have to make adjustments, and its what has to work for me. Rick Allen would be so proud of you!

Answer 10

I heard it the first time my freshman year of college. I wondered why the food tasted so funny and I was informed that I had gotten food from the vegan side of the cafeteria. Not that there's anything wrong with vegan, just not for me. I'm just mostly veggie.