Introduction to Vegan Food Science

Goals

Create a reference work for vegan food science

The main intent is to create a food and cooking reference that focuses on plant products. There are thousands of vegan food sources  ¹ , many of which are unfamiliar and under-used. Fruits, vegetables, grains and seeds are well-known but seldom explored as the main event of a meal. Here we aim to discuss thoroughly vegan foods, how to prepare them, and how they fit into the economy of nutrition that brings us to our shared table.

This site is devoted to the exploration of the vegan diet, what it is, how it works, and who takes part. Here, we strive to create a serious, referenced, and reliable source of information about plant-based food. This will help vegans looking for supporting facts, and help meat-eaters who are interested in particular information on diet or using an unfamiliar vegetable.

Comparison of plant and non-plant food sources

We will compare and contrast vegan and animal-product diets with a critical eye. What are the benefits and drawbacks of each lifestyle? How do they impact people's lives, society, and the environment? What does "home economics" mean in a vegan household, and compare to standard diets?

Disclaimer

Not medical advice

We are not doctors, and do not pretend to dispense medical or nutritional advice. The best we can do is make note of, and pass along, the findings of the most qualified experts we can find. While we can repeat what we read, please keep in mind that only your doctor can know the details of your particular health needs.

Not food experts

We are not food service or culinary experts of any standing. Our reporting and findings are from a relatively amateur standpoint. We aim to be earnest and hopefully rigorous in our pursuit of factual information. We promise to treat professional opinions with respect, and credit experts fairly no matter the source. Comments and corrections are welcome: email us at vfs@netzingers.com .

U.S.-centric focus, Western bias

We live in the United States of America, home of the Standard American Diet  ²  . We grew up on the Eastern seaboard, in a big city, which makes my food choices particularly biased. There is probably no way we can keep this from slanting our presentation. We do hope to keep from making purely factual errors because of our background. Please feel free to point out any corrections or comments  ³  you wish and they will be considered to the best of our ability.

Standard food-science guides of modern Western society - from the humble farm bulletin to textbooks on nutrition - make meat and animal products part of the essential food groups. Flesh foods are not a food group, since they are no more strictly necessary to the human diet than alcohol or refined fats and sugars. Focusing on animal agriculture misses the potential benefits of plant foods.

The West takes for granted that everyone eats meat . This idea was born in the romantic image of the Hunter/Gatherer of early human civilization. Now many think that steak is the best possible supper dish, or that every pasta dish needs a cheese topping. There is no place at the rich modern table for the cabbage and beans of "peasant food." Such "low quality" fare was banished from the city in shame as the standard of living rose after the end of World War I. Scientific literature promoted animal products as "high quality protein" based on animal studies in the 1930's  ⁴  .

Work in progress

This site is constantly evolving. When we say "science," we mean the process of increasing our understanding of the world as we find it. Finding the right answers to match what we see takes time and hard work. A big part of the scientific process is constantly refining our ideas, so material may appear, change, or be removed at any time.

What we say is generally taken to be true. While we strive to constantly add references to the research supporting these statements, this process takes time. If we find that a statement is not supported, then that statement will be taken out. These judgements will be based on how good the studies are, and how much evidence they present.

Food science is a most difficult area of study. You can only use live subjects, and they are notoriously hard to work with. Changing the diet of a study group is costly and hard to control, so few large-scale diet researchers have been able to investigate cause-and-effect. Most food research is limited to findings of correlation (two or more things are seen to happen together) rather than findings of cause (x causes y, and the effect y is directly related to cause x). This means the research does not provide an answer that is always true  ⁵  .

There are issues of self-interest, economics, and peer pressure that can change the direction of, or even stop research. These research roadblocks are difficult to find, and can make people change their minds overnight. This is called bias, and is a big problem with food science, due to the extremely personal attachments people have to their food heritage.

About us

Jim Wiegand

Diana Wiegand

Notes