Years ago, there were few resources for people who followed a vegetarian diet. Life was even more difficult for those who adhered to a vegan lifestyle – which attempts to avoid all animal products.
Today, vegetarians and vegans may turn to a wide variety of businesses for the foods and products they need. One of these is TheVegetarianSite.com, which was founded in January 2000 by David Sudarsky.
I have been vegan for nearly 15 years, and I was a so-called ethical vegetarian for five years before that. So, 20 years ago (at age 18), I began taking factory farming, animal rights, and eco-living quite seriously.
David notes that the goal of his business is to promote and provide support for the vegetarian or vegan lifestyle.
We offer authoritative information on a wide variety of topics, from health and nutrition to animal rights issues to agriculture and the environment. Additionally, we offer complete online vegan shopping, including leather-free footwear & accessories, cruelty-free personal care products, discounted books, videos, groceries, juicers, and more.
Ultimately, we prefer to carry products that meet eco-friendly, vegan, and human rights criteria.
In an editorial on the website, David warns consumers to be very careful when purchasing vegan shoes. Large numbers of the producers of these shoes, which are usually made in Asian countries, especially China, fail to follow fair trade practices.
Unfortunately, both the working and living conditions of factory workers are still lacking in many respects. Sixty or more hours of manual labor each week, low wages, and a requirement that workers live at company facilities in group dorm rooms are not uncommon. Standards and practices that would violate labor laws in the Western world are legal in Asia, where laws are more lax and human rights not up to par.
Since September 2000, every month, TheVegetarianSite.com has donated 10% of all sales (not just profits) to nonprofit vegetarian and animal rights organizations.
The dozen or so nonprofit organizations that we regularly sponsor are all national (or international) high-impact groups that are promoting the vegan lifestyle and/or animal rights.
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I came across some great vegan messenger bags, through a company that my cousin worked for in Atlanta — http://www.MalcomFontier.com. It’s great to see so many companies moving onto this track. I also create fair labor organic baby clothes and try to maintain our company to be as sustainable as possible for future generations.
That said, education about manufacturers are key — while some factories in Asia may not follow fair labor standards — there are many that do, including many factories in China. Not only do they commit to fair labor practices, they use environmentally friendly dyes or materials, and often, organic cotton or other vegan materials. Check out manufacturers’ certifications, and try not to judge by generalizing across the board for an entire country. Many of these workers livelihoods are dependent on our support, and we shouldn’t boycott them unfairly.
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