Being vegan means excluding meat, eggs, dairy products and all other animal-derived ingredients from your diet. There are many vegans who don’t eat foods that are processed using animal products, such as refined white sugar and some wines. Most vegans also avoid the use of all products tested on animals and even go to the extent of not using animal-derived non-food products like leather, fur and wool. A vegan diet includes all grains, beans, legumes, vegetables and fruits with absolutely no meat or dairy products. There are lots of foods you can create by combining all the vegetables, nuts and fruits mentioned but there are also vegan versions of hot dogs, ice cream, cheese and even vegan mayonnaise. There are also vegan egg substitutes, milk and dairy substitutes like non-dairy soy milk, almond milk, vegan margarine and more.
Kosher products cater to a vegetarian’s diet because the foods may be prepared without the meat ingredients. Kosher foods are strictly prepared according to the Kashrut dietary law however kosher meals generally may contain dairy, meat, fish and eggs. An alternative kosher food products called kosher parve are prepared without the meat ingredients which is most suited for a vegetarian’s diet. Supermarkets selling kosher usually label every kosher food products as parve (without the meat ingredient), kosher dairy or kosher meat. This will provide the consumers more informed shopping choices for their grocery supplies. If you are a vegetarian and looking to observe a kosher diet, mark in your grocery list to look for a kosher parve labeled food.
The Kashrut has strict guidelines on the way food is prepared. Even the utensils that were used should not have touched non-kosher products or ingredients. Traditional vegan diet is not based on any religious law as long as only nuts, vegetables and fruits and the substitutes are consumed. Kosher parve is the Hebrew term for foods without meat or dairy at all which can prove to be helpful if anyone who is on a vegan diet. However, kosher parve products are allowed to contain eggs, honey, and fish according to Jewish laws so if you are purely vegan, read the label carefully when you go to supermarkets selling kosher foods.
One online shopping site that can provide you simple and convenient kosher grocery shopping is KosherFamily.com, a project of My Cloud Grocer. This online store has free delivery within Crown Heights area and you are assured that their products are properly labeled. They know that kosher foods cannot mix meat and milk, cannot mix meat and fish, that’s why all their products with meat, dairy, fish and products with eggs are clearly marked as such. So it is hard for a kosher vegan or traditional vegan to make a mistake on their purchases.
There are also restaurants in Brooklyn, Crown Heights or Park Slope areas that serve kosher foods and you must always ask the waiter or the chef to define the ingredients they use on foods to help you determine if you can eat the food or not. These restaurants are all kosher certified and under the supervision of a Rabbi. Traditional vegans will not find any issues when it comes to kosher foods because they can be assured of really clean and safe food for consumption.