D'oh! Or should I say, "Dough!"

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Okay, I'm having a Homer Simpson moment. In my previous post, I mention the use of Flatout Breads. The specific kind I used was the light Italian. This bread was not purchased with my money, but was obtained at my food bank. No, I didn't see the official capital V that told me it was okay, but I looked at the ingredients to see if there were any of the common offenders. I thought I was in the clear.

Thanks to Miss Muffcake-(and I am not being terse about this, but truly appreciative), I was told that the product I used was not vegan. D'oh! Or should I have said, "Dough!". I called the company at 5 minutes to close and asked about the source of the preservatives, specifically enzymes and l-cysteine. He was the last guy in the office, so he was alone and couldn't provide an answer on the spot, but told me that I would get an e-mail soon.

Yay?

My stomach sank. I'm pretty sure the questionable ingredients are animal derived. How could I have been so stupid? It was an honest mistake and I publicly apologize. I thought I had read the package carefully. At one time I had a little book of animal derived ingredients, but I gave it away to someone in a care package because I felt that I had enough of the offenders ingrained in my head to know what was okay and what wasn't. Which brings me to some questions I would like to ask you readers:

1. Have you ever made a mistake like this? Talk to me about it.
   
2. Has someone pointed this sort of thing out to you? How did it make you feel?
   
3. Have you ever pointed out something like this to another vegan? What was your motive for doing it?
   
4. Some vegans will not eat a product that has been made on shared equipment. I respect that vegan's decision, but it isn't mine. I live in a house with an omnivore and two vegetarians. ALL of my kitchen equipment is shared with things that have touched an animal product. I won't eat things that read "contains traces of ________", but shared doesn't bother me. I'm sure the vegan po-po is putting out the APB on me for writing that, but as far as I'm concerned, it is that kind of attitude that drives potential vegetarians and vegans away from the movement. So the question is, do you eat products that have been produced on shared equipment?
   
5. Do you buy vegan products from companies that make non-vegan products?
6. Does a food or beauty product have to have the "V" label for you to use it?

I'm grateful for moments like these because veganism is a process, a journey, and to me--not anything that any human can perfectly adhere to. Whuuuut? Go ahead, tell me something you love and I can put on my police uniform and tell you how it isn't vegan at all.

So why do I do this? I hate preachy blogs, and this stuff needs to be talked about so we can have an honest conversation and hopefully dissolve the stereotype that all vegans are picky assholes. We're not. I'm someone who loves to eat, wants to have fun, and cares about making this insanely crazy world a little more of an awesome place.

Okay, done with the discourse. Don't forget you have until midnight EST August 19th to enter my granola giveaway contest!