Excellent article! I get Sweet Freedom quite often (since I’m dairy free right now). The good they are doing outweighs any possible good that could have come from Ed’s diatribe. I know a person with celiacs who was almost in tears, after eating some Sweet Freedom, because she could have dessert again. Being Vegan IS about personal experience and the worst possible way to make the world better (and/or more Vegan) is to do what Ed did. Thanks for this Christopher!

I am so tired of vegans bashing other vegans for not being vegan enough. Sweet Freedom was obviously trying to do some good, and IMO it doesn’t make them bad vegans just because the event happened to be at a zoo.

Excellent article.Very well said. Now can we all get on with life?lol

If all Sweet Freedom cared about was supporting autism awareness, why aren’t they at Sesame Place this week, which also has an autism awareness event? Promoting an event at the zoo goes against every vegan principle (and anyone who relies on Webster’s online dictionary for their social justice movement awareness needs more help than the limited space in this comment box can provide.) Shame on Sweet Freedom for continuing to call itself a “vegan” bakery. It’s not. It’s a bakery that sells vegan products.

I think it’s great they stopped the use of honey and only use non refined sugars. I will stop by when I’m in Philly. It sounds like a really cool place. While Ed’s heart is in the right place, sometimes maybe he might push it a little too far..but just because he cares so much. The Philly Zoo seems to be a pretty good place..with the exception of the elephants that have no room. Maybe you should take a poll and see if your customers want you to support them, since they are the ones paying actually. As for the autism event, what does the money go towards? I hope they don’t use it for any animal testing. That is a common mistake people make it seems, to donate to a cause without knowing where the money is going. Anyway, keep up the good baking!

This company mislabels themselves as vegan, not just the goods they sell. And you are mistaken, the origin of the word vegan was to distinguish between vegetarians who only did not eat any animal products at all back around 1850. The word vegan slowly came to be less than 100 years later by a couple who decided to use it for those who do not exploit animals in any sense, dietary or clothing, etc. Vegans at a zoo… what a sad joke. There is no “sweet freedom” for animals at the zoo. Call yourselves vegetarian and be happy with it. Do you and this bakery need to feel vegan that badly? If your conscience is getting the best of you, then switch from being vegetarian (non-animal diet) to vegan and do not support he use of animals in any exploitive or oppressive fashion! Go VEGAN! <3

CLaire, I paid good money for your online cookbook, thinking you were vegan. Very sad to know that you support zoos, one of the most NON-vegan things around. The best thing that has come out of this mess? FIndling out who is truly vegan and who is just in it for self-promotion because “vegan” is now trendy I’ll buy my cookbooks from true vegans.

If Sweet Freedom cared about animals and supporting autism awareness, they could have had their event this week at Sesame Place, which is sponsoring another autism event. But they chose to promote the zoo’s event without any regard for the animals. It’s not that they’re “bad” vegans – they’re not vegan at all.

There is no question that honey is not vegan. Bees are animals, and honey is something that they produce.

Veganism IS a lifestyle. Who cares what Merriam & Webster say about it – I care what Donald Watson, the founder of veganism, says about it.

The only misguided thing Ed did was tell anyone that Sweet Freedom’s desserts are any good. They were awful every time i tried ‘em.

P.s. – the ridiculous link for “vegetarians and vegans who support zoos” show exactly two members with four posts – the most recent one is 12 months old. I’m sure there are also “catholics for abortion” and many other similarly contradictory groups out there. It doesn’t change the fact that ZOOS ARE NOT VEGAN.

Wow. Where to start…Well, first of all, veganism is not a diet. I don’t care what the dictionary says; it’s wrong.

BEHOLD! Donald Watson first coined the term ‘vegan,’ and founded the Vegan Society, which states:

“Veganism is a way of living that seeks to exclude, as far as possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing and any other purpose.”

MIND-BLOWING, isn’t it? It’s called Google.

It’s quite funny (but really, just sad, and reflects on your narrow moral scope) that you suggest that if someone condemns oh, say, locking someone up for their entire life against their will for money and entertainment, then they must not care about autism causes.

Really? So, if someone is against human slavery, and a chocolate company that uses slave labor-cocoa were to donate proceeds to a cancer charity, that person would be pro-cancer by not supporting the chocolate company, and for criticizing them for their use of slavery? Right. Because it’s not as if there are other ways to help people with cancer. And making informed decisions is like all hard and stuff.

Oh, and also, WAY TO GO for using schizophrenia as a pejorative. Ableism is always nice. It’s not like people with mental illness are stigmatized enough as it is.

Veganism is NOT a diet, you are thinking of strict vegetarianism. Veganism is a lifestyle and a practiced philosophy. Honey is not vegan, never was, never will be, get over it. Supporting zoos sucks, always has, always will. It sucks that this guy seems to have ulterior motives, and kudos to you for pointing them out, however he does have valid points. The wisdom in the words matters more than the messenger.

Wow, did you even look at the vegans and vegetarians who support zoos link? What a joke!

The Autism Awareness group that Sweet Freedom non-vegan bakery supports tests on animals. And you’re clearly not vegan if you think “the Philly Zoo seems to be a pretty good place.”

“Vegan: The term was coined in England by Donald Watson, who founded the British Vegan Society in 1944, and in 1960 H. Jay Dinshah started the American Vegan Society, linking it to the Jainist and Buddhist concept of ahimsa, the avoidance of violence against living things.”

Veganism for other reasons than morality is not veganism. The freedom bakery clearly does not understand that and claim their store is vegan when it is in fact strictly vegetarian. The sole fact they would think to use bee products in their merchandise is enough to realize that they see no wrong in supporting animal exploitation. How is helping autist children to the detriment of other sentient beings good? How is it beneficial? If they wanted to support charities, they could very well have supported charities that don’t partake in animal exploitation. I entirely agree with Ed Coffin.

Also: “when your end goal is to reduce the suffering of animals by any means necessary” >> that is not the goal of veganism. That is the goal of animal welfare, which is counterproductive to veganism.

“Detailed” definition of veganism, because you seem to be needing it: http://quotesonslavery.org/vegan-a-person-who-is-committed-to-and-practices-a-reverence-and-respect-for-all-life/

Also, details on welfarism vs veganism: http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/new-welfarism-fails-on-its-own-terms/

This article is quite offensive actually. Do more serious research before you write something like this. An opinion based on impressions (“emotions”) is worth nothing whilst an opinion based on facts is already more valuable.

Sweet Freedom describes itself as a “gluten-free, vegan, allergy-friendly bakery,” so I read it as a bakery concerned primarily with human health, not animal suffering. It’s great that there’s another bakery out there that caters to vegans, but I have to agree with the other commenters that this is not a vegan bakery, in the true spirit and meaning of the word. Any zoo that keeps animals prisoners are unethical by vegan standards and taking something that isn’t made for you and doesn’t belong to you (honey) is stealing.

My only problem with what the author says is when he gets his definition of veganism from a dictionary. I get my definition from Donald Watson (Founder of Veganism) who said “The idea of veganism was to preserve a word to describe those of us who abstain from the use of any animal for any reason to the best of our practical abilities”. I think it is great if someone eats a plant diet but that makes you a herbavore not a vegan. Diet is one of the ways to not contribute to the exploitation of animals but there are many other ways. I to am tired of the infighting among vegans and I am tired of the people that turn this into a purity cult. That is not what I am trying to do here I just think that the real message of veganism is getting lost lately with its growing popularity. I base my behavior on the real definition of veganism. For me it is not as trivial as a diet it is a moral code that I have been living my life by for 7 years.

Some points in this article are accurate, but unfortunately, most are not. If you’re going to defend SF, which I have been doing since this occurred, you need to spend a bit more time doing research:

1. SF serves only vegan food. They could say that they are free of all animal products, but many will still ask the question “does that mean your foods are vegan?” It’s certainly easier to say the food is vegan and there’s nothing wrong with that.

2. Honey isn’t vegan. The use of ANY animal is not vegan. – END OF STORY.

3. The comment about Autism is just off base. The point Ed is making is that if you are going to devote your time to making an event about Autism, why not do it in a venue that doesn’t exploit non-human animals? This goes with everything in the world. Why hurt one group of beings just to benefit the others? I don’t think it’s intentional, however. Zoo owners and customers have been doing this for years and as long as nobody sees the animals physically abused, it’s okay. I hope this changes in society someday.

4. Mr. Merriam and Mr. Webster didn’t research the definition – they just inserted what the most common belief of the word veganism is. The person who invented the word, Donald Watson from the UK, is the only person who can comment on what vegan is and there are plenty of articles about what he said before he passed away.

5. Anyone who likes zoos is not vegan. That’s okay, you don’t have to be vegan, just don’t try to tell us that vegans are okay with zoos – they aren’t.

6. SF’s target market is for people with food allergies and intolerances. They’ll certainly sell their foods to vegans and non-vegans who do not have allergies or intolerances, but that’s not their target market – I’m not sure who Ed thinks is their target market, but it’s not vegans – never was.

The last statement in this article I agree with 100%: “Say what you will, but every cupcake that Sweet Freedom sells is one less cupcake made from milk and eggs.” This is an added bonus since SF did not start their business with the goal of ending animal use.

Land sakes!!! With all this talk of honey, you’d think the bakery employees just went around slinging jars of the stuff at unsuspecting customers! For the record, the author doesn’t even mention that honey IS vegan. Obviously it isn’t. He just said using it is a matter of personal preference in the vegan community. The source for that was the Vegan Action website which Ed HIMSELF used as a source in a previous article of his own!!

Also, Ed’s writing credibility is slightly diminished when he doesn’t spell veganism properly. That last paragraph in his article has it spelled “veganSIM”. For a cause you so greatly believe in, it would be nice to take the time to write it appropriately.

Poor Donald Watson is probably turning over in his grave at all this namecalling and vitriol. So much for civil discourse.

Land sakes!!! With all this talk of honey, you’d think the bakery employees just went around slinging jars of the stuff at unsuspecting customers! For the record, the author doesn’t even mention that honey IS vegan. Obviously it isn’t. He just said using it is a matter of personal preference in the vegan community. The source for that was the Vegan Action website which Ed HIMSELF used as a source in a previous article of his own!!

Also, Ed’s writing credibility is slightly diminished when he doesn’t spell veganism properly. That last paragraph in his article has it spelled “veganSIM”. For a cause you so greatly believe in, it would be nice to take the time to write it appropriately.

Poor Donald Watson is probably turning over in his grave at all this namecalling and vitriol. So much for civil discourse.