Our Vegan Commitment

For reasons of health, sustainability, and compassion, Earthville is a vegan organization.  

ve•gan (VEE-gun): Embodying compassion for the welfare of animals by refraining from the consumption of animal-derived foods and other products that may cause harm to animals (such as leather, silk, and products making use of animal testing, etc.)

Earthville’s vegan practices

Earthville Institute serves meals based on a purely plant-based diet (we don’t use any animal-derived ingredients in our food) and we don’t buy or otherwise contribute to the consumption of products that contain animal products or that have been tested on animals. 

This includes:

• No meat (including poultry, fish, etc.)

• No eggs

• No milk (including yogurt, cheese, whey, and other dairy products)

• No honey, bee pollen, animal-derived medicine/supplements, or anything else from insects or any other animal source 

• No soaps, shampoos, or other products that contain animal-derived ingredients or that are tested on animals

 
Why vegan?

Earthville Institute exists to promote sustainable, healthy, and compassionate living. One of the most effective ways to bring about huge benefits with small actions is by keeping a plant-based diet and following a vegan lifestyle. An alarming percentage of greenhouse gases are attributable to the animal products industries. This one change in lifestyle is a powerful way to care for the planet, for animals, and for ourselves.

There are three realms of benefit of a vegan diet and lifestyle:

1. Animal welfare

2. Ecological sustainability

3. Benefits for human health

Research has demonstrated that a plant-based (vegan) diet centered around organic whole foods is the most supportive diet for health and longevity (see the China Study, for example). A plant-based diet also offers the benefits of preventing the suffering and ecological destruction caused by the consumption of animal products. Because human consumption of animal products causes harm to oneself, to the animals and their families, and to the environment, it follows that if Earthville were to contribute to the consumption of animal products, doing so would undermine our charitable mission on all three counts (promoting healthy, compassionate, and sustainable living). For all of these reasons and more, Earthville was founded as a vegan institution, out of our sense of responsibility to care for all living things (including our human guests!) as well as we can.

Benefits of an organic, whole-food, plant-based diet

For the maximum benefit of our guests, our animal friends, and our planet, Earthville offers a balanced, natural, organic, 100% plant-based diet based mostly on whole foods, which means it is healthy, sustainable, and compassionate — and delicious!

We encourage all of our guests to take full advantage of the opportunity to experience the many benefits of a healthy whole-food plant-based diet while you are here. Most people who keep this diet faithfully for an extended period find that they feel much better (e.g. more energetic, less heavy and sluggish, and with a clearer mind), and many of our guests also tell us that they benefit greatly from using the opportunity to practice letting go of cravings for unhealthy foods. Of course we do respect individual choices, however, and if you wish to include animal products or junk foods in your diet, you are welcome to take meals at a local restaurant. We only ask that such foods not be brought back to the Earthville campus, in order to help us maintain the most supportive possible environment for those seeking to practice this diet and lifestyle).

We thank you for not bringing animal products, junk food, plastic-packaged food, or drinks in plastic bottles to Earthville.