Asklemmy

Yes.

I'll answer your question with another question: is it Vegan to eat bacon made from a pig you personally raised up from birth after it dies naturally having lived a full life?

If you define Veganism as a diet, then bacon's bacon. If you define Veganism as a personal reaction to the cruelty of industrial farms, then perhaps this is how you get Vegan bacon. If you define Veganism as something more spiritual, then perhaps desecrating your dear friend's corpse by eating it is even worse.

I would say yes. Plants feed off of the bodies of dead lions according to this animated documentary I saw, and that doesn't make them any less vegan. Then again, I'm not a vegan, so I might be entirely wrong.

Vegan here. Interesting question! I think you're going to get a different answer depending on the vegan you talk to. Personally, this is the definition of veganism I subscribe to:

"Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals."

By that definition, for me, it is not vegan. If the VFT has been grown by humans, and fed insects, then that is non-vegan, because there was a lot of animal suffering that went into growing that VFT. Furthermore, VFTs are not required for sustaining the human body, so the only reason to do this is for human pleasure or something.

Edit to add: if the VFT was found in nature, I probably still wouldn't consume it, because 1) I don't even know if VFTs are edible 2) if they are, I've got better food with me that probably caused less animal suffering, and are less morally ambiguous.

Yes. They aren’t digesting meat, they are absorbing potassium and fixed nitrogen. The plant cells are, well, plant cells.

Maybe a better case study would be figs since people actually eat those. From what I'm seeing in search results there is some difference of opinion, but maybe the prevailing opinion is that figs are fine for vegans because they are not intentionally exploitative or cruel to animals.

I can't breathe from laughing at this.

Yes. It's a plant. Made of plant things. In the same way that plants that are fertilized by dead bodies would also be vegan. You aren't eating meat. The plant is receiving sustenance from breaking down that organic material but you aren't.

If the VFT was grown for human purposes such as eating then no it would not be vegan, as they require a small but steady stream of bugs to grow. Though if you found a feed alternative like a nutrient pill then I guess it could be vegan. As for a VFT found in the wild then yes it would be vegan, anything it has consumed in the past wasn't done so for your sake.

In the same way as eating a cow is not considered vegan even though the cow only eats grass, yes eating a plant that eats flies would still be vegan.

Is murdering a murderer who plans to murder again murder?

I imagine there is gray in veganism, as with all philosophical life choices.

I feel like whatever the answer is, it has to be the same as "is eating mushrooms vegan?"