ANSWERS:

Laurel, age 18: Most, if not all, vegans I know eat foods produced on machinery that also touches eggs and dairy. The reason the labels say this is that people with severe food allergies must know this information. Most companies, especially smaller, cruelty free ones, simply do not have enough funds to purchase their own equipment, and thus must rent from other manufacturers. You'll be hurting the innocent efforts of good vegan companies if you boycott them in an effort to stay pure.

Kim, age 15: Whether something is "okay" is a judgment that you have to make. Most people would say it's "okay" to raise and brutally slaughter an animal for food! My personal opinion is that this isn't something worth worrying about; it's better to focus your energy where it'll make more of a difference - by influencing others to move towards a vegetarian lifestyle, for instance, instead of by trying to be perfect. I don't mean to say that by going veg you've already done "enough" and can relax - just that at this point doing some cost-benefit analysis may mean that this problem gets low priority.

"The Vegan Example," at http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/path.html#veganexample, discusses this question as well. Their advice: do what you will, but by all means don't argue about it with other vegans! :)

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