Is Aquaponics Vegan?

[Neddy Newitt]

Veganism - "the doctrine that man should live without exploiting animals"

So...is aquaponically grown food vegan?

Apologies for throwing out a curly one as my first post!

I'm looking to start a commercial system in a very "forward thinking" area of Australia, where I'd like to take my produce to some of the local farmers markets.

I believe there to be a large part of the community that are vegan.    A vegan might argue that aquaponics is not vegan as an animal is used in the growing process, but by the same logic do they also aim to avoid vegetables grown using chicken manure or worm wee?  

I feel I need to be well prepared for the inevitable question at the markets, what is your angle on this?

[TCLynx]

Now we are getting into semantics.

In nature,

A symbiotic relationship is one in which both life forms in the symbiotic relationship benefit in some way from the relationship.  And I would say something symbiotic is not exploitation.

A parasitic relationship is one where the parasite gains while providing no benefit directly to the creature being fed upon.

I'm not really sure that what people do with animals really quite fits either.  Good husbanding of herds means the creatures in the herd as a whole benefit, however, the individuals being killed and eaten may view it differently.

Truth is, unless you are a bacteria that can survive sucking minerals out of rocks or vents, everything eats something that had to die to be eaten.  Even plants need organic matter decomposing in the soil to thrive.

Choose your battles carefully.  The people who are rabid about something are often not sensible enough to debate it rationally.

I think my ancestors evolved to be omnivores, I'm gonna take my cue from nature here and be an omnivore.