WHAT IS GELATIN? IS THERE ANY ALTERNATIVE TO IT?
Gelatin (used to make Jell-o and other desserts) is made from the boiled bones, skins and tendons of animals. An alternative substance is called Agar-Agar, which is derived from seaweed. Another is made from the root of the Kuzu. Agar-Agar is sold in noodle-like strands, in powdered form, or in long blocks, and is usually white-ish in color. Some Kosher gelatins are made with agar-agar, most are not. Some things that are vegan that are replacing gelatin are: guar gum and carrageenan. Only some 'emulsifiers' are vegan. Gelatin is used in photography. Although the technology exists to replace photographic film, its price is currently prohibitive and there is insufficient demand. Hopefully, with the growth of vegetarianism and veganism, this situation will soon change.
Good summery.
Using HotBot I found a lot of debate over this issue on the Photoshopper Forum site. I included two links into the debate but there are many more.
http://www.photoshopper.com/forum/general.html
http://www.photoshopper.com/forum/general/691.html
"Humane" film? Posted by Esther on April 28, 1997 at 20:01:47: I myself am not an avid photographer, but one of my close friends is, who just recently found that camera film is made with gelatin. She is a vegetarian and refuses to use or eat any product that contains gelatin because it is made with powdered animal hooves, horns and skin, among other things. She loves so much to take pictures and it's absolutely broken her heart. Does anyone know of a type of film or company that makes film without using gelatin? Any help would be appreciated.
Follow Ups:
Re: "Humane" film? S.H. 20:27:01 4/28/97 (0)
Posted by S.H. on April 28, 1997 at 20:27:01:
In Reply to: "Humane" film? posted by Esther on April 28, 1997 at 20:01:47: Try digital photography, it is the only modern photogaphy, I know of with out film. But she still might have a problem with it they because they use plastics, which are made of dead animals aka dinosaurs. There is also the Camera obscura which uses only tracing paper. You may want to talk to Kodakbecause if memory serves me right they may use trees instead of animals.
Re: animals in film J. McArdle ([email protected]) Thu, 6 Jul 1995 11:36:45 +1000 (EST)
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My Webster's dictionary tells me gelatin is "a glutinous material
obtained from animal tissues by bioling, esp: a colloidal protein used
as a food, in photography, and in medicine. 2 a: any of various substances (as agar) resembling gelatin.
> If this is an issue for you, maybe some of those "any of various substances" might be used.
Gini
Yes it is an issue for a lot of vegetarian photographers (though I've come to terms with it myself) and I'm wondering if we ought to be lobbying film companies to consider using agar (which is seaweed derived) as much from environmental as much as animal lib. concerns. I'd like comment on this to pass on to students here. Thank You All
James McArdle Photography Lecturer Latrobe University, Bendigo
PO Box 199, Bendigo Australia 3550
[email protected] 61 54 447 208 (w)
Sat, 8 Jul 1995 10:23:40 +0300
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Just a quick look at the scientific literature going back over 100 years will convince you that several hundred million dollars have been invested on gelatin research. You won't see this kind of investment on agar, for the simple reason that the days of silver gelatin systems and conventional photography are numbered.
Photography used to be in the hands of just a few players. Now that the ballgame has been moved to the electronic arena, this business is getting a lot more competition. Sony, Adobe systems, IBM, etc., never had much to say regarding E-6 film compatibility, but they feel perfectly at home on the silicon turf. Kodak alone is spending over $100 million a year on digital systems.
The digital industry is not that clean however. Most computers are replaced every three years of so, and here's the bad news that may come as a surprise to many environmentalists: they don't grow on trees, and they are not biodegradable... I remember reading a few years ago that Apple Computer had hired a firm to fill up a landfill with thousands of obsolete Lisa computers (the Mac's predecessor). Ten thousand years from now those computers will still be there.
Luis Nadeau
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Thu, 6 Jul 1995 11:56:54 +1000 (EST)
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> As long as no animal is sacrificed JUST to meet the needs of the film manufacture industry, I have nothing to complain about. I wish I could become a vegetarian, but I just can not afford it!!
>G.Penate
Actually, being a vegetarian is much cheaper - I became one twenty years ago in order to afford the costs of a photography course (little did I know then that photography wasn't vegetarian)- although my reason for being a vegetarian is not a moral one, one can understand the distress of someone who is vegetarian and committed to photography. The other dilemmas associated with phtography are environmental - its a very dirty business - do we think enough about these things and act on them - ordo we hope it will all just go away. For someone like myself who encounters younger people with strong (uncompromised) moral positions all the time in a University setting this really is worth discussing. Thank you for your input so far. Any practical suggestions/alternatives?
James McArdle Photography Lecturer Latrobe University, Bendigo
PO Box 199 Bendigo Australia 3550
[email protected]61 54 447 208 (w)
Fri, 7 Jul 1995 07:57:11 -0700 (PDT)
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May not be too interesting to you all...but @ the Marin County Fair over the 4th of July, we built a pyramid of 'used' computer parts: cases, HD discs, floppies, cords, phones, faxes, fans, thises and thatsits, etc. Primarily it was kids doing it ... creating outer stellar modules of warped communications...but they were a-smashin the pieces with hammers and drilling the bejabers outa all the circuit boards. You could see all the useless junque and you know all the esoteric chemistry that created it. So, it isnt the animal gel we need worry over, it's the human gel, or whatever it is that causes us 2-leggers to use what others have. Just 2 many ov us.
***The eye is the Pencil of Nurture***
Tue, 04 Jul 95 11:30:21 SST
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Talking about GELATIN, I read somewhere that the gelatin used by the film manufacturing industry has animal origin. Now I remember, it was in Pop.Photography (no, I don't buy it!!). Just never went thru my mind this use for animal's gel and thought to share it here for the benefit of those that like me didn't know that. Yup. I remember an article about Linda McCartney getting quite upset when she found out- I mean, what's the point being a vegetarian if you've been using boiled cow's hoofs all these years??? Gum does not suffer from this drawback (well, that's for the printing; modern film uses animal gelatine). As a question for those who know better, can vegetarians substitute gelatine with non-animal gels, such as agar-agar or carragheen (sp?) ? Any special properties of gelatine? Thanks Olivo (who loves meat, but this sort of issue make him very curious)
Wed, 5 Jul 1995 01:15:11 +0300
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Talking about GELATIN, I read somewhere that the gelatin used by the film manufacturing industry has animal origin. Now I remember, it was in Pop.Photography (no, I don't buy it!!). Just never went thru my mind this use for animal's gel and thought to share it here for the benefit of those that like me didn't know that. Yup. I remember an article about Linda McCartney getting quite upset when she found out- I mean, what's the point being a vegetarian if you've been using boiled cow's hoofs all these years???
I have little patience for the nouveau-riches trying to tell us how to live, being the above mentioned lady or Brigitte Bardot who smokes two packs of cigarettes a day, loves foie gras and who is trying to tell Inuits (aka eskimos) that they have been living in sin for thousands of years because they have been trying to make a living off available resources.
Those who don't want anything to do with gelatin are in for a few sacrifices. Start by giving up the clothes on your back (yes gelatin is used extensively by the textile industry) and most types of shoes, belts, purses, etc.
Then make sure you don't get sick as you'll have to give up on hundreds of types of medication. Abandon many types of papers as well, to read or write on. Give up on ice cream and many if not most types of foods available in grocery stores. You'll have to give up on windows (yes it is used to make glass), protective paint on your walls and countless of articles, not to mention beer, wine, cosmetics. I'll get back to the word "cosmetic" in a moment.
Then you have to remember that when you give up on something, you have to use something else. In the case of paper, this can be melamine, already used extensively in the (photo grade) paper manufacturing industry. From what I know, the process uses tons of formaldehyde, a wellknown carcinogen.
Back to cosmetics. Few people know that one of the raw products used by millions of cosmetic customers actually comes from... septic tanks! Including my own! One of the largest manufacturers of cosmetics raw products is in Saint John, New Brunswick, where they export the processed you know what to many major manufacturers around the world. I don't know if what they produce is a substitute for or added to gelatin, but in the words of my septic system provider: "If women only knew what they're putting on their faces..." Of course, the material in question must be processed, purified, whatever, but still... Gelatin is an extremely complex organic material with unique photographic properties described in thousands of pages of scientific journals. While many colloids have been proposed as substitutes over the years, none comes close to replace it, and all of them, in their manufacturing process, aren't entirely green anyway.
Luis Nadeau [email protected] Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
I find these three articles interesting, the first one in particular.