Vegan vs Plant-Based
A moral philosophy and corresponding lifestyle vs a half-assed diet.
‘Veganism’ and ‘Plant-Based’ have constantly been used synonymously within the past few years, and it’s getting under a lot of people’s skin. These terms do have one aspect of overlap, but aside from that, there isn’t much tying them to each other.
Veganism: Veganism is a moral philosophy with a corresponding lifestyle. Vegans believe that non-human animals are not machines, commodities, or products. Vegans do everything in their power to abstain from and aim to abolish all forms of animal exploitation. This extends to what we wear, eat, entertain ourselves with, and more. A vegan does not eat, wear, or use anything that comes from an animal or makes use of an animal’s suffering ever (except in the case of life-saving medicine, as there is currently no alternative).
Plant-Based: A plant-based diet consists mostly or entirely of plant-based foods. Plant-based diets encompass a wide range of dietary patterns that contain low amounts of animal products and high amounts of fiber-rich plant products such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
Many people believe ‘plant-based’ to mean ‘vegan,’ but that is obviously not the case. The first time I became aware of people using the term ‘plant-based’ for foods that contained animal products was in a commercial run by Tattooed Chef. The brand ran a commercial claiming to be ‘plant-based’ yet had several dishes that contained cheese, especially their mac and cheese.
Initially, upon seeing the commercial, I was interested. I immediately looked this company up online and was horrified to find that they were not vegan and only had a few vegan meals, the rest being vegetarian. I reached out to them to ask why they label themselves as ‘plant-based’ when they seemingly are not. They responded by giving me the textbook definition of ‘plant-based’ and that they were well within the scope. This was when I was introduced to how skewed the term ‘plant-based’ was and how messy veganism would soon become.
People who follow a plant-based diet are most likely following the trend or are attempting to lose weight. Being plant-based is easy; all you have to worry about is eating mostly plants, and you’re golden! You can brag to all of your friends about how much better you are than them because you follow a loosely defined diet; good for you!
Veganism applies to every part of life: the makeup you wear, the shoes you buy, and the job you work. “Plant-based people” are half-assing a crucial movement in history. “Plant-based people” are hurting the vegan movement by making it look so unserious, flukey, and nonchalant.
I care about animals; that’s why I’m vegan. I care about all animals, human and non-human; that’s why I’m vegan. I care about all animals every second of my life, not sometimes, not ‘when I feel like it,’ all the time. That is why I’m vegan.