It has a lot of definitions, but the general definition from Wikipedia states that it "is a diet consisting mostly or entirely of foods derived from plants, including vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, and fruits, and with few or no animal products. A plant based diet is not necessarily vegetarian." I have seen this phrase come up many times while scrolling through blogs and other forms of social media. There is not a clear definition as some influencers use the term to describe a standard American diet consisting of animal based products, and others for a almost fully vegan diet. This can be confusing for people who are looking for a lifestyle change, and are unable to find the information they need.
A vegan diet consists of food that is not derived from animals. This excludes meat, fish, dairy, eggs, and honey (2). I know that there is a debate with honey because a lot of people are taking up beekeeping as a hobby and finding more ethical ways to harvest it. But that's not what this post is about, and I can save that for another time.
A vegetarian diet has many subcategories to further divide them, but generally consists of a diet free from meat and fish(3). There are Lacto-ovo vegetarians who avoid animal flesh, but consume eggs and milk products. Lacto-vegetarians consume dairy products, but no eggs. Pescetarians consume fish/seafood products, but no other animal flesh. Fruitarians consume fruit, nuts, seeds, and other plant food. There are even flexitarians that are primarily vegetarian (still consuming eggs and milk products), but on special occasion they will consume meat and fish. I actually know people who are flexitarian and they mainly eat meat for the holidays when the family makes it hard to avoid. There are so many categories for this, but they seem to be clearly defined, unlike plant-based.
Now that we have quickly gone over the definitions of everything, which category do you think plant based falls under? Most would assume it would be somewhere between vegetarian and vegan, but because the term has been used so loosely in recent years I don't want to identify with it.
For all the vegans who want to jump at me right now for saying "vegan (most of the time)" I understand that you may not like me using this term. I promise that I am working towards being fully vegan, and it has been a slow transition. I've been fully vegetarian for 3 years- no meat or fish, and limited dairy. The past 2 years I've been working towards the transition. I do veganuary every new year, and it has been surprisingly helpful. I am currently working on vegan baking which will solidify my transition (I've got the general cooking down).
I choose to be vegan (most of the time) by choice. I am in no way forcing anyone else to live like me and I will not do that. I choose to be vegetarian/vegan/plant-based for sustainability reasons. Yes, I love animals and do not approve of the more commercialized way of obtaining animal meat or products, but I also do understand that there are ethical sources out there (such as owning your own chickens and harvesting eggs that way, or from the small local farmer down the road).
I live with my boyfriend who is not any of these mentioned above. He consumes meat and animal products, but will also eat any vegan/vegetarian meal I prepare for us. It's not a big deal. But the eggs are always in the fridge and I keep reaching for them because its so much easier than figuring out how to properly bake with a flax 'egg.'
So now that I've addressed why I personally will not be using the phrase plant-based while transitioning to veganism, I will get back to my normal food posts. I hope this made sense and my audience can understand why I've taken this approach. I don't feel that plant-based is a phrase that fits me, or my lifestyle when it has such a loose definition.
Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant-based_diet
- https://www.webmd.com/diet/vegan-diet-overview#1
- https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/guide/vegetarian-and-vegan-diet#1
Follow me on instagram @SimplyShannonLee
Post a Comment