Welcome 2018.
A new year of opportunities to expand your knowledge while shrinking your risk of many chronic and/or terminal diseases and, as a bonus, maybe shrinking your waistline at the same time! The increasing reporting about the many challenges with meat and animal products and the positives of eating a plant-based diet have fast become daily news items. Last week, CBC reported a government proposal considering taxing meat like tobacco in an effort to reduce national health care costs. Other countries, like Denmark, have already done this. Three days ago came the report that for women over 40, eating a mere 3 pieces of bacon per week (or 9g of other processed meats) increases breast cancer risk significantly. Welcome again to 2018 - perhaps the year of a major shift in the way we consume. But if you are considering a move to reducing or eliminating animal products, what do you call that?
This brings me to the topic of semantics. What do words like “plant-based” or “vegan” really mean?
Plant-based: one who eats a diet mostly or all derived from plants. This includes fruit, vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts, seeds and plant-derived ‘super foods’ like spirulina, chlorella, moringa, maca, etc. Under this definition, are varying levels of nutrient density and varying levels of non-plant foods. One can be junk-food plant-based (chips, candy, processed, high fat, minimal fruit/veg, etc), a % plant-based eater (i.e.: 80% plants/20% animals) or Whole Food Plant-Based (WFPB) which is the way to optimum health (minimal processed products, low sugar, low to no oil, whole grains, fruit and veg both raw and cooked, nuts and seeds and legumes/beans and for those with health issues, low salt). Plant-based simply refers to the dietary leaning and does not reflect other aspects of life. If a plant-based eater says to a restaurant, “I am plant-based”, that leaves a lot of questions for the server to clarify with you since plant-based does not translate to no animal products for many who use this term.
Vegan: one who follows a strictly plant-based diet (ideally WFPB but can also fall under junk food vegan) with no animal products in the production of or in actual food on the plate or in the glass. When one says to a restaurant, “I am vegan”, that means no animal products so it is simpler in that regard. Additionally, vegan or veganism reaches beyond what you are eating. While most people are drawn to plant-based eating for health reasons, if they choose to do more research, through documentaries, websites, podcasts, books, they quickly come to the realization that becoming vegan is ethically based and environmentally based in addition to health based. It is a way to live your day-to-day life with a growing awareness of not only what you put in your mouth (and your family’s mouths) but everything else you purchase and use (skincare, clothing, furnishings, etc). Veganism is awareness of what we in modern society are doing to animals and the planet and making future decisions based upon this knowledge. These three pillars make up the basic components of being a vegan, though many will call themselves vegan just based on how they eat. It is all a rather exciting process.
So which is the better word? As you can see in the above definitions, plant-based and vegan have cross-over meanings but are not the same. We hear the word plant-based increasingly used over the word vegan as many people who are coming towards a plant-based diet don’t like the word vegan for various reasons - often very stereotypical ones. Just like carnivores, vegans are not one specific type of person with a certain social or political bent or socioeconomic level or age. There are hippy carnivores and hippy vegans. There are elitist vegans and elitist carnivores (ever bought grass-fed bison steaks or organic, free range any meat and compared the price to Costco?) It’s a matter of understanding what best describes you or just using the words interchangeably depending on the situation. Get comfortable with the word vegan. It has history. It is compassionate. It is the essence of being aware and doing the best you can going forward.
If you need help transitioning or have questions, please send me an email at [email protected]. Look for a TON more information both on Facebook (LIKE community vegan on Facebook) and here.
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