Vegan vs. plant-based: Which one is right for you?
30 Second Summary
Understanding the difference between vegan and plant-based is crucial: a plant-based diet focuses on health and environmental benefits by consuming mainly plant foods, whereas veganism is a philosophy that avoids all animal exploitation for ethical reasons. Plant-based diets can improve health and reduce environmental impact significantly. However, veganism goes further by advocating for animal rights and justice, rejecting all forms of animal cruelty. If you believe animals deserve moral consideration, adopting a vegan lifestyle is the way to align your actions with this belief.
The Difference Between Plant-Based and Vegan
Plant-Based is a Diet, Vegan is a Philosophy
Understanding the differences between veganism and eating plant-based can be difficult. It is especially difficult when you consider that vegans eat a plant-based diet, but people who eat a plant-based diet aren’t necessarily vegan. People who eat a plant-based diet do so for health or environmental reasons; however, all vegans are vegan for ethical reasons.
“Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.”
You can learn more about what veganism is here.
Plant-based for Health
While improving health is an excellent reason for people to adopt a plant-based diet, it is fundamentally self-serving.
People often eat plant-based diets to improve their health. Eating plant-based doesn’t necessarily mean you abstain from all animal products, just that your diet is primarily made up of grains, vegetables, fruit, and legumes. It makes sense: according to the Journal of the American Heart Association, healthy plant-based diets are associated with 19% and 11% lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality and all-cause mortality, respectively.[1] Dr. Kim Williams, the former President of the American College of Cardiology, has gone so far as to say, “there are two kinds of Cardiologists - those who are vegan and those who haven’t read the data.” While improving our health is an excellent reason for people to adopt a plant-based diet, it is fundamentally self-serving. Next we will discuss a more altruistic reason to eat plant-based.
Plant-Based for Environment
“A Plant-based world reduces agricultural land use by 75%”
Agriculture is currently the leading cause of deforestation and biodiversity loss on our planet. According to OurWorldInData.Org, a plant-based world would reduce agricultural land use by a whopping 75%.[2] While most of this is land used for grazing, even crop land use would reduce because we would no longer inefficiently grow plants to feed nonhuman animals. People who are plant-based for health and environmental reasons have found a sort of silver bullet - a relatively easy change they can make in their lives with significant effects. Arguably, health and environmental improvements can be accomplished from reducing their consumption of cow flesh, and increasing consumption of chicken flesh instead. Further, they may still purchase products that were tested on animals, purchase companion animals from breeders, and enjoy attendance at rodeos - all actions vegans choose to abstain from.
Why Are People Vegan?
“Peace is not just the absence of war, it is the presence of justice. Justice must be blind to race, color, religion, and to species. If it is not blind, it will be used as a weapon of terror. And tonight there is unimaginable terror in those ghastly gulags, those Guantanamos we call factory farms. So talking about peace whilst killing animals is like loving literature and burning books, they are mutually exclusive ideas.”
As mentioned previously, adopting a plant-based diet is beneficial both for an individual’s health and their environmental impact. While eating plant-based is often a stepping stone to veganism, there is an important factor missing. This missing factor is consideration of trillions of victims; nonhuman animals who are exploited and killed by human hands each year. Vegans recognize there is no objective difference between a human and chicken that justifies needlessly stabbing a chicken in their throat, but not a human. Stated differently, beyond the health and environmental benefits, veganism is a matter of justice.
Which One is Right for You - Vegan or Plant-Based?
Are animals deserving of moral consideration?
The fundamental question for someone considering whether they should eat a plant-based diet or go vegan is this - are animals deserving of moral consideration? If the answer is yes, then you should go vegan. If the answer is no, then it would be a good idea to follow that line of reasoning further. If you saw someone kicking a dog in the street, would you respond in the same way if they were kicking a rock? Anyone with a brain and the ability to empathize will honestly answer that nonhuman animals, with feelings similar to ours, are deserving of moral consideration. Therefore, all of us should strive to adopt a vegan lifestyle, and start speaking for the countless victims who are unable to advocate for themselves.
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