The 4 differences between being vegan and vegetarian

We explain the differences between these two concepts linked to how we treat animals.

With the arrival of new times comes a new way of relating to the environment and, of course, to the beings that inhabit it. Our ethical stance on how we should treat animals has evolved, and in recent decades we have become much more concerned about their welfare and health.

In fact, today we are involved in debates that would have been difficult to imagine a hundred years ago, and which touch on different issues related to empathy towards other sentient life forms. In this article we will review what the differences are between being vegan and being vegetariantwo philosophies of life and sets of routines that have a lot to do with the new ethical positions that are spreading throughout the Western world.

Expanding ethics and empathy towards animals.

Both veganism and the trend to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle have started to become popular especially since the beginning of the 21st century. Of course, this expansion of two ways of living so different from that which has traditionally prevailed in Western culture has not been without controversy. Its repercussions on our attitudes to perceiving and coexisting with animals have generated all kinds of debates about morality and the best way to live and consume animals. and what is the best way to live while consuming products and resources..

We must bear in mind that for centuries there have been groups and societies concerned about the welfare of animals, which have made the need not to harm them one of the pillars of their way of life.

Differences between veganism and vegetarianism

However, normally these groups of people behaved in this way because of a mystical or religious sentiment that dictated rules of conduct in relation to nature. It is only recently that a feeling of empathy a feeling of empathy with animals of a secular type, disconnected from a certain conception of nature.disconnected from a particular conception of what the cosmos is or how we are dictated to be as parts of a divine creation.

Now, there is no single way to express that feeling of connection to all other sentient beings. The differences between veganism and vegetarianism are proof of this. In the following lines we will see what are the main differences between being vegetarian and being vegan.

1. Vegetarians can consume animal products.

The concept of vegetarianism encompasses many lifestyles that are characterized by a much more restricted consumption of animal products than is usually the case. Vegetarians do not eat meatHowever, in some cases they do consume egg products, in others they consume dairy products, and in others they consume both egg and milk products. The incorporation of honey in the diet of vegetarians is also common and frequent.

On the other hand, vegans try not to consume any animal products; neither egg or milk derivatives, nor honey. While vegetarians are characterized rather by adopting as a frame of reference the diet that includes everything that is edible and nutritious, and from there exceptions are created, in the case of veganism, these kinds of foods are discarded from the beginning..

2. Veganism is more than a diet

Normally, the concept of vegetarianism refers to a type of diet characterized by the absence of certain products, given that to produce them animals must be killed or harmed.

Veganism, on the other hand, goes far beyond what we eat, and also affects, for example, the clothes we wear, the cosmetics we use, etc. If in order to produce any product it is necessary to generate Pain in an animal or even to kill itIf in order to produce any product it is necessary to generate pain in an animal or even kill it, either to experiment or to be able to manufacture a product, the tendency of vegans is not to make use of it.

3. Veganism can mutate with technological development.

The raison d'être of veganism is not in itself not to eat organic matter that is not of vegetable origin, but not to cause pain to animals. Therefore, if in the future a way is found to produce meat, milk or eggs directly, without having to extract it from mature animals with nervous systems or without the participation of these, a vegan person could, hypothetically, consume that product.

On the other hand, since vegetarianism has been defined first and foremost as a type of diet.In contrast, as vegetarianism has been defined primarily as a type of diet, no meat is consumed, regardless of its origin.

4. Vegetarianism can contain veganism, but not vice versa.

As vegetarianism is a very broad concept as far as diet is concerned, it can contain the food facet of veganism. Specifically, veganism can be considered to be a strict version of vegetarianism, but not the other way around.. However, this is a nominalist debate, and there is no consensus as to whether there is a quantitative difference between vegetarians and vegans or whether the difference is rather qualitative.