All in a name: Plant-based vs. Vegan

Originally published on Medium

One of the biggest ironies in the food world is that the term ‘plant-based’ does not mean what it sounds like it should mean. Try this short experiment: what comes to mind when you think of plant-based foods? A simple Google Image search of the word brings up images of sliced avocados, nuts, grains, colorful vegetables and fruits, dark green leaves, freshly squeezed juice. Etymologically speaking, this all makes sense. The Oxford dictionary defines ‘plant based’ as ‘designating food or drink consisting of or derived from plants (or fungi)’. The synonym being, of course, ‘vegan’.

Indeed, anyone could be forgiven for thinking that plant-based and veganism are synonymous. But in fact, ‘plant-based’, when it comes to modern dieting at least, refers to an eating regiment that make plants a focal part of the diet, though still allowing for foods derived from animals.

The history is important here. The term was first coined in 1980 by a Cornell University biochemist by the name of T. Colin Campbell. For over a decade, he studied the eating habits of the rural Chinese. In his research, he noticed their diet was low in animal products and high in plant-based foods. This led to significant health benefits, particularly in the realms of cardiovascular health and cancer. In 2005, he published a book entitled The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, and Long-Term Health.

Campbell didn’t synonymize ‘plant-based’ with ‘vegan’. Rather, he noticed a trend towards lessening the consumption of animal products, without fully excluding them. By way of example, the Mediterranean diet can be considered a plant-based diet in that it focuses heavily on plant-based foods, but also allows for fish, poultry, eggs, cheese, yogurt, and meat (though on fewer occasions).

Naturally, with these allowances, ‘plant-based’ could easily mean different things for different people, depending on how comfortable you are with consuming animal products. And naturally, some plant-based diets might look almost vegan.

But the difference with veganism is still important to distinguish. Vegans, quite famously, chuck out all animal products from their diet and way of living, making no such allowances for animal products be they in clothing or in their food. Plants aren’t only the focal point of the diet; they’re the only part of the diet worth consuming. Animal rights, to say nothing about environmental concerns, are a key part of veganism as a movement and philosophy.

So then, why do we use the term ‘plant-based’ at all, you might ask? Isn’t this just vegetarianism, plain and simple? A looser sort of veganism? Flexitarianism?

Experiment number two: what comes to mind when you think vegetarian? What comes to mind when you think vegan?

The truth is, veganism and vegetarianism as terms have a remarkable way of warding off people. This is perhaps most strongly felt with the term ‘vegan’ though it happens as well with ‘vegetarian’. Societal visions of these groups has tainted the people that practice these diets as being too severe, restrictive, their diet choices potentially harmful to one’s health.

What perhaps is the final nail in the coffin is the fact that some vegans and vegetarians have been incredibly vocal about their diet, and not in a good way. For starters, no one likes to be told what they should and should not eat. The notion of being morally superior leads to a sense of pride that borders on being obnoxious. And despite their good intentions, the intensity can make veganism seem like a sort of cult-like religion, one many would be forgiven for not wanting to join.

But plant-based? Almost everyone can get behind adding more fruits and vegetables to their diets, even more so making them the central feature. It’s a movement many can get behind, something we’ve had ingrained in us from our childhoods.

And the thing of it is, making things plant-based has become something of a fun challenge; like trying to find the pieces of a puzzle to making the perfect plant-based ‘cheese’, discovering what vegetable can mimic the taste and consistency of meat.

Veganism owes much to the plant-based movement. Telling people that it’s better and healthier not to eat meat and cheese isn’t a selling point. But advocating for more plants in our diet and encouraging plant-based foods while still allowing for a few animal products here and there, has had the effect of making vegan and vegetarian meals more palatable. It might even make eating plant-based meat or dairy alternatives somewhat more fun and exciting. Furthermore, as increasingly more plant-based alternatives become available and we discover the full potential of what plant-based foods can create, the idea of eating only plants doesn’t seem all that restrictive anymore.

All of which is to say, ‘plant-based’ and ‘veganism’ could become synonymous eventually. In fact, their meanings already seem to be edging closer together. Indeed, as movements, both are seeing a surge in popularity. And despite their differing philosophies, plant-based and vegan eaters still share a number of the same goals and beliefs.

While it may be easy to mark one of these groups as ‘better’ or more ‘elitist’ than the other, I find it more comforting to assess their similarities rather than their differences, to celebrate the fact that in both circumstances, plants are in the spotlight where hopefully they’ll remain.