"Plant-Based" and Veganism

I keep hearing people say they are "plant-based". This term is so ambiguous. It really means nothing. People who eat meat also eat vegetables, and frankly, although I'm a vegan, my partner Jeffrey who eats meat, eats much more veggies than I do, and you can truthfully, correctly say that his diet IS plant-based, as he eats more plant foods than meat.


But from my understanding, these "plant-based" people claim to not eat meat as well--at least that's what they want you to assume, but sorry, they are not making sense. The word "based" means that's your foundation, major source of something; it doesn't meant that's all you eat. A big meat eater can also be called a plant-based person, as long as they mostly eat plants as the foundation of their diet.


I once informed a self titled "plant-based" blogger but I think she remained clueless as to what I said. Whatever, but if a person is going to call themselves something and shout it out proudly in public (even to a degree of sounding holier-than-thou), they shouldn't be surprised if they are corrected in public--because of their ignorance--by telling them the correct definition of "based".


Speaking of terms being defined incorrectly, it seems to me people have forgotten what the word vegan actually means. I was reading a blogger today and she posted:


"I went vegetarian on-and-off until I was 19 years old – I gave up meat for good and became a vegan not long after.As with many vegans, I thought the ethical choice was simple – don’t kill other things to eat them, don’t eat the products of animals cruelly confined and exploited for food. While animal rights are a good starting point, a truly ethical diet must take other factors into consideration. Plant-based diets are touted as being an environmentally-friendly choice..."





I replied this to her:


Veganism IS about being environmentally-friendly–always have been. Also veganism is about wearing cruelty-free clothing, and buying cruelty-free cosmetics, preferably from cruelty-free companies.

Veganism has ALWAYS been about all these things almost since the word vegan came into existence. I really don’t know why it’s been in the last decade or so that people tend to look at veganism as just what you put in your mouth.

I’m old-school; I’ve been a vegan since 1982 and back then, when a person said they are vegan, you automatically KNOW that means they are food/clothing/all products/environmentally cruelty-free. Now, it seems like one has to say they are “Ethical” vegans to define this, as oppose to “dietary” vegans or “environmental” vegans.

If a person ever said to me, "I'm plant-based", I'm going to say, "Oh. But do you still eat meat?" Plant-based is a meaningless name. This is why I love saying I'm vegan. There's no confusion. No bull. It's an original, meaningful name.


I think some people need to dust off their dictionaries and get reacquainted with it.