Difference between a Vegitarian, and a Vegan

[guineapigluver1]

OK, I want to know how a Vegan is different fomr a Vegitarian, and what do they eat? What DON'T they eat?

[Percy's Mom]

I'm sure there will be more knowledgeable people coming along to answer your question, but here is a very simplistic one.

Vegetarian is an overview label for someone who does not eat any animal. Anything that ever walked, ran, swam, crawled, slithered, or flew would not hit a vegetarian's dinner plate.

Vegan is a level of vegetarian. A vegan will not eat anything that was ever part of or made by an animal. No dairy products, eggs, honey, etc.

[guineapigluver1]

Hmm..OK, It probably be very hard for me to be a Vegan, because of what my mom makes, but I could be a Vegetarian, as I don't really like meat all that much. And when I'm on my own I could probably be a Vegan if I wanted.

[PiggieMamaKelly]

I might add to PM's definition that vegetarians do not eat any slaughter by-product. Which is not always animal flesh, but includes things like gelatin.

[omgzz]

One more thing..
Not only do vegans not eat animal products, they don't use them in any w-y. We don't use anything that has animal ingredients or is tested on animals.

... And trust me, there are a LOT of animal ingredients. ._.

[Percy's Mom]

Yep, I knew more knowledgable people would come along. Not being a veg*an myself, I was pretty sure I would leave things out of my rather simplistic definitions.

[JarBax]

I wouldn't worry too much about the labels - it's what you do that matters.

Whatever you do to help - whether it's just giving up meat a small step at a time, or giving up everything that has ever used an animal in any way (including ingredients that have used animals/animal parts in the making (eg white sugar), no longer consuming anything related to animals eg. honey, eggs and cows milk, not wearing 'by-products' eg. leather or any animal product eg. wool, and using nothing tested on animals in cosmetic products/around the house etc.) or any combination of the above (and beyond!) you will be making a small difference.

It's the difference that matters, not the name!

[Biscuit]

Originally Posted by JarBax

giving up everything that has ever used an animal in any way (including ingredients that have used animals/animal parts in the making (eg white sugar), no longer consuming anything related to animals eg. honey, eggs and cows milk, not wearing 'by-products' eg. leather or any animal product eg. wool, and using nothing tested on animals in cosmetic products/around the house etc.) or any combination of the above (and beyond!) you will be making a small difference.

That sounds really hard. It seems like it would be easier to move into a cabin in the woods and grow your own stuff rather than figure out what is in everything around us, how it was made, etc.

[guineapigluver1]

I rarely eat any meat, and I CANNOT stand eggs! I'm going vegetarian. I started today. So far it's been good. I love salad. It shouldn't be hard for me not to eat any meat.

[gpigluver14]

Vegans also do not wear any animal by-products: no wool, silk, leather, suede, etc. I however, only wear vegetarian clothing, because if I don't eat them, why would I want to wear them? Also, vegans do not eat rennet/animal enzymes. Rennet is basically calf stomach and is found in cheese. Here is a proper definition from Merriam Webster:

Natural calf rennet is extracted from the inner mucosa of the fourth stomach chamber (the abomasum) of young calves. These stomachs are a by-product of veal production. If rennet is extracted from older calves (grass-fed or grain-fed) the rennet contains less or no chymosin but a high level of pepsin and can only be used for special types of milk and cheeses. As each ruminant produces a special kind of rennet to digest the milk of its own mother, there are milk-specific rennets available, such as kid-goat rennet especially for goat's milk and lamb-rennet for sheep-milk. Rennet or digestion enzymes from other animals, like swine-pepsin, are not used in cheese production. (Swine-pepsin is, however, used in the analysis of disulfide bonds of proteins.)

FYI there are many vegetarian alternatives to this, that of which are found in soy cheeses and other vegan/non-dairy foods, such as vegetable rennets, and microbial enzymes.

There is large debate about whether rennet is even vegetarian. Some vegetarians simply disregard it if they are simply not strict vegetarians. I never eat anything that specifically says rennet in the ingredients because the source would definitely be from a veal calf... But then again, I keep my intake of cheese very minimal to begin with.

Also, FYI, for people who don't know what gelatin is:

The worldwide production amount of gelatin is about 300,000 tons per year (roughly 600 million lbs.) [2]. On a commercial scale, gelatin is made from by-products of the meat and leather industry, mainly pork skins, pork and cattle bones, or split cattle hides. Recently, by-products of the fishery industry began to be considered as raw material for gelatin production because they eliminate most of the religious obstacles surrounding gelatin consumption [3]. Contrary to popular belief, horns and hooves are not commonly used. The raw materials are prepared by different curing, acid, and alkali processes which are employed to extract the dried collagen hydrolysate. These processes may take up to several weeks, and differences in such processes have great effects on the properties of the final gelatin products [4].

This is found in marshmallows, candies, and even a few kinds of breads, and it's obviously not vegetarian.

There are many subcategories of veg*nism. For example, if you eat fish, you are not a vegetarian! There's very specific levels, such as strict veg*n, or semi/part veg*n. But here's the main levels, in simple form:

ovo-vegetrarian - eats eggs; no meat
lacto-ovo vegetarian - eats dairy and egg products; no meat
vegan - eats only food from plant sources; does not wear any animal by-products, and doesn't support the meat industry in any way.
lacto-vegetarian - eats dairy products; no eggs or meat
pescatarian - does not eat any meat or animal flesh; continues to eat fish/seafood

[JarBax]

Originally Posted by Biscuit

That sounds really hard. It seems like it would be easier to move into a cabin in the woods and grow your own stuff rather than figure out what is in everything around us, how it was made, etc.

That's why I said 'or any combination of the above!' It is extremely difficult to be strictly vegan - I couldn't stick it, with my young son, for that long. Have now reached a stage in life where I am happy that what I do is causing/contributing by consumerism minimum suffering, whilst allowing me to live without causing myself suffering!

Originally Posted by gpigluver14

FYI there are many vegetarian alternatives to this, that of which are found in soy cheeses and other vegan/non-dairy foods, such as vegetable rennets, and microbial enzymes.

Just to clarify, you can alxo buy 'vegetarian' cheese which is made with cows milk, but without using animal rennet.

So, you might eat this if you were lacto vegetarian, lacto ovo vegetarian and perhaps plain vegetarian (depending on your own preferences and idea of strictness) - but not ovo vegetarian/eggetarian and utterly not if you are vegan. Which just goes to show how trivial and confusing the 'titles' can be (in my opinion)!

I absolutely applaud everyone for doing their own 'bit' and sometimes that involves a little bit from every category which is a valid contribution. I worry that some are put off doing what they can by the labelling process, not managing to fit into any one category, when infact they may be taking the best from all!

[thalestral]

I would like to add that being vegan is not necessarily very difficult, it varies very much from person to person. Personally I found it harder when I changed from being non-veg to vegetarian than I did from vegetarian to vegan.

The definition of veganism is this:
A vegan is someone who tries to avoid - as far as is possible and practical - all forms of exploitation of animals for food, clothing or any other purpose. This is for the benefit of people, animals and the environment. Vegan eat a plant-based diet free from all animal products, such as meat, animal milks, eggs, honey and gelatine. They also avoid animal products like leather, wool and silk for clothing or other purposes.

From the Vegan Society website: Facts

Originally I thought it would entail a lot of label reading but that has turned out to be far from the case really. I buy wholefoods now and cook from scratch, often cooking up multiple meals at a time in large batches and putting portion sized amounts in the fridge and freezer for ease of cooking throughout the week

My partner is vegetarian though we eat and live vegan at home. It is perhaps not for everyone but I found it surprisingly easy

[Maisiepaisie]

I agree with Thalestral. I've been vegan almost 3 years now and I don't find it difficult at all. It was more difficult when I first tried being vegan 10 years ago but now, with the internet, theres plenty of information available. When I first started being vegan I joined www.veganforum.com which is a very supportive forum. I've met many people in person from there and made a lot of good friends from the meetups. I highly recommend it to all vegans and anyone considering veganism.

[Sammy and Peanut]

A vegan doesn't eat anything that is made by animals (like honey or eggs)

A vegetarian eats those things, but they won't eat the animal itself.

I am going vegetarian, but my mom says that I need protein because I am a kid, and she is trying to force me to eat meat. Is this true that I need protein if I am a kid?

[Ally has U's]

Everyone needs protein; growing kids need a lot more of everything then adults do. But meat is not the only source of protein. Look up other non-meat sources of protein (like peanuts) bring them to your mother and tell her that you are going veg and that you will look after your diet and make sure you get everything a growing kid needs and that you have a list of things that give me everything I need so maybe next time we go to the store we can pick up some new stuff and see how it taste and if it will work maybe for the whole family. If you go to her maturely and with a good list of foods she will probably be more helpful and more understanding.

[guineapigluver1]

I had no problem switching to vegetarian! In fact now, the thought of the meat I ate before, makes me feel sick! I absolutely love salad!!