Are you Inadvertently Vegan?
Just a hint before you get started, some people don’t like vegans. You might find your friend pool diminishes slightly. You might also be surprised at who else around you is quietly PB or Vegan.
The word vegan brings about many different reactions from people and groups.
Plant Based(PB) or Whole Foods Plant Based (WFPB) is a bit more of a mouthful but sometimes preferential to people to disassociate themselves from the negative images that the word VEGAN can sometimes bring.
Is PB the same as vegan?
Diet wise, yes, but there is a bit more to veganism than just not eating animals. The main difference, is your view on the killing of animals for sport or food. It is about the ethics or the right to do that. Just because you can do it ……. should you?
Personally, my journey as a WFPB advocate was for health reasons. Not just mine but everyone else around me as well. I found myself associating as vegan (mostly because it’s less of a mouthful) because once I was off the “gear”, I could also include my ethical dislike for animal agriculture and its more than significant impact on the environment.
If you are not, be well aware there is a significant environmental aspect to animal agriculture that is a classic elephant in the room situation. The media talks about carbon, greenhouse gasses and fossil fuels but neglects to dicuss the largest causes or contributors to greenhouse gases, ocean dead zones and so on. Animal agriculture contributes more greenhouses gases per annum than all means of transport combined (planes, trains, automobiles, ships, freight etc.)
To be honest as I dipped my toe into all this, I was shocked at my ignorance and the lack of main stream media coverage on the more significant link between animal agriculture and the destruction of the environment. Really though, what shocked me the most, is the lack of main stream acknowledgement of the undeniable link between the consumption of meat and dairy and the increasing amount of diabetes and coronary heart disease and other negative health outcomes. What you eat directly effects your health.
Inadvertently Vegan
What’s the difference?
The term VEGAN conjures up images of militant people protesting, scaling fences or chaining themselves to production lines to demonstrate outwardly their views on animal agriculture
The Plant Based movement is gaining not only popularity but significant real life momentum and it promotes healthy eating and its benefits to an individuals health
Living a healthy existence by eating a diet excluding animal products is a Plant Based Diet (PB). Reducing or excluding processed foods is a Whole Foods Plant Based Diet.
The desire to not eat or use animal products because of the ethical, moral and environmental reasons is core to being Vegan
If you’re Vegan you’re already PB
I’ll correct a previous misnomer here. I had WFPB here instead of PB, but that is not true. You can be plant based and still eat processed rubbish. Actually it’s now easier than ever to do that with new products hitting the shelves every week
If you’re truly PB, you’re only a corn stalk away from classifying yourself and living as Vegan