The Difference Between Vegetarian and Vegan and a History of Both

"What is the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan?"

Since I write about my vegan lifestyle and feature vegan recipes on this site, I receive this question often. It's a great one too because, unless you are familiar with the veg world, it can all be a little confusing. I thought I would run through some of the characteristics of the different forms of vegetarianism and veganism so hopefully, it all makes a little more sense.     

• Vegetarians do not eat any meat products, however, they do eat dairy products, eggs, and honey.

• Vegans do not consume any animal products, which includes dairy, eggs, honey, or basically anything that ever came from an animal. Many vegans also avoid fur, leather, and wool.

Types of Vegetarians

Within the Vegetarian spectrum there are subcategories:

• Lacto-Vegetarian: eats no meat, eats no eggs, but does allow dairy products.

• Ovo-Vegetarian: eats no meat or dairy products, but does allow eggs.

• Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian: eats no meat, but does includes both eggs and dairy products.

• Pescetarian: though there is some debate if this should be included as a vegetarian variety, a pescetarian follows a vegetarian diet, but does eat fish.

Vegan Spectrum

Within the vegan spectrum, some additional disciplines include:

• Macrobiotic Diet: a diet of mostly whole grains and beans, supplemented with other foods like vegetables.

• Raw Veganism: a diet of fresh, uncooked fruit, nuts, seeds and vegetables.

• Fruitarianism: a diet of only fruit, seeds, nuts and other plant matter that can be gathered without harming a plant.

Art by Golem-Art

Some fun facts about the history of vegetarianism and veganism:

• The vegetarian ideology has been around a long time. It was practiced around 3,200 BC in Egypt by certain groups who abstained from animal flesh, as they believed in the karmic idea of reincarnation.

• Hinduism, Brahinanism, Jainism, and  Zoroasterianism also practiced vegetarianism, as these religions believed in non-violence and respect for all life.

• PythagorasThe famous mathematician and philosopher, Pythagoras (born in 580 BC), also practice vegetarianism for both health reasons and to avoid cruelty to animals. He saw vegetarianism as a key factor in peaceful human co-existence. Followers of Pythagoras were warned to keep their vegetarianism quiet to avoid persecution, as animals were used for sport and entertainment in Ancient Rome.

• Vegetarianism soon spread throughout the Roman Empire among those influenced by the teachings of Plato (who also favored vegetarianism), from the 3rd to 6th centuries. The poet Ovid and the philosopher Seneca are examples of Romans who expounded the cause of vegetarianism.

• Some other noted vegetarians were Leonardo Da Vinci, Dr. J.H. Kellogg, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Socrates, Plotinus, Plutarch, Sir Isaac Newton, Voltaire, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charlotte Bronte, Henry David Thoreau, Susan B. Anthony, Leo Tolstoy, George Bernard Shaw, Albert Einstein, and SO many more...

• When Christianity came to the Roman Empire, vegetarianism practically disappeared from Europe. During this time, Christian thinkers such as Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas provided intellectual rationalizations for the killing and eating animals. They argued that only people have free will, rationality, and souls, and that animals were put on the Earth for the use of humans and their convenience.

• Vegetarianism re-emerged somewhat in Europe during the Renaissance period and became more widespread in the 19th and 20th centuries.

• In 1847, the first Vegetarian Society was founded in England.

• In 1908, the International Vegetarian Union was founded. 

• In 1944, The Vegan Society was founded by Donald Watson and Elsie Shrigley. The first vegan society in the US was started by Dr. Catherine Nimmo and Rubin Abramowitz in 1948 in California.

• Donald Watson was the first to coin the term "vegan," a derivative of the first 3 letters and the last 2 letters of the word vegetarian, because he saw it as "the beginning and end of vegetarian."

If you would like to learn more about adopting a vegan lifestyle, please visit VeganOutreach.org. They will send you a FREE Starter Guide that answers a lot of questions and can help get you started.

There are so many excellent vegan websites out there. Check out SuperVegan's huge directory for all sorts of great information.