The Vegan Society states that veganism is: “Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.” For me – and no doubt for other vegans out there – veganism is more than simply not eating animal products. It is a lifestyle that aims to cause as little harm to animals, the environment and society as possible. It is about what we eat, as well as what we wear, what make up we use and what transport we take.
Similar, but slightly different to veganism, is being plant based. A plant-based diet is based on foods that come from plants with few or no ingredients that come from animals. The plant based diet is, quite literally, a diet. It is a way of eating and does not always come with the moral choices that veganism does. A plant based diet is shown to be one of the healthiest ways of eating, but it doesn’t always lead to being plant based anywhere else. For example, it is not always the case that someone who eats a plant based diet will also only use plant based clothing or plant based beauty products or medicine. Naturally there is a large degree of overlap, as many vegans will also follow a plant based diet – although if you have followed this blog for a while you will know that I have not!
What do I define veganism as? I define veganism as living as kindly as possible. I love animals, and I do my utmost every single day to ensure that my actions and my decisions promote their welfare and their rights. I try to ensure that my actions – from what I eat, what I buy and how I travel – promotes the conservation and longevity of the environment and to lessen my impact on global warming concerns. I try my best to stay as up to date as possible on issues surrounding feminism, race, LGBTQ+ and human rights issues and research ways in which I can help these causes and promote their advocacy. In my experience, many vegans are big advocates for a number of social justice issues, not just for animals.
I do find though that living a vegan lifestyle means something different for every person. Which is one of the great things about veganism, as everyone has a slightly different reason as to why they live the way they do. For me, it is all about the animals. I have always been about the animals. My interest in the environment and the wider social justice issues all came after the animals. But for others, their main concern was eating a healthier diet and the animal welfare and environmental benefits came afterwards. For others, they may have been heavily involved in the wider social justice issues and started to look into veganism to support feminism advances. While the path for each person is different, I have found that most of the time the main concept that guides people to veganism is kindness. People want to have a positive impact during their life and veganism provides a way to do this.
Taylor Talks Vegan 