What is the difference between plant based and vegan?

🕢 5 minute read

Overview

In this post I discuss what the main differences are between being vegan and being plant based. I’ve been vegan for over 10 years and I run Mell’s Kitchen, a specialist whole food, plant based meal prep company.

Quite simply Veganism is more than just a diet whereas plant based is exactly that, a diet.

Both lifestyles can have a significant impact on health and wellbeing and both have a significant wider benefit to the world we live in. A study by Oxford University in 2019 concluded that if people adopted plant based diets it would be the single biggest factor in stopping climate change. 

Being vegan is about more than what you put in your body. It is a comprehensive worldview and ethical philosophy that seeks to exclude all forms of animal exploitation and cruelty.

Rooted in animal rights and welfare, vegans avoid all animal products not just in food, but in all aspects of life. This means no leather, fur, wool, or products tested on animals.

Veganism extends beyond diet to clothing, cosmetics, and other consumer goods. Vegans actively seek to minimize any form of animal exploitation. I think this active passion is sometimes polarizing - vegans challenge societal norms and anyone who follows vegan pages on social media will often see non vegans invading the page to defend what they perceive as an opposing position.

But, with all vegans, the primary driver is typically a strong ethical commitment to preventing animal suffering and promoting animal rights and, of course, this leads to food choices that exclude all animal-derived products, including meat, dairy, eggs, honey, and any other animal-derived ingredients.

As we’re now on to diet, this feels like a good segway into what being plant-based means. A plant based diet focuses primarily on food choices, with less emphasis on the broader ethical considerations:

This might be for individuals who have dietary choices centred on health and well being, eating foods primarily derived from plants, with an emphasis on nutrition. There is a wealth of data online around the health benefits of a plant based whole food diet and, as we’ve featured on previous posts, there are so many resources available to help you track and maintain your nutrition. We play our part in this at Mell’s Kitchen by providing data on all macros for every meal to our customers. As with any content we put out we'd always advocate maintaining a healthy relationship with food - balance, variety and enjoying what you eat is the key.

Plant based diets allow the occasional consumption of animal products or are more lenient about non-food items than with veganism. Cheese or milk traces are a good example of this.

More people are moving to a plant based diet due to environmental concerns and awareness is growing around this year-on-year as we move towards net zero. The UK government even has in its plan a targeted shift towards less red meat consumption.

Plant based diets often prioritise the health aspects of whole plant foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds.

Ultimately, motivation is the key differentiator. 

Vegans are all about the ethics, focused on animal rights and eliminating animal exploitation. Someone with this razor sharp view might be less concerned around a diet that isn’t as healthy (vegan junk food has large sections of the UK grocers dedicated to it) as long as it does not contain any animal derivatives. Plant-Based is mainly health-oriented and focused on nutritional benefits, leaning towards whole food ingredients.

Vegan is a comprehensive lifestyle affecting all aspects of consumption whereas plant-based is about diet.

Vegans are generally stricter and absolute in avoiding animal products whereas plant-based can be more flexible, with some variations allowing occasional animal product.

It's important to note that these terms are not mutually exclusive. Many people who follow a vegan diet are also motivated by health concerns, and many plant-based eaters are sympathetic to animal welfare. I personally fall into the first category. It is important to note that the boundaries can be fluid, and individual approaches vary widely.

Remember:

• Not all vegan foods are healthy (e.g., vegan processed foods)

• Not all plant-based diets are completely free from animal products

• Individual motivations and interpretations can differ significantly. This comes down to personal choice

Whether someone chooses veganism or plant based, ultimately both approaches share a common goal of reducing animal product consumption, whether motivated by ethics, health, or environmental concerns. Whichever path you pursue, enjoy what you eat!