Vegetarian vs. Vegan

You know what really gets me sometimes? When your sick and you go to get soup and they say they offer a veggie option and then you find out its clam chowder. How and when did clams become vegetarian!? This inspires this post about trying to understand what vegetarianism really is.

While being vegetarian, I sometimes do not fully understand what it means to be one. Many times I am asked why I am not a vegan. Truth is.... I did not really know the difference between the two. So on my journey to find out I found lengthy explanations, but this one site helped me break it down. So now, I'll help you.

A Vegetarian is one who does not eat meat, fish or poultry.. You can be vegetarian by choice, religion, health reasons, love for animals, or any other reason. A vegetarian diet can and does meet all nutritional requirements as long as you include plenty of fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, whole grain products, nuts, seeds, and legumes.

Now, whats a vegan? A vegan is someone who does not eat meat, fish, poultry, AND do not even use animal products or by-products like eggs, dairy products, honey, leather, fur, silk. wool, cosmetics, soaps derived from animal products and much more.

I guess you can say a vegan is 'stricter' when it comes to what they eat or use in life.

So now that we know the difference, I better understand why I eat the way I do. Yes I am vegetarian partially by religion and partially by choice, but I am also vegetarian and not vegan because of health reasons. Eggs are a good source of protein for me and dairy products adds nutrients to my diet so I eat them. I am against animal violence but I do not believe that using animal products such as eggs or milk is wrong. My beliefs make me the vegetarian that I am.

The website http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/ really helps to understand vegetarianism and veganism more in depth and I have gained more perspective on other point of views. While I may agree with some, I also have  opinions about a few ideas but that just makes each vegetarian and vegan different! =)