11-02-2015, 02:15 PM
The term "plant-based diet" is essentially the same thing as being a vegan. In that it doesn't include any animal-based products.
I've been somewhat averse to calling or describing myself as a vegan/vegetarian because there are so many connotations attached to it, that it has a way of setting up an oppositional framework. That is not me denying my habits, or being unwilling to acknowledge my choices; it's just that the terms themselves have emotional undercurrents that are vested with societal motion. It is something bigger than any one individual.
That said, just browsing through r/vegan threads on reddit will reveal how much of a social shift is taking place. People are becoming aware of things on a lightning-level, and through such available sources as "Cowspiracy" on Netflix, people are choosing a different way through the information being made presentable and accessible.
So the actual choices are being made. And we have the current social labels/identifiers for those choices. It's just that those labels are still charged.
If I could make an analogy. We have stories that tell of good and evil, and the two different ways of approaching our reality. Good and evil are perfectly descriptive, and emotionally resonant labels for those two differering choices. And yet, to elevate the discussion, and have it on the terms where less condemnation and judgementalism are involved, shifting the terms to 'Positive Path' and 'Negative Path' does wonders. There is still a bit of baggage to do with calling it the 'negative path', and some people get around it by referring to it as 'left hand path' etc. But there's only so much you can do to remove the sting out of the choices of the 'other path'. They do do destructive, controlling, and harmful things.
/ /
So perhaps using the term 'plant based diet' can also change the discussion, and elevate it a bit more. This is in no way identifying the Plant-Based choice as 'more correct' or 'more right'. I'm not saying that at all. I'm just offering that using this term in place of the traditional vegetarianism/vegan can shift the viewpoint to something different.
Of course, given wider social discourse, when talking with friends/family/acquaintances, then using the terms vegetarianism/veganism is a much quicker shorthand. But internally, and in more focussed situations, I am finding that 'Plant Based Diet' works quite well in labelling the choice that I have made.
I've been somewhat averse to calling or describing myself as a vegan/vegetarian because there are so many connotations attached to it, that it has a way of setting up an oppositional framework. That is not me denying my habits, or being unwilling to acknowledge my choices; it's just that the terms themselves have emotional undercurrents that are vested with societal motion. It is something bigger than any one individual.
That said, just browsing through r/vegan threads on reddit will reveal how much of a social shift is taking place. People are becoming aware of things on a lightning-level, and through such available sources as "Cowspiracy" on Netflix, people are choosing a different way through the information being made presentable and accessible.
So the actual choices are being made. And we have the current social labels/identifiers for those choices. It's just that those labels are still charged.
If I could make an analogy. We have stories that tell of good and evil, and the two different ways of approaching our reality. Good and evil are perfectly descriptive, and emotionally resonant labels for those two differering choices. And yet, to elevate the discussion, and have it on the terms where less condemnation and judgementalism are involved, shifting the terms to 'Positive Path' and 'Negative Path' does wonders. There is still a bit of baggage to do with calling it the 'negative path', and some people get around it by referring to it as 'left hand path' etc. But there's only so much you can do to remove the sting out of the choices of the 'other path'. They do do destructive, controlling, and harmful things.
/ /
So perhaps using the term 'plant based diet' can also change the discussion, and elevate it a bit more. This is in no way identifying the Plant-Based choice as 'more correct' or 'more right'. I'm not saying that at all. I'm just offering that using this term in place of the traditional vegetarianism/vegan can shift the viewpoint to something different.
Of course, given wider social discourse, when talking with friends/family/acquaintances, then using the terms vegetarianism/veganism is a much quicker shorthand. But internally, and in more focussed situations, I am finding that 'Plant Based Diet' works quite well in labelling the choice that I have made.