Another story about vegans, vegans, vegetarians...
How many times have you had a debate with your friends, family, or spouse about someone being vegan, vegetarian, or vegetarian ?
Admit that the subject has often come up on the table and that it leads to diverse and varied opinions! At SAOLA, we are a multicultural team with different opinions but that doesn't stop us from getting along, on the contrary.
In this article, we'll try to shed some light on the question without having to do three separate Google searches. So, before getting into the heart of the matter, we've put together a "SAOLA-style" definition for each term.
Vegan, vegetarian, vegan: definitions
What is vegan?
The word vegan is a term that comes to us from England and was officially added to our dear Petit Robert in 2015. Yes, it's not that old! The term vegan is more like a lifestyle than an exclusive term. To put it simply, being vegan is the decision not to consume products of animal origin . This choice aims to support a cause: the protection of animals who suffer atrocities and abominations for our simple comfort of life (textiles, food, consumables, etc.). By choosing not to eat meat or products of animal origin, these people contribute to improving the living conditions of these animals. Less demand for steak, fewer atrocities. Logical Sherlock 🤷🏽♂️
More specifically, vegans often choose to completely change the way they interact with the conventional world we grew up in, by changing their habits . This approach mainly concerns a dietary change that is somewhat different from what we have been accustomed to eating over the past few centuries. The goal is therefore to eliminate one's intake of animal protein and turn to plant proteins , which are just as rich, if not more so.
This change of habit also affects the way we dress . Many brands use leather to make their clothes. Despite the very pleasant and interesting properties of leather, it is necessary to ask the right questions about the origin of this material, which is all too often ignored. It is for this reason that at SAOLA, we have decided not to use animal leather , we do not want to remove the skin of an animal for its aesthetic characteristics, especially to put them on our feet in the end 🥴
We know that there are enough materials on our little planet , much more ethical and environmentally friendly to make vegan clothing and shoes . Gone are the Stone Ages where we hunted to cover ourselves with animal skins, we can finally do things differently, we assure you, especially with vegan leather . Moreover, more and more celebrities are getting involved in vegan movements to support the animal cause and the protection of their rights .
What is vegetarian?
Let's talk about vegetarians! Vegetarians are characterized by the desire to eat only plants or animal products, but which do not directly include animal flesh . Vegetarians can therefore consume honey, milk or even eggs .
Often, many vegetarians allow themselves to eat fish ; but in this case, it is no longer strictly speaking vegetarianism because yes, fish is indeed an animal, ladies and gentlemen! As soon as we sink our teeth into an animal, we are considered carnivores, choosing to be fully vegetarian excludes any form of animal food . Wait, there are still vegans and that's a whole different story.
"If slaughterhouses had windows, everyone would become vegetarian" - Paul McCartney
What is vegan?
Vegans , for their part, have decided, in addition to removing meat and fish from their diet, to exclude all products of animal origin (milk, eggs) .
Often characterized as "seed eaters," vegans have embraced the fact that all of our food, usually derived from animals, can be replaced with plants . Quite ingenious, but it can sometimes be difficult to find alternatives to everything we're offered in stores or restaurants!
What if we thought differently?
In the end, thinking about it, if we go back a few thousand years ago, human beings were hunter-gatherers , which meant that we only fed on what nature had to offer us and if there was none, we adapted.
In the space of a century, our society has been built around fast food , which introduced cheap ground beef and the standardization of animal products. The major problem is that, starting in those years, humans began raising hundreds of billions of animals solely to meet growing demand. What if we stopped the slaughter and started thinking differently? The good news is that more and more of us are taking this path, and that's rather positive because together we will succeed in #MAKEANIMPACT.
Check out Future Kind 's article for more information (article in English 🚨 )
Our opinion on the matter
At SAOLA, we don't like to preach and we don't want to change your mind . That's not our goal at all! What we want through this article is simply to provide some information on the veracity of the origin of our daily habits that have become automatic. Far too often, we place blind trust in many brands without questioning the traceability of what we consume .
With these words, we simply want to take you with us on this beautiful adventure. 😉
