Comb Back

To be clear, as far as my understanding goes, vegans are 100% correct regarding the ethical and environmental evils of the meat industry. As the years have gone on I've become more and more sympathetic to their cause.

It's just that
ugh
meat is so good though

In my house we just eat less and better quality meat. Make it special.

And that makes a difference.

Same. Grass-fed, free-range, blah blah blah, maybe 2x a week.

yea but vegans ruin the planet by running their mouths and putting carbon dioxide in the air because they wont shut up about how they are vegan.

What fascinating and original insight.

I'm seeing a lot less "vegan" in marketing these days and a lot more "plant-based." Are they different things? I think I'd consider my diet these days "plant-based" but I am not a vegan.

going plant-based is beyond impossible.

lol I see you

I think it's because vegan is a word with negative associations (see strat in that other thread a couple weeks ago). This whole word-space is also a couple years away from being further confused by lab-grown meat which some people will consider "vegan", some won't, and definitely isn't plant-based.

That makes sense. Outside of the negative connotations, I was wondering if maybe it also has something to do with "plant-based" sounding more like an ingredient than a lifestyle/commitment. I can, as a carnivore, stock my shelves with plant-based products and still balance my weekly diet with the occasional chicken or fish.

Anyway, I had an eye-opening lunch today when I subbed out a raw collard green wrap for sandwich bread.

So far the daily diet has been chia pudding for breakfast, weird collard wrap thing for lunch, and there will be chicken tacos coming up for dinner. You'd call that a plant-based day of eating, right?

The chicken wouldn't be

Well no shit, skinny boy.

I simply meant that if the majority of one's diet is derived from plants, then you could say that diet is plant based. Therein lies a subtle distinction between plant-based and vegan, maybe?

Oh, I see. No, I think they basically function as synonyms right now. Maybe the food ingredient vs lifestyle thing you mentioned might be a distinction some people use, but I think they're just synonyms. So a plant-based diet would never use animal ingredients. You could have a plant-based meal, or a plant-based day, or a flexitarian diet, or a plant-heavy diet. But, idk, words are complicated

flexitarian is probably the most sane and least confusing.

You make too many rules and all of a sudden it's religious. It feels oppressive and yet you proselytize for it

Ultimately you're right. Words are hard and how you eat shouldn't matter to anyone but you (or anyone planning a meal with your needs in mind.)

Are you still doing the vegan thing? I'm very curious about how little meat I can challenge myself to eat lately while also not making my household adjust groceries or meal planning on my behalf. Need some no-meat/light-meat recipes that are fun for the whole family.

Yeah, I'm fully vegan these days. No animal products if I can help it.
My favorite recipe website is https://minimalistbaker.com/
It used to be all vegan, but isn't any more. But each recipe is clearclearly labeled and even the meat recipes are not MEAT recipes.