The overly simple version to differentiate vegetarians and vegans is vegetarians don’t eat any meat, while vegans don’t eat anything that comes from an animal – biggest difference being vegans don’t eat dairy products or eggs.
The reason that I choose vegan is because of where the dairy and egg products come from. It’s not so much the fact that they come from an animal as much as it is they come from an animal that is confined to a cage their entire lives, until he/she can no longer produce milk or eggs at which point they are sent to slaughter (there are many more reasons but this is one of the major reasons). It’s the animal agriculture industry as whole that I feel needs to go away, so I will not support any of their “products.” It’s not that I don’t buy milk and eggs because I’m vegan, it’s the fact that I believe there is no place in this world for factory farming of animals, which in turn made me vegan, if that makes sense.
Which brings me to an interesting dilemma. I’ve had requests from people asking if I’m going to have any vegetarian shirts in the future. This week I decided to release a vegetarian version of my “Vegan University” design. There are two main reasons for this decision.
- I fully support any person who is working towards reducing the amount of animal products they buy. That includes vegetarians, flexetarians, pescetarian, carnivores who are reducing animal products. For the vast majority of people (myself included), adopting a vegan lifestyle is a process that takes time and vegetarian is usually a stepping stone in the right direction.
- The more shirts I sell, the more money is raised for charity. I believe in strength in numbers, and whether you are vegan or vegetarian you probably believe in a world that doesn’t involve exploitation of innocent beings. The more people working towards that goal, the greater the force.
As much as this site is dedicated to vegan living, what I ultimately support most is progress. Progress towards a society that doesn’t depend on animal agriculture and exploitation. Whether you agree or disagree with my thinking I’d love to hear your opinion.
