AIUI, vegans do not consume any animal products, including honey, and jello. (Let’s leave out clothing and shoes for this discussion.)
AIUI, vegetarians don’t consume flesh from two- and four-legged animals (and possibly fish), but do eat eggs, butter, cheese, milk, honey.
Plant-based is the one I really want defined. It’s a new-ish buzzword, and it’'s the based part that throws me. Does it mean no meat or animal products? Or just that the diet is based on fruits, vegetables, and grains, but animal products are used occasionally/sparingly?
Plant-based is really more properly a descriptor of specific foodstuffs, particularly those which are mimicking meat/dairy/etc. So, plant-based burgers, or plant-based cheese are fine, but calling an entire diet plant-based is more or less synonymous with vegan.
A plant-based diet or a plant-rich diet is a diet consisting mostly or entirely of plant-based foods.[1][2][3][4] Plant-based foods are foods derived from plants (including vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, and fruits) with no animal-source foods or artificial ingredients. While a plant-based diet avoids or has limited animal products,[5] it is not necessarily vegan.
As far as I can tell, “plant-based” is a broad term that includes vegetarian diets as well as ones that include relatively little meat. Plant-based diets don’t always exclude meat, fish poultry - but the meat/fish/chicken isn’t aren’t supposed to be the “star” of the meal. Non-vegetarian plant based diets are lower in animal products than the typical American diet- but they don’t actually exclude any category.
Yep, the one my husband follows which includes 8-16 ounces of meat at dinner in addition to the lower quantities of meat at breakfast and lunch. The “diet” in plant- based diet isn’t the “diet” that means “I’m trying to lose weight” - it’s the one that means " this is how I eat"
This is kind of how I’m taking it, namely, emphasis on the based part, not 100% eliminating everything related to the animal kingdom 100% of the time. More of a “style” of eating/meal-planning than a rigid set of rules wearing concrete overshoes.
But being new, the term’s definition is still in flux.
My understanding is that there are different levels/flavors of vegetarianism. Some are ovo vegetarians (will eat eggs, but not dairy) or ovo-lacto vegetarians (will eat eggs and dairy, and often honey). Some, like Jain vegetarianism, are particularly strict (only fruit, nuts, and seeds – only foods that can be harvested without harming the plant (though Jains can also eat dairy).
In the space of a few days Jains have been mentioned twice here on the Dope, doubling the number of mentions I can recall in my entire life.
Apparently Jains also won’t eat vegetables that grow beneath the ground. That is based on a belief system, similar to Veganism. Many people who identify as vegetarians restrict their diet to vegetables because they consider it healthier. That’s what my grandmother did, but unfortunately she didn’t know what she was doing and my father and uncle were somewhat malnourished growing up.
Anyway, I don’t see a difference between the plant-based concept and all the vegetarians who sometimes eat non-vegetables for whatever reason.
Funny this should come up now, because until the other day I hadn’t given a moment’s thought to specifying what “plant-based” means. But then I got an email from someone who found me through my work with our local cultural center, saying she was doing research for a best-selling author and was looking for cooks of traditional Hawaiian foods following a “plant-based” tradition. The link she gave me led here and I interpreted “plant-based” as vegan.
On reflection, I’m not sure I should have. However, I did connect her with a native Hawaiian cook who said it was frustrating to her that people think of traditional Hawaiian food as being heavy on meat when in fact it is “mostly plant-based” food.
So now I have no idea what “plant-based” means, in terms of whether it means eliminating animal products or merely not focusing on them, but I’m glad the research project is moving forward. I asked her to let me know if they product any interesting media related to their Hawai’i visit, so maybe some day I’ll at least have a better idea of how the term is defined by the Blue Zones people.
Sure. For dinner I’m having steak. I’m going to chuck a few token vegetables on the plate because I feel like I should but the meal is all about the meat. That is not plant based, it may contain plant based food but the plant based foods do not form the core of the diet.