MalFet

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That's a very idiosyncratic use of the terms. More conventionally: Vegetarians avoid meat, while vegans avoid animal products all together.

It should be no surprise that people chose to be vegans or vegetarians for a wide variety of different reasons (and thus interpret the restrictions in very different ways). Some consider it to be an ethical or lifestyle issue, but others do it for strictly health reasons.

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bottlebomber

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Thank you Malfet, and that's the point that I somewhat poorly tried to express. Of course diet is a huge part of "lifestyle". However for some health benefits and not the social aspects of using animal products are the only concern.

For example, we have a trucker who delivers metals to the shop. He's around 60 I'm guessing, and had lived on the trucker diet for his whole life. He nearly died about a year ago with some serious heart problems, and his doctor strongly recommended that he eliminate meat from his diet or greatly reduce it. His wife went the full yardage and put him on a vegan diet, and so he has had no animal products whatsoever for the last 6 months. Now I guarantee you this guy doesn't give a crap about the cows, or the whales for that matter but in an effort to preserve his health he chose to go vegan.

This may be a somewhat incidental example, but it still illustrates that not all that would choose veganism as a dietary choice also subscribe to the various other social aspects that we associate with this. I myself have been vegetarian my whole life, but just within the last year or two have included a very small amount of animal protein, and I'm not the least bit dogmatic about what people choose to eat as long as they are healthy.

Jaysus

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Exactly, diet alone does not a vegan make.

Homercidal

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A friend of mine has gone vegan for health reasons. She is significantly overweight and may be doing this to lose some weight, but I know that she believes that going vegan is simply healthier. It helps that she has a younger, very HOT cousin who is vegan.

At any rate I once asked her why she decided to go vegan and she said, "It ain't because I wouldn't kill a squirrel!"

So I'm guessing it's for the health benefits. And I won't be doing it as near as I can see. It's hard enough to limit the carbs and sugars.

bottlebomber

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Yeah I guess you're correct in that. A vegan is someone who practices veganism, and that involves more than just what you eat. So I guess without those other qualities it would be hard to qualify someone as a true vegan.

Edit: I don't think it's quite as binary as some are suggesting though. I guess it would be more accurate to say that the trucker is eating a vegan diet.

brewingmeister

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So let me get this straight....
leather is wrong cause it is an animal product and obviously the animal has to be dead to retrieve the product.
Honey is out because of slave labor apparently.
Where does that leave wool? You don't have to cut a sheep in half to get the wool out. Some might say the animal is better off with regular shearing.

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terrapinj

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again, everyone has their own stance, just like not all catholics adhere to the same beliefs

most vegans that I know are ok with wool but try to make sure it comes from reputable/humane sources when possible

i know some vegetarians that eat dairy/eggs but won't wear leather

xmacro

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Difference between vegatarians and vegans is that a lot of vegatarians do it for legit health reasons, trying to buck the obesity trends(no problem with those, more power to them for bucking the obesity trends); the vegans on the other hand are vegans to be able to feel superior to everyone else. It's an ego thing, for one-upping their eco-conscious friends (going vegan is a cheaper way to one-up them than buying a prius or converting your home to solar panels) and to feel superior to the common peons who "eat like savages", as more than a few vegans like to put it.

MalFet

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Just out of curiosity, who here eats dog?

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xmacro

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aaand here's one of the arguments they like to use; it's unoriginal as hell and has been responded to a thousand times on a thousand forums across the net, but hey, let's them feel superior "You wouldn't eat a dog, how is a cow any different? They're both so smart!" This **** line of reasoning has been kicking around the net for the better part of two decades now.

But to answer your question, the President of the US ate a dog