Can you be vegan for your health or the environment?
Lately, it seems that people think veganism is just a diet, or at best, it’s someone who doesn’t eat any animal products and doesn’t wear leather. But what many don’t realize is that veganism is not just a diet; it’s a moral and ethical philosophy that seeks to end the exploitation of animals, with a plant-based diet being just one aspect of that. What most people don’t know is that the word “vegan” was coined by The Vegan Society in 1949. The word didn’t exist before then; they quite literally invented the term and the philosophy, and they came up with the definition of what it meant to be vegan:
"Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude - as far as is possible and practicable - all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals."
As you can see from the definition, there is no such thing as “vegan for your health” or “vegan for the environment, because veganism is a moral and ethical philosophy that seeks to end animal exploitation. Anything else is just a plant-based diet. I know that dictionaries may present a more relaxed definition of the word vegan, but remember that dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive. And besides, who is the ultimate authority on what a word means? Is it the actual organization that invented the word and the philosophy, or some dictionary that made up its own definition decades later?
Now, of course, if someone is eating a plant-based diet for their health or the environment, then they’re still reducing animal exploitation, and I applaud them for that. However, it’s not veganism, and it shouldn’t be conflated with it. Just like how vegetarians harm fewer animals than meat eaters, but it’s still not veganism, so we don’t lump them together. A diet or an environmental policy is not a moral stance against animal exploitation.
For example, someone who is “vegan” for their health or the environment likely wouldn’t do all of the following (these are just examples and not an exhaustive list):
Not wear leather jackets, fur, and wool
Not use hair products tested on animals
Not use common brands of toilet paper (most are not vegan, they contain animal products such as gelatin, but there are some vegan brands available)
Not use lotions containing lanolin
Not use grocery store plastic bags (as they contain slipping agents made from animal fat)
Refrain from going to rodeos, horse races, zoos, and aquariums, as well as riding horses
Here’s an image that illustrates the difference between being vegan versus eating a plant-based diet (click to enlarge):
So, if someone is not abstaining from all of those things, they’re not actually vegan, because vegans don’t support any of that, because it’s animal exploitation. But if they ARE abstaining from those things, then they’re obviously doing it for the animals, not for their health or the environment, which would make them vegan. Therefore, we can see that “vegan for your health” or “vegan for the environment” isn’t veganism at all.
People (like me) who take a stance like this have been accused of “gatekeeping veganism”, but that’s a silly thing to say. Words have meaning, and more importantly, moral and ethical philosophies have a set of defined precepts and beliefs that are core to their existence. For example, a stoic is “a person who can endure pain or hardship without showing their feelings or complaining.” If I said I was a stoic, but could not endure any hardship or pain and constantly complained and showed my feelings, would it be gatekeeping to point out that I’m not a stoic and am actually the opposite? No. And if someone called themselves a Christian but said they don’t believe in Jesus or God or the Bible, and instead worshipped Satan, would it be gatekeeping to tell them that they’re not actually a Christian? Of course not. If someone said they were a Democrat, but then said they were pro-life, pro-war, fiscally and socially conservative, believed in small, limited government, and were anti-welfare, would it be gatekeeping to point out that their beliefs don’t align with the Democratic party? Absolutely not. It’s not gatekeeping to point out that someone’s beliefs and actions don’t line up with a belief system they claim to adhere to.
Veganism only means vegan for the animals.
