More and more people are following vegan or vegetarian diets. And you’ve probably noticed a lot of restaurant menus marking whether a dish is vegan or vegetarian. But what exactly is the difference? The difference involves more than just whether a person eats cheese. We’ll break down what each word means, what vegans and vegetarians do and don’t eat, and what the word vegan means …
There’s a funny scene in the 2002 romcom My Big Fat Greek Wedding in which the main character, Toula, introduces her fiancé to her aunt and explains that he’s a vegetarian. The aunt asks what that means, and when he replies that it means he doesn’t eat meat, she says in shock, “What do you mean you don’t eat no meat?” They stare at each other …
There are, of course, many complex ethical, environmental, and nutritional reasons for choosing vegetarianism in all its different forms, but we wanted to know—where did the words themselves come from? Who invented veganism? Vegetarianism has been around for a very long time. Some studies of mummified Egyptians show they had vegetarian diets. Historians also date this diet back to Ancient Greek philosophers, and religious sects …