Veganism and Vegetarianism

Vegetarianism is commonly defined as the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat and other animal flesh, sometimes including by-products of animal slaughter. A related practice known as veganism takes this a bit further: it is based around abstinence from the use and/or consumption of animal-derived substances (e.g. eggs, honey and dairy products), often for reasons that are as much philosophical as they are dietary.

The two terms are somewhat interchangeable, due to the practices' relationship - while not all vegetarians are necessarily vegan, veganism (particularly the dietary kind) is generally considered a form of "strict vegetarianism". Ethical vegans (or "moral vegetarians") take this a step further still, opposing the use of animals for any purpose, such as clothing; this is sometimes referred to as "environmental veganism", especially in relation to the idea that industrial animal farming is unsustainable and hazardous to the environment.

The concept itself is quite old, with the earliest records of vegetarianism coming from India and dated to the 7th century BCE; some sources trace evidence of the practice back even further to the Indus Valley Civilization (3300–1300 BCE). The diet has always been closely connected to the philosophy of nonviolence towards animals (called ahimsa) as well as other towards other living beings; Jainist spiritual teachers Parshwanatha and Mahavira respectively revived and advocated ahimsa and Jain vegetarianism, the most comprehensive and strictest form of vegetarianism known, from the 8th to 6th century BCE. In what we call the Western world, small groups within ancient Greek civilizations in southern Italy and Greece would later adopt dietary habits similar to vegetarianism, with similar reverence for animal life.

Meanwhile, the first written use of the term "vegetarian" originated in the early 19th century, with vegetarianism being a significant movement in both Britain and the United States; for example, in 1813 poet Percy Bysshe Shelley published A Vindication of Natural Diet, advocating "abstinence from animal food and spirituous liquors". The term appeared in print as early as 1841 in pamphlets from the Concordium, a vegan community founded by James Pierrepont Greaves and located at Alcott House, and was popularized in 1847 with the foundation of the Vegetarian Society in Manchester.

Donald Watson would coin the term "vegan" in 1944 when he co-founded the Vegan Society in the UK, where he initially used it to mean "non-dairy vegetarian". By May 1945 this would evolve into its commonly understood meaning, and in 1951 it was used to describe "the doctrine that man should live without exploiting animals".

In terms of fiction, veganism and vegetarian tend to be subject to portrayals of varying accuracy; among others, vegans are a semi-common form of Strawman Political due to the perception of some modern vegans as sanctimonious and holier-than-thou hypocrites who excessively value animal life above even that of their fellow (and in many cases, more marginalized) human beings.

Related tropes and subtropes include:


 * Animal Wrongs Group
 * Evil Vegetarian
 * Granola Girl
 * Veganopia
 * Vegetarian Carnivore
 * Vegetarian Vampire
 * Vegetarian Zombie