One of my first recollections of the word vegan happened while watching The Simpsons, when Lisa’s crush states that he is a “vegan” and doesn’t eat anything that casts a shadow (on another growing entity). To my amazement, I found the same line starting a blog entry recently and made me smile as I pondered how a popular-culture cartoon character had been a defining point in new age gastronomy for more than just me.
We know the two basic kinds in our country: those who eat meat but does not necessarily include dairy products as also eggs. Sure we sub-classify them as
eggetarians, as opposed to vegetarians who don’t eat even eggs and such. Abroad the discussion gets more intense. Many Indians will conveniently blame the weak Western constitution for all their allergies to various food groups. Funny then how they still beat the crap
out of us at mortality rate and longevity for all their dying, feeble ways.
Recently, I was in France and a friend claimed herself vegetarian, at which point, her meat entrée was promptly substituted with a fish course. When she reminded them that she was vegetarian, they corrected her instead, educating us all in the process, that at least in France she would be deemed a Vegetalian. Now why implicate an innocent neighbouring country just because someone refuses your “au bleu” offering, I couldn’t quite suss. But, I probed further, and here is a synopsis of my findings.
Vegetarian: This is a pretty broad category. In South East Asia, it implies food that contains veggies. So take the regular lard-laden pork-fat fried noodles and rice, sprinkle finely chopped veggies and you are good to go.
Eggetarian: Like vegetarians but will allow eggs as part of their diet. They are also, mostly in the West, called Ovo-vegetarian. Some others may do the reverse and refuse eggs but incorporate dairy into their food—this category is called Lacto-vegetarian.
Pescatarian/Pescetarian: Vegetarian who may also eat fish. This is what the French call Vegetarian. But hey, in India, in Bengal, we call some such pure Brahmins!
Vegetalian: The new category I was made aware of on my recent trip to France, it signifies people whose diet is composed entirely of ingredients from the vegetative world. Once again, why choose something that similar to vegetarian, but I guess the French have their raîson.
Vegan: Internationally, this is a term used not just to define the dietary patterns of a person who rejects meat but more so a lifestyle that is supportive of other life forms as well. A vegan abhors the use of animal products in any form—leather, cosmetics that may use animal extracts or be tested on them, or other parts of the animal.
Barring these basic versions, the rest are more dietary regimes or reactive responses of the body to certain foods. Gluten-free is one such category. Another is lactose intolerant, which is a person who can possibly eat everything—it may even be non-vegetarian—and yet cannot digest milk or certain milk-based products.
In the end, being vegetarian should remain a personal choice. I never try to coax anybody into making a switch either ways. As very eminent lawyer and animal rights activist Gary Francione has argued that given how even dairy animals are treated versus slaughterhouse animals purely destined for meat, there is perhaps more suffering in a glass of milk than in a pound of steak.
