Vegetarianism vs Veganism

In the world of cruelty-free eating there are a few labels that can confuse or cause division. Among these is the Vegetarian, Strict-vegetarian, the dietary vegan and the Vegan.

What am I
Strictly speaking I have been a dietary vegan for 3 months - with health problems that mean avoiding wool, and most if not all cleaning products and make-up which could contain animal products or involve any kind of cruelty to animals. I also have an allergy to feathers. The concept of fur just disgusts me but I lu-u-urve faux fur.

What made me write this today
I was doing a bit of research today. I was walking though the living room and smelt the burger that my husband had cooked and it smelt awful. I was really surprised. It would have smelt delicious a few months ago but I have no desire to try it now and I was actually repulsed. This was fascinating. I hopped on to trusty Google and had a bit of a wander around a few forums. Turns out this was a normal thing for vegans (dietary or otherwise). Way to go, the hard work is paying off!

Then the discussion on labelling
Then I found the discussion of what you can call yourself if you eat a plant-based diet. Apparently one of the posters had seen a cookery show that featured a chef from a vegan restaurant. At the end of the session she put parmesan cheese on the top of the finished dish. Bearing in mind this was from a lady who cooked in a vegan restaurant, she said hardcore vegans would prefer to put fake cheese on. Oh. My. God.

There are a couple of reasons why you may go (dietary) vegan. Mine was health with a healthy concern for animals on the side. I cannot consider myself a hardcore vegan because I just don’t think that way. I minimise the impact I have on the world and that’s about it. Beyond that eating any dairy will seriously harm me. If I go to a vegan restaurant I don’t expect any dairy or eggs to be served with my food. Call yourself a vegetarian restaurant and then I can ask if any animals gave up their lives for that meal. I would then obviously ask if it could be changed, choose a different dinner or eat elsewhere. Veganism is not just a life choice, it is also a health choice. I do not want painful open sores down my arms and legs for a month because a chef thought putting a bit of parmesan cheese on top of something was a good idea.

I am seriously confused about this. In restaurants in the UK if something says it is vegan then there has to be no animal derived products whatsoever in that meal. Vegetarian means there may be milk, cheese and eggs in it. It is completely safe for me (unless there is citrus fruit in it which is a different problem). Breaking down vegetarianism and veganism waters-down the usefulness of the terms in the real world. To avoid someone poisoning me I will call myself vegan. Saying I am dairy-free, egg-free, and I don’t eat meat anymore is a bit of a mouthful.

The image above is public domain and can be seen here: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=165738&picture=vegan