New to VeganForum but Oldest Vegitarianism practitioner..since birth.

[Chandanrai]

Hi..this is Chandan Rai, new to VeganForum.
This is my first post.

I am from India..the second most populated country in the world....world's largest democracy...oldest civilisatio. I am a post graduated student..preparing for my admissions in doctorate..in 2020. I love playing football and sweaming too. I beling to a small village in the UP state of nothern india. Currently residing in the capital city...New Delhi.

I am a Hindu (a major religion in India more than 70% Indians are Hindu.) by birth...and also vegitarian by birth.
My whole family is vegitarian...since birth.

It is believed that the concept of vegitarianism originated...in the holy land of India.

WikkiPedia-
The earliest records of vegetarianism as a concept and practice amongst a significant number of people are from ancient India and the ancient Greek civilizations in southern Italy and Greece. In both instances, the diet was closely connected with the idea of nonviolence towards animals (called ahimsa in India), and was promoted by religious groups and philosophers.

I am not a scholar on the topic...but a regress practitioner.

But offcourse I want to learn about new emerging philosophies and biological & medical reasonings...behind the idea...other than the nonvoilence and ecological damages....to wildlife and environment due to meat eating.

I am glad to be the part of this community.

Request - Can someone explain the difference b/w vegotarians and vegans.??

Thanks in advance.

 

[Lou]

Vegetarian is a diet. There are different kinds but the basic vegetarian diet excludes meat but does not exclude dairy and eggs.

Veganism is a lifestyle. It is based on the ethical decision to avoid animal exploitation. A vegan eats a strict vegetarian diet (no meat, seafood, dairy, eggs). They also avoid anything that exploits animals. this means they avoid honey, zoos, leather, silk, wool, etc.

 

[SapphireLightning]

Hi and welcome! I am new to this forum as well

Request - Can someone explain the difference b/w vegotarians and vegans.??

A vegan is someone who rejects the commodity status of sentient beings (animals for short) and as thus avoid supporting any practices that exploit or harm them as much as is possible and practicable.

Translation: Vegans do not own others, and view such a thing as ethically wrong. This means not supporting such activities by not buying/consuming any animal products (meat, body fluids such as dairy or honey, leather, silk etc), not supporting other exploitative practices such as zoos and even horseback riding. Sometimes it is not practicable, such as all medicines in the US requiring animal testing, but that will be changing as we push back against it.

Vegetarians simply do not consume the flesh of animals. It is a diet more than a philosophy, as one could easily show that animals kept for such purposes as dairy suffer even more than ones held for meat. Something I have never really understood about vegetarianism is the ignoring of what happens to the male animals that come from animal breeding. The males do not produce milk or eggs, and in general are killed either at an early age or are used as meat-stock.

Below is the signature line I have on other forums. It may seem harsh, but it boils it down to the very basics:

Carnist: Someone who kills animals and then takes from their bodies.
Vegetarian: Someone who takes from animals' bodies, and then kills them when they are no longer profitable.
Vegan: Someone who tries to avoid unnecessary harm to animals as much as is possible and practicable

(Carnist means meat eater in this context)

 

[Chandanrai]

Vegetarian is a diet. There are different kinds but the basic vegetarian diet excludes meat but does not exclude dairy and eggs.

Veganism is a lifestyle. It is based on the ethical decision to avoid animal exploitation. A vegan eats a strict vegetarian diet (no meat, seafood, dairy, eggs). They also avoid anything that exploits animals. this means they avoid honey, zoos, leather, silk, wool, etc.

Thanks for your quick and ...explained reply.
So...in which category...I shoul be listed...I eat only vegiatrian diets...including animal products...like milk..curd ...butter...honey etc.
But not eggs and meat..chicken...beaf..or pig meats.??

 

[Chandanrai]

Hi and welcome! I am new to this forum as well




A vegan is someone who rejects the commodity status of sentient beings (animals for short) and as thus avoid supporting any practices that exploit or harm them as much as is possible and practicable.

Translation: Vegans do not own others, and view such a thing as ethically wrong. This means not supporting such activities by not buying/consuming any animal products (meat, body fluids such as dairy or honey, leather, silk etc), not supporting other exploitative practices such as zoos and even horseback riding. Sometimes it is not practicable, such as all medicines in the US requiring animal testing, but that will be changing as we push back against it.

Vegetarians simply do not consume the flesh of animals. It is a diet more than a philosophy, as one could easily show that animals kept for such purposes as dairy suffer even more than ones held for meat. Something I have never really understood about vegetarianism is the ignoring of what happens to the male animals that come from animal breeding. The males do not produce milk or eggs, and in general are killed either at an early age or are used as meat-stock.

Below is the signature line I have on other forums. It may seem harsh, but it boils it down to the very basics:

Carnist: Someone who kills animals and then takes from their bodies.
Vegetarian: Someone who takes from animals' bodies, and then kills them when they are no longer profitable.
Vegan: Someone who tries to avoid unnecessary harm to animals as much as is possible and practicable

(Carnist means meat eater in this context)

Thanks....seems..you have done well reasearch in this area.
I am glad to be a part of the forum...with memebrs of such great knowledge...thanks again.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Sounds like you are a vegetarian.

A vegetarian is someone who eats meat or fish (in some definitions, all parts of an animal, like bone are included).

A vegan is also a vegetarian but in addition to being a vegetarian does not eat other animal food products like cheese for example and also do not use animal products in other areas of their life (e.g. leather coat). A vegan does not use any animal product.

 

[Lou]

There is a name for the kind of vegetarian you are.

An ova- vegetarian eats eggs but not milk.

A lacto- vegetarian consumes dairy but not eggs. In India, Lacto vegetarians are the most common. I think in India they don't even bother with the prefix.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Chandanrai, It's often said that 20%-35% (surveys vary) of Indians are vegetarian. But are they, as many Westerners would define it, strict vegetarians?

If I define a vegetarian as someone who NEVER eat meat, and say that someone who eats meat once per year is NOT a vegetarian, would the numbers still be as high as 20%-35% in your experience?

 

[Nekodaiden]

Welcome, Chandan Rai.


The most basic difference between Vegetarian and Vegan is the dietary aspect. The man who coined the word "Vegan" was before this a vegetarian named Donald Watson who used the first and last parts of the word "vegetarian" and shortened it to "Vegan". He defined it as a diet that
excludes all animal products, with no other rules, but that also encourages people to stop using animals where it is possible and practical for them. The latter part is up to the individual's conscience, the first part is binding to the word.

Many vegans will tell you it is an "ethical lifestyle" - as if veganism is some all encompassing philosophy of ethics or religion. It is not, nor was never intended to be. An individual can lie, steal, defraud, cheat, slander, gossip, bear false witness and everything else considered unethical and still be considered a Vegan if they never include animal products in their diet. As you can see, all the things above are not specific to our relationship with animals, but are related to ethics so it is a mistake to make a connection that should not be made. Vegans can be moral or immoral, they just happen to have a diet (and lifestyle if they so choose) that happens to be good for them, the animals and the environment. It's important not to confuse these two things.

 

[Emma JC]

welcome Chandan Rai!

Emma JC

 

[Tomas]

Welcome to the forum Chandanrai.

 

[Chandanrai]

Sounds like you are a vegetarian.

A vegetarian is someone who eats meat or fish (in some definitions, all parts of an animal, like bone are included).

A vegan is also a vegetarian but in addition to being a vegetarian does not eat other animal food products like cheese for example and also do not use animal products in other areas of their life (e.g. leather coat). A vegan does not use any animal product.

I think you are mis interprating the concept...vegitarians do not eat meat or flash or fish....they only comsume animal products like...milk...curt...cheese...butter etc.

 

[Chandanrai]

Chandanrai, It's often said that 20%-35% (surveys vary) of Indians are vegetarian. But are they, as many Westerners would define it, strict vegetarians?

If I define a vegetarian as someone who NEVER eat meat, and say that someone who eats meat once per year is NOT a vegetarian, would the numbers still be as high as 20%-35% in your experience?

Yeah...surely it will be even higher than that....Indian vegitarians do not consume meat....or even eggs...only plants...plant products...and animal products...like milk...curd..paneer..cheese..butter etc....they do not consume meat or flash of any animal even chicken.

Pure vegitarians....are in highest in number only in India.

And even that percentage of 30% is very high in number because...India's populatiin is...1.34 Billion as on date.

 

[Chandanrai]

There is a name for the kind of vegetarian you are.

An ova- vegetarian eats eggs but not milk.

A lacto- vegetarian consumes dairy but not eggs. In India, Lacto vegetarians are the most common. I think in India they don't even bother with the prefix.

Yeah...that sounds true for Indians...they uses dairy products but not eggs sea..food and flashes.

You are very true that we dont botther about prefix because most of the Indians are practising this since their birth...so they dont even think and read about this.

By the way...thanks.

 

[Chandanrai]

Welcome, Chandan Rai.


The most basic difference between Vegetarian and Vegan is the dietary aspect. The man who coined the word "Vegan" was before this a vegetarian named Donald Watson who used the first and last parts of the word "vegetarian" and shortened it to "Vegan". He defined it as a diet that
excludes all animal products, with no other rules, but that also encourages people to stop using animals where it is possible and practical for them. The latter part is up to the individual's conscience, the first part is binding to the word.

Many vegans will tell you it is an "ethical lifestyle" - as if veganism is some all encompassing philosophy of ethics or religion. It is not, nor was never intended to be. An individual can lie, steal, defraud, cheat, slander, gossip, bear false witness and everything else considered unethical and still be considered a Vegan if they never include animal products in their diet. As you can see, all the things above are not specific to our relationship with animals, but are related to ethics so it is a mistake to make a connection that should not be made. Vegans can be moral or immoral, they just happen to have a diet (and lifestyle if they so choose) that happens to be good for them, the animals and the environment. It's important not to confuse these two things.

You are very rights.....but once you shoul google and read about the .....vegitarianism principle of "Jainism" - originated in India in 6th century BC...this is the most strict type of vegitarianism practise in the world...it is more similar to the vegans...because they do not even comsume diary products...and they do not harm..animals..and even plants for their benifits.

By the way...thanks for replying.

 

[Tomas]

I would chose my words more carefully: "Oldest Vegitarianism practitioner".
You sure?

 

[Chandanrai]

No..It is not about me...it is about the civilisation in india is the oldest practitioner of vegetarianism...I am just 26 and 6 months..opd practitioner.

 

[Tomas]

That might indeed be correct, although, before the earliest humans became hunters they were herbivores who apparently only started eating meat out of necessity in winter because of the lack of edible plants... And even when they did eat meat it was in no way the biggest part of their diets and they needed the hides for clothing and the antlers for tools, and... Needless to say that nothing of the animal went to waste and this was a matter of pure survival. So depending on your definition of "civilisation" India might be deemed first. India certainly does have the most vegetarians though, I'll grant you that!

 

[Chandanrai]

Thats truth...but the thing I am trying to say...is vegitarianism as a concept....I mean when human beings became civilised and started having the basic of education philosophy and all those things after...that the vegitarinism as a practise...or lifestyle..started in Ancient India...in Hindu religion.

 

[TofuRobot]

No..It is not about me...it is about the civilisation in india is the oldest practitioner of vegetarianism...I am just 26 and 6 months..opd practitioner.

Welcome to the forum! I think your version of "strict vegetarian" is more closely aligned with a vegan diet, only vegan exclude all use of animals, beyond diet. Also, in the U.S., "practitioner" means something different... But in any case, glad to have you here ?