Member-only story
As I’ve discussed in previous blogs, the differences between plant-based and vegan are multifaceted.
Palm oil is always my go-to conundrum; it’s 100 percent plant-based, so technically it’s vegan, but the environmental, habitat and wildlife destruction the industry causes makes it an ethical nemesis for any conscious vegan.
There are numerous other ingredients that span the borders of acceptable ethics but for the most part, what’s plant-based and what isn’t is pretty self-explanatory.
When I first decided to remove meat and dairy from my diet, it was a simple step — it was literally that: only consuming food that came from a plant source.
Sure, there were hidden ingredients, a few slip-ups, the awkwardness of restaurant orders and those pesky, pesky milk solids that seem to creep their way into everything, but for the most part, the stuff to avoid was obvious.
But as my plant-based journey progressed, so did my awareness of my ethical footprint. The “may contain traces of…” footnote for example. If something may contain traces of milk, does that mean it isn’t vegan, is only plant-based on alternate weekends, or should it simply be avoided at all…
