Glossary
What is plant-based?
Plant-based describes a diet built mainly or entirely around plants. Unlike veganism, it refers only to food and carries no ethical commitment, so a plant-based person may still buy leather or wool. Some people use it to mean fully plant-only eating, others to mean mostly.
Where the term comes from
It was coined in the 1980s by nutritional scientist T. Colin Campbell, who needed a way to describe a diet for research purposes without invoking the ethics of veganism. That origin explains the term precisely: it was built to talk about food and nothing else.
Is it the same as vegan?
No. Veganism is a philosophy that seeks to exclude animal exploitation as far as is possible and practicable, across food, clothing and everything else. Plant-based describes a diet.
The word is also used with two different strictnesses. Some people say plant-based and mean no animal products at all. Others mean mostly plants.
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