Sexy Vegan

Have you noticed how people seem to think the word "vegan" is sexy? Folks who know little about what the word means seem to use it a lot around me. For example, there is a new Indian restaurant in the area with a sign that has "VEGAN" on the front window, but the restaurant sells meat, and most of the vegetarian items contain dairy; however, they do have vegan options. They should have a sign that says, "We have vegan options", because putting a big "VEGAN" sign in the window is misleading.

I get somewhat annoyed when people at my job call Java Green a vegan place. It is not vegan. It's a vegetarian restaurant with a lot of vegan options. They sell dairy products and honey; that makes them not vegan.

Why do I care? I care because words matter. I care because people seem to think that vegetarians eat chicken and fish, and that vegans eat honey and use animals products. It's incorrect, and it can make buying food and products more difficult for true vegetarians and vegans. If someone told me that Java Green was a vegan restaurant, and I ordered one of their dairy-containing products thinking it was vegan, I would probably get sick (my body isn't used to animal products anymore). That is why accuracy matters.

I wouldn't call a place vegetarian if they sold meat. I would say they have vegetarian options - which most places do. I also would not call humans carnivores, since most eat some type of vegetation, unlike my cat who only eats animals.