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VegEco

Food & Nutrition

Vegan vs vegetarian

Vegetarianism removes the animals from your plate; veganism removes them from your supply chain. The gap between the two is mostly dairy and eggs, and that gap turns out to carry most of the welfare and climate difference. Here is what actually changes when you cross it.

Side by side

Vegan compared with Vegetarian
CriterionVeganVegetarian
What is excludedAll animal products, including dairy, eggs, honey, gelatine and animal-derived additives.Meat and fish only; dairy and eggs remain.
Animal impactRemoves demand from the dairy and egg systems, which involve calf separation and male-chick culling.Leaves those systems intact — laying hens and dairy cows still enter the meat supply at the end of production.
Nutrients to watchB12 (supplement required), vitamin D, iodine, omega-3 DHA/EPA, iron, zinc.Iron, zinc and omega-3 still need attention; B12 is partly covered by dairy and eggs.
Eating outImproving fast, but still requires checking butter, cheese and egg-glaze in many cuisines.Widely catered for on almost every menu.

Questions people ask

Is being vegetarian enough to help animals?
It helps, but dairy and egg production still depend on breeding, separation and slaughter — dairy cows and laying hens are killed once productivity drops. Dropping those two categories is where most of the remaining welfare impact sits.
Do vegetarians need a B12 supplement?
Vegans certainly do. Vegetarians get some B12 from dairy and eggs, but low intake is still common, so testing or a low-dose supplement is a reasonable precaution.

Our reporting on this

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