Reference

Glossary

Plain-language definitions of the plant-based, animal welfare, climate and sustainability terms used across VegEco reporting. No jargon left unexplained.

29: Terms defined
8: Subject areas
33: Editions

Diet

5 terms

How eating patterns are named — and where the labels blur.

Plant-based diet: A dietary pattern centered on foods from plants — vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds — with animal products reduced or excluded.
Vegan: A way of living that seeks to exclude, as far as possible, all forms of exploitation of animals — including in food, clothing and other uses.
Vegetarian: A diet that excludes meat, poultry and fish but may include dairy and eggs (lacto-ovo).
Flexitarian: A mostly plant-based eating pattern that occasionally includes meat or fish.
Whole-food plant-based (WFPB): A plant-based diet emphasizing minimally processed whole foods and limiting oils, refined sugar and refined flour.

Nutrition

4 terms

The nutrients that come up in every plant-based debate.

Complete protein: A protein source that provides all nine essential amino acids in sufficient amounts; combinations of legumes and grains achieve this over the day.
Vitamin B12: An essential vitamin produced by bacteria; reliably supplemented or obtained from fortified foods on plant-based diets.
Omega-3 (ALA / EPA / DHA): Essential fatty acids; ALA is found in flax, chia and walnuts. EPA/DHA can be obtained from algae oil.
Heme vs non-heme iron: Heme iron comes from animal foods; non-heme iron from plants. Absorption of non-heme iron is enhanced by vitamin C.

Animals

5 terms

The vocabulary of confinement, sentience and welfare law.

Factory farming: Industrial-scale animal agriculture that concentrates animals in confinement to maximize output at low unit cost.
CAFO: Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation — a US regulatory term for the largest confinement livestock facilities.
Sentience: The capacity to feel, perceive or experience subjectively — recognized in vertebrates and many invertebrates by contemporary science.
Speciesism: The assumption of moral superiority of one species (usually humans) over others, often used to justify exploitation.
Cage-free / free-range: Labels regulating hen housing; both permit indoor confinement and are not synonymous with high-welfare or pasture-raised.

Climate

5 terms

Emissions accounting terms used in food-system research.

GHG (greenhouse gas): Gases such as CO₂, methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) that trap heat in the atmosphere and drive global warming.
CO₂-equivalent (CO₂e): A common metric that converts different greenhouse gases to the warming effect of an equivalent mass of CO₂.
Enteric methane: Methane produced by microbial fermentation in the stomachs of ruminants such as cattle and sheep.
Carbon footprint: The total greenhouse gas emissions caused directly and indirectly by a person, product or activity.
Land-use change: Conversion of ecosystems (often forests) to agriculture or pasture — a major driver of biodiversity loss and emissions.

Sustainability

4 terms

Systems language for waste, soil and supply chains.

Circular economy: An economic model designed to eliminate waste by keeping materials in use through reuse, repair and recycling.
Regenerative agriculture: Farming practices that aim to restore soil health, biodiversity and water cycles rather than merely sustain them.
Food miles: The distance food travels from producer to consumer — one of several factors in a product's environmental impact.
Zero waste: A design philosophy aiming to send nothing to landfill or incineration by preventing waste at the source.

Ocean

2 terms

Fisheries and marine ecosystem terminology.

Bycatch: Non-target marine species caught unintentionally during commercial fishing.
Overfishing: Removing fish faster than populations can reproduce, degrading marine ecosystems and food security.

Fashion

2 terms

Materials and business models behind what we wear.

Fast fashion: A business model producing high volumes of low-cost, rapidly changing clothing, with heavy environmental and labour costs.
Vegan leather: Leather alternatives made from plant materials (cactus, pineapple, apple), recycled polyurethane or bio-based films.

Labels

2 terms

What certification marks legally guarantee — and don't.

Certified Vegan: A third-party label indicating a product contains no animal-derived ingredients and was not tested on animals.
Fair Trade: Certification that goods were produced under standards for wages, working conditions and community investment.

Keep reading

These terms show up throughout our reporting on factory farming, animal rights and the climate cost of animal agriculture.

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