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‘Attached to veganism are assumptions of elitism’: Countdown’s Susie Dent on the trouble with words for plant-based diets
Why do we have so many different terms for plant-based eating, and what are the implications for our health, our planet and our identity?
“You are what you eat” has a whole new meaning in 2022. Now, it feels like every morsel we put in our mouths not only has implications for our health and the future of the planet, but also for our identity. From vegavore to vegan, climatarian to flexitarian and reducetarian, what’s behind this need to label the way we eat? Do we even need to do it when the wider culture is collectively making more plant-based choices, so making this the new normal? And do these labels unknowingly undermine our good intentions in eating plant-based?
Once upon a time, a “normal” diet used to mean eating meat, fish, dairy and a few standard vegetables, but that definition has grown in recent years. As lexicographer and etymologist Susie Dent explains, “normal” has meant many things over the years. “The word first appeared in an English dictionary in 1658, where ‘normal’ is defined as ‘done exactly, according to the rule’. But ‘normal’ has continued to change and grow. The question ‘what is normal?’ is not quite so simple as it sounds, and when it comes to food, things are changing fast.”
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