Why go vegan instead of vegetarian?
ETHICS
Short answer
Dairy and egg production kill animals too — male calves and male chicks in particular. Vegetarianism doesn't remove animal harm; it hides it.
ETHICS
The detail
A vegetarian diet still supports slaughter: laying hens are killed at 1–2 years when their output declines, dairy cows at 4–6 years, and all male dairy calves and male layer chicks are killed shortly after birth because they have no commercial use.
For the same reason many long-term vegetarians eventually go vegan: the ethical logic that led to vegetarianism (avoiding animal suffering) points to veganism as its consistent conclusion.
Consider the 'dairy-beef' pipeline where older cows, exhausted from the cycle of birth and milking, are slaughtered for low-grade hamburger meat. Critics argue that vegetarianism is a 'middle ground,' but the economic reality is that the egg and dairy industries are inextricable from the meat industry. Transitioning fully to plant-based fats like avocado oil and nut butters removes your financial support from these interconnected systems of slaughter.
RELATED
More questions like this
- Do vegans eat eggs?
No. Eggs are an animal product, and even backyard hens come from an industry that kills male chicks and spent hens.
- Why don't vegans drink milk?
Dairy cows are repeatedly impregnated and separated from their calves, and most humans lose the ability to digest lactose after infancy.
- Why should I go vegan?
For the animals, your health, and the planet — three independently strong reasons that reinforce each other.
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