The notion of vegetable is often used in nutrition and gastronomy.
The first thing we are going to do is proceed to determine the etymological origin of the term vegetable . In this case, we find that it emanates from a Latin word: vegetare , which can be translated as "grow."
A vegetable is an organic being that grows and has life although it does not change its location by voluntary impulse . Plants, in fact, lack a musculoskeletal system. The term is also used to name everything belonging to or related to plants .
Use of the concept in science and in the field of food
Plants can synthesize their own food through photosynthesis. They are composed of multicellular organisms (with eukaryotic cells ) and can measure from a few centimeters (like moss) to several meters in height (like certain trees).
The concept is little used in the scientific field, where it is preferred to talk about plants (a taxon studied by botany, which is a branch of biology ). The use of the notion of vegetable is limited to food and to matters related to nutrition or gastronomy.
plant food
Plant foods include vegetables (such as greens and tubers) and legumes . Lettuce, tomato, celery and onion are vegetables. All these types of foods have various vitamins that help the body in different ways.
However, there are many more types of vegetables. Thus, we find vegetables, fruits, cereals, tubers, nuts, algae, mushrooms, natural sweeteners, spices and what are known as stimulant plants that allow us to obtain foods such as coffee.
Those who eat only vegetables are vegetarians or vegans.
vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is known as the diet that abstains from the consumption of meat from any animal (cows, pigs, chickens, fish, etc.) and is based on the consumption of vegetables, fruits and cereals. He who practices these diets is known as a vegetarian .
In addition to all of the above, it must be emphasized that this dietary regimen is taken as a maxim by a multitude of people based on various reasons and motives. Thus, for example, there are those that adopt it for religious reasons, those that do so for health reasons or those that take ethical criteria as a basis. The latter are the ones who decide to become vegetarians because they are against the harm done to animals.
There are various types of vegetarians. There are those who do not eat any products derived from animals, such as eggs or milk. In these cases, we speak of strict vegetarians or vegans .
Vegans, beyond vegetables
The option of eating only vegetables is usually an ethical decision of those who oppose animals being slaughtered for their meat. But it is interesting to establish that vegans not only have strong beliefs regarding food, but they also extrapolate these to other aspects of their life such as, for example, clothing. In this sense, they are opposed to wearing any type of garment that has been made using animal skins as well as wool or silk from the same origin.
And all this without overlooking either that these ideas make them completely reject leisure activities such as circuses, bullfights or theme parks because they consider that they treat animals with contempt.