> Well the headline is about people's claims that they don't eat meat, not about whether that claim matches your definition of what a vegetarian is. I simply u

> Well the headline is about people's claims that they don't eat meat, not about whether that claim matches your definition of what a vegetarian is. I simply used my personal experience to highlight that people can’t be trusted to give accurate information around how they consume animal products. I used veganism (not vegetarianism) because it has a rather well-defined criteria, and is what I have the most experience with. > If someone asks me I will tell them I don't smoke because my identity is as a nonsmoker, even though I had a cigarette a few months ago. Certainly, this depends on the question, but a good survey question won’t leave ambiguity. It will likely specify a time frame and give you choices on how many cigarettes you’ve used, as well as asking if you identify as a smoker. If I asked you “are you a smoker?”, your answer would rightfully be “no” since the definition of “smoker” requires regular use. If I asked “have you smoked tobacco products anytime in the last six months?”, I’d expect your answer to be “yes”. With veganism, you can be directly told “I’m a vegan too” when someone hears you’re vegan. If they also choose to consume animals products during a casual meal with many vegan options, there’s no definition of the word “vegan” that they’d fit.