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Vulcans are widely known to be vegetarians--I think simply out of a respect for all life forms. However, they can still eat meat and do so when no other nourishment is available, such as after a crash landing or being marooned on an icy moon.

But how strict are they in their regular daily diet?

Are they vegan-strict? Lacto-ovo-vegetarians?

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  • Their diet is presented in a highly inconsistent way throughout the shows/films. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_(Star_Trek)#Diet
    – Valorum
    Dec 24, 2016 at 10:05
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    I may suggest that possibly the Vulcan diet is a Vegan diet. That is, that the Vulcan diet may have been based on the diet taught by Eorloth from Vega IX. Thus it would be a Vegan diet though not a vegan diet. Ha! Ha!
    – M. A. Golding
    Jan 9, 2017 at 16:35
  • 42. It is 42 vegan.
    – Jeff
    Dec 30, 2019 at 20:18

2 Answers 2

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From the section "Mr. Spock" in The Making of the TV Series Star Trek by Stephen E Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry:

A basic tenet of the Vulcan philosophy is nonviolence. Vulcans do not believe in killing in any form. They may hunt for the skill involved in tracking but eons ago ceased to kill the animal they are tracking. As a vegetarian, the mere idea of eating animal carcasses, cooked or not, is revolting to Spock. Even his vegetable diet is limited to the simplest of vegetable life forms.

While this does not imply a purely vegan diet, the insistence on only the simplest vegetable life suggests that eggs would not typically be consumed, but that milk and cheese might be.

Replicated food, since it was never alive, might be a loophole, but I can't think of anywhere we've seen a Vulcan taking advantage of that.

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    Many vegetarians learn (quite unpleasantly) that they no longer have the appropriate gut flora to digest meat after living the lifestyle for several years. It's possible that this trait is significantly more widespread for Vulcans, making it simpler for them to stick to replicated vegetables even if there are no moral concerns?
    – Jeff
    Dec 30, 2019 at 20:17
  • @Jeff definitely unpleasantly, I can assure you 😅
    – motoDrizzt
    Dec 31, 2019 at 22:52
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All signs point to Vulcans being vegetarian rather than vegan.

Tuvok was getting ready to eat Porakan eggs in an episode of Voyager. He shows no apparent disgust at the idea, other than his usual jibes about Neelix' erratic cooking skills.

NEELIX: Ah! I'll start squeezing that second glass. Breakfast is coming right up. Porakan eggs.

TUVOK: Porakan?

NEELIX: The most flavourful eggs in the sector. Scrambled with a little dill weed, a touch of rengazo, a galactic favourite. Now, these eggs were not easy to prepare. After we picked them up on Porakas Four, I had to sterilise them in a cryostatic chamber for three days. Then each and every one had to be parboiled

TUVOK: Mister Neelix, I would prefer not to hear the life history of my breakfast.

VOY: Flashback

enter image description here

Quark serves a platter of Jumbo Romulan Mollusks to a Vulcan lady. He seems quite knowledgeable about Vulcanian eating habits and has clearly planned the evening with great care.

QUARK: (continuing) ... starting with plomeek soup, which I know is a traditional Vulcan favorite... followed by Jumbo Romulan mollusks... you can't get those back on Vulcan anymore, can you...

DS9: The Maquis, Part I

enter image description here

Additionally, there are innumerable references to the Vulcans being vegetarians but never a mention of them being vegans.

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  • It's worth pointing out that Tuvok had been an undercover agent in an illegal rebellion and was currently stranded decades away from his typical support structure. He also had to deal with Neelix on a daily basis. He's hardly the standard by which his species can be judged. Perhaps eating eggs is the equivalent of alcoholism for Vulcans?
    – Jeff
    Dec 30, 2019 at 20:15
  • @Jeff - By this point Tuvok is no longer under cover and is overtly living as a classical Vulcan once more. You could perhaps argue that his dietary choices are being logically determined by the fact that they are in extremis and having to eat what they can lay their hands on. He makes much the same point when eating meat on Earth because the alternative is to go back out and risk being caught
    – Valorum
    Dec 30, 2019 at 20:19
  • Yes, I'm aware he's long past the undercover stage. That reference was simply to point out that his life experiences are radically different from most of his species. There are other, Doylist, reasons for differences, but they are out of scope.
    – Jeff
    Dec 30, 2019 at 20:23

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