to think that if you eat fish or chicken you are not a vegetarian?

[knowitallstrikesagain]

So vegetarian seems to mean different things to different people. But the common definition is flesh from an animan, including fish and birds, used as food.

If you don't eat meat, you are a vegetarian. If you eat meat, you are not a vegetarian. If poultry and fish are types of meat and you eat them, then you do eat meat and are therefore not a vegetarian.

Didn't the powers that be come up with a new word to describe people who eat fish but no other type of meat? (I know what it is but can't spell it )

I understand saying you are veggie to make life easier, eg when RSVPing a wedding for food, or a staff meal out, but if you are having dinner with a friend, surely you could specify that you like some meats more than others?

AIBU to think that if you eat ANY animals, you are not a vegetarian?

I'm a "conventional" veggie and have been for over 20 years. Airlines seem to call that "lacto-ovo vegetarian" as I'll drink milk and eat eggs but not eat anything that has required the death of a creature with a central nervous system.

If you're going to be a serious veggie you have to be careful about beer, wine (isinglass) and cheese (rennet). And leather, of course. A friend of mine was a vegan for a while but she found it very hard to eat out.

It doesn't really bother me how pious people are about their diets, but it does annoy me at buffets when there may only be a couple of veggie things (that can clearly be seen to be so without a forensic examination, i.e. not quiche) and they've often been hoovered up before I get to them as they look nicer than some suspicious looking meat.

Crisp - fair enough.

it's a lot easier to be veggie these days - just look for the little symbol on the packets.
when i first turned veggie, it was impossible to find veggie food!

therre are quite a lot of veggie equivalents that have the "taste" of meat. :)

Latara - v good points there.
I wear leather shoes, but there's a general agreement that "necessaries" are acceptable (but not "fine").
I usually make one pair last a good 2 years or so, and if i buy shoes for fashion rather than need, i'll try to get synthetics.
and we have our own hens (whilst trying to ignore the ethics of killing boy chicks at birth~), and buy organic milk and cheese whenever possible.

Crispy I know people who are vegetarian who do not eat meat of any kind. I do not think if you eat meat, you are a vegetarian. I think you are trying to eat less meat, or are on the journey to becoming a vegetarian, but the very definition of vegetarian is someone who doesn't eat meat.

I think if someone is trying to improve their health and environmental conscience, it is a good thing. But giving yourself a label incorrectly does vegetarians a disservice.

It makes life quite hard for vegetarians when people call themselves one but eat fish or other meats as others then assume that all veggies have exceptions which is not the case.

Is tricky, though...
Eggs have required death of an animal - the males of egg-laying breeds are destroyed at a day or so old, as they have no commercial use (chickens for meat are differnt breeds than for eggs, as to be commercial they need to get big quick, and not lay lots of eggs). Then one a hens "useful life" is over and she starts laying fewer eggs, she'll get the chop (and not used for meat).
Milk requires the death of animals to (male calves).

I'm not a vegan or veggie, incidentally, but see how incredibly difficult it would be to be vegan and slightly inconsistent to be a veggie.

Yanbu. I'm an ex-vegetarian. For several years I didn't eat meat of any kind or fish, then gradually I started to eat fish and chicken, so I no longer called myself a vegetarian. Now I eat nearly all kinds of meat. I still like vegetarian food and would order the vegetarian option if it sounded appealing.

I have been told off by various people for choosing a vegetarian option because apparently it's only for vegetarians

Ha ha, yes that is funny. Like you would have to show your membership card for the Vegetarian Society before the waiter would accept your order.

I don't follow how it is unethical to wear leather if you are an ideological vegetarian; it's a waste by product of the meat/dairy industry (except for very high grades of veal leather). Synthetic materials have their own poor (immoral) social impact (especially if made from petrochemicals).

Lots of vegetarians are NOT animal rightists; one of the reasons I stopped being vegetarian is because I hated people assuming I must be an animal rightist; I think maybe that's a particularly British interpretation of vegetarianism; I find it quite distasteful.

well, that's the reason - because it's a by-product of slaughter (ie the animal had to die to make it)

yes but couldn't meat just as easily be seen as a by-product of the leather industry?

I eat fish and seafood but not meat (ie pork, beef, lamb, poultry etc). It actually annoys me when people call me a vegetarian.

yep.

hence "no fish flesh or foul (or byproducts of slaughter)"

byproducts normally refer to something that's not the primary aim of the purpose - so gelatine, leather, isinglass, etc.

We have a cafe in our town that has a little vegetarian V by the tuna panini on the menu .
And when I worked in Australia I was always being offered a vegetarian option of chicken or fish.

I'm now a lapsed vegetarian and only eat animals without legs (but not snails or snakes either), and I tell people who need to know that "I don't eat meat".

Yes but if no one ate meat, but still wore leather shoes, then meat would be a by-product wouldn't it?

yes, it would in that case

if people used less by products, then maybe the price of meat would go and people would eat less.

My dd says that bacon is an honorary vegetable
In her defence she is not 'vegetarian' on moral grounds but because she doesnt like the taste/texture of meat whereas crispy bacon is another matter..
She also eats fish but not poultry.

As someone who professionally organises large events, it is very annoying when people put "vegetarian" on the special dietary requirements when they aren't veggie. It's perfectly OK to put that you don't eat red meat, or mushrooms, or whatever and the more information I have, the better to help me when selecting a menu.

I once selected a mushroom risotto as the veggie option, only to be innundated by the people who claimed to be veggie saying they "couldn't" eat mushrooms - interestingly they were all women, most of them went on to have the chicken and one of them said she couldn't eat mushrooms because she was a Muslim ( I never knew that). One of them told me that mushrooms "aren't suitable for vegetarians".

Then there are the "vegetarians" who you see tucking into the full English at breakfast in the hotel the next day .

In my book, vegetarians don't eat any sort of flesh, and some won't eat eggs or dairy products, so a vegetarian option has to fulfill those criteria. Anyone else is just being fussyexpressing a legitimate preference .

Vegetarian means you dont eat meat. Thats red meat, chicken or fish.

i had a friend who was a vegetarian and hated that animals were being killed but then loved wearing leather. (Erm hello leather is made from animals). She refused to believe me.

i think there's something about fungus.

why not just put "no mushrooms"?
surely they now in advance that they can't eat therm?

I've never heard of people who eat chicken still referring to themselves as vegetarian...that's a new one on me. I've heard of the fish thing though, as I've done it myself. I'm technically a pescatarian but I only eat tuna (tinned with mayonnaise, can't eat tuna steak...too meaty), and prawns so not "fish" as a general food group. It's just easier for me to say I'm veggie as my diet requires too much explanation otherwise. I have also been known to eat Haribo >_<

I was brought up veggie, so I've never eaten chicken, beef, pork or lamb. I only eat tuna and prawns occasionally and would happily eat veggie all the time if I had to choose. As it stands, I know i'm weird.

While I am an advocate of animal rights, I do not have an issue with other people eating meat. My DH eats meat and I will cook it for him, my diet is my personal choice. I can't bring myself to eat meat (apart from my silly exceptions). I once bit into a meat spring roll by accident (I ordered a veggie one) and it made me sick.

I agree with many others though...veggie options in restaurants are terrible. Especially seeing as I can't stand mushrooms or aubergines and they are normally the main ingredient.

I've just realised I'm really annoying and fussy...I do eat a healthy diet though, and I love to cook. I can make veggie meals that fool meat eaters (and they don't even have meat substitutes in them).

No, if you eat something that's got a face then you're not vegetarian. Having said that, I was vegetarian for over 20 years. I started eating fish about 3 years ago and I still call myself vegetarian. I know that I'm not anymore, but I was for so long that I keep forgetting that I'm not.

Thegreylady The American's have reclassified pizza as a vegetable!

The british Vegetarian Society came up with the term 'Vegetarian', so their definition is the ONLY one that counts.

www.vegsoc.org/page.aspx?pid=827

Vegans eat no produce from an animal, including milk, eggs & honey etc.

Pescetarians eat fish.

People that don't eat meat, are people that don't eat meat.

People who call themselves vegetarian, I don't mean people who order or choose a vegetarian dish, but do eat meat and / or fish are lazy and selfish, with a lack of vocabulary who actively make life much more difficult for other people.