To wonder why some people claim to be a vegetarian yet still eat meat?

[HamstersAndHockeySticks]

Not really a big deal in the grand scheme of things but I do find it odd.

I knew someone a few years ago who liked to remind people that she was a vegetarian and made a big song and dance about the fact she had to make sure she ate enough nuts and seeds, etc to get protein. Fair enough. Except this person would regulary eat fish, chicken curry and hotdogs . This was the work canteen so I knew it was actual chicken and hot dogs rather than meat substitutes. She also ate McDonald's big macs however she would tell people that McDonald's burgers weren't really made from meat, but simply animal fat . Even if that was true, which it never has been as far as I know, where exactly did she think animal fat comes from?

I've also met a couple of other people who claimed they were a vegetatian but still ate meat in some form but none were as entertaining as she was.

Are these the same people who adorn their kids with amber teething necklaces?

I get labelled vegetarian (I eat fish but not chicken/red meat) and I'm forever correcting people that no I'm actually not! I'm a bit pedantic about who should call themselves vegetarian and it's not meat eaters! I tend to order the 'vegetarian option' on planes and things because I know it will not be meat or chicken.

I don't eat meat. I do eat fish. I don't claim to be vegetarian.

6 years ago I stopped eating meat other than chicken, tbh I'm not sure how it happened but I'd certainly not call myself a vegitarian.
My db who is 35 has been a true vegitarian since the age of 9.
He's 6ft 6 and for some reason people are often surprised he's a veggie as he's so tall! Like eating meat must make you a giant?

I haven't had anything other than chicken but regularly make meals for my family with meat and sometimes will make quorn meals and see if they notice, they often don't.

My friend said I'm a "chickentarian"

Dd is 3 and like me tends to only eat chicken.
Ds is 11, eats like a man and loves meat, as does dp.

My poor veggie brother went to a wedding once where the veggie buffet was separated and he picked a slice of pizza ( room was quite dark ) and it turned out to be meat, he discreetly tried to spit it out and was devastated.

#sorry vegetarian!

sashh: "Personally I don't understand vegetarians who drink milk. Yes the cow that was milked is alive, but it didn't just spontaneously start producing milk, it gave birth. What do you think happened to the calf?"

Ethically, of course, the only consistent option is to be vegan. I am well aware of the cruelty involved in production of dairy foods. Likewise the egg industry - however free range the chickens, those male chicks get killed at birth.

The problem is that it's almost impossible to be ethically consistent - animal cruelty is involved in all sorts of things, such as the production of wool or medicine. And for me, all I'm doing by being vegetarian is doing what I can - it's not perfect, but it's better than nothing.

I'd also add that an objection to animal cruelty is not the only reason people become vegetarian. Some people do it for health reasons, and others do it because meat production is such an inefficient way of using the planet's resources. You'd have a much better chance of feeding everyone on the planet by using the land that is used to grow feed for animals to grow crops for humans instead. And of course farming meat is a contributor to global warming.

Well if you think about it, it doesn't actually make sense to be a vegetarian for ethical reasons. If you're a vegetarian for ethical reasons then it makes sense to be a vegan.

However being a vegan would be extremley hard IMO. I know I could never do it. So whilst I do understand that argument I also understand that the line has to be drawn somewhere.

I used to be friends with a girl who lived overseas. She knew I was vegetarian but I hadn't realised she didn't understand what it meant until I stayed with her for a weekend.

She offered me pizza with ham one day, suggested we go to a fish restaurant the next, and then tried to give me yogurt with gelatine in for breakfast.
I survived the weekend on cereal, chocolate and chips!

Depends on the reason behind your ethics - people are veggie for different reasons after all so it may not be that it is too hard to be a vegan just that you hold different views - I am veggie but have no objection to eating an egg from a free range chicken.

I have no problem with people saying they mainly eat vegetarian (food) or they like vegetarian food.

But if you're vegetarian, you're vegetarian.
If you're vegan,you're vegan.

Thats it.

I'm another one who is not any kind of vegetarian, but eats a lot of vegetarian food. My reasons are (1) I enjoy it, and it means more variety of meals to eat, (2) I really dislike tough, gristly or underdone meat so will often choose not to have meat in a place where I'm not sure of the quality.

Occasionally people have told me I'm a vegetarian, not because they think you can eat meat and still be a vegetarian, but because they had literally never seen me eat anything that wasn't vegetarian and perhaps weren't adventurous enough to realise that meat eaters can also eat vegetarian dishes. Obviously I always put them right.

Incidentally, I had a boyfriend once who said he didn't like meat, but he liked everything except a solid slab of meat - he'd eat ham, sausages and dishes made with minced meat. His dad was actually a butcher which made it all the stranger.

Attention seeking.

I don't feel the need to mske any proclamations on my eating.
You don't need to fit in a neat 'box'.
Even eating less meat, and carefully sourced meat, makes a massive difference both for the planet, its population,and animal welfare

I think many people find the labels too prescriptive tbh.

My sister did this for years. Huge fuss over being a "proper" vegetarian but would eat anything while drunk or on holiday or out of the country. Attention seeking is the perfect description.

I can understand it if people use it as a smokescreen to hide behind so they don't feel obliged to eat really crappy processed meat, if they're trying to be healthy and don't want to offend.

I will sometimes put veggie as a dietary requirement simply because it makes it easier to avoid red meat and red fish. Last time I ate them in any significant quantity I ended up in hospital because the pain was so bad that they thought it was appendicitis. It would only be when ordering for some catered event, to friends I just explain. Does annoy me too if the veggie option turns out to be tuna having tried to specifically avoided it.

Because they are either stupid and do not know what vegetarian means, or they are blatant liars.

Sometimes it's easier, does it really matter?

Having been veggie for a while, I now very occasionally eat fish (handful of times a year) but am particular about where the fish came from, how it was caught etc so am pescetarian. I wouldn't want to eat some crappy mass produced tinned tuna, so often in situations where I don't feel a need to explain myself eg a work conference I'll just say I'm veggie instead so I get first dibs on the veggie sandwiches before some meat eating bugger snaffles them

My usual line is "I don't eat meat".

But about 2 years ago when I was pregnant and craving it, I had a steak in a restaurant. At what point was I veggie, then not veggie, then veggie again? Should I have announced "I am no longer vegetarian" before entering the restaurant? Did I have to "prove" my veggie credentials for a set amount of time before I could call myself vegetarian again? Or does it not really matter?

Surely the important thing is people eating less meat overall.

PS The meat was lame and I didn't enjoy it, hence not eating it since.

I was vegetarian from 6 to 24/25. I really couldn't even remember what meat tasted like. I have a real interest in food and cooking and also 6 months ago moved in with somebody who eats meat. Decided I should learn to cook non vegetarian food, decided I'd try tasting it myself. I now eat it occasionally and only have a small amount. For the purpose of everybody else though, I'm vegetarian, that way I don't insult anybody by being unable to eat most of it/deciding I hate it and having to leave it etc.

pug if you tell people you are vegetarian and then they see you eating fish, they assume vegetarians eat fish - so now I often have to fend off chicken and fish 'because vegetarians eat them'.

Why not just say to people you mainly eat a vegetarian diet, but choose not to occasionally?

When I was younger I ate no meat but chicken. I would sometimes tell restaurants or when I was a one off guest that I was veggie but only out of ease and convenience. I never said I was vegetarian to people I know. I am now veggie
My bf irritates as he says he's veggie but eats gelatine and prawn crackers.

I never use the v word. It upsets people too much. I'm not one anyway. I love fish. I don't eat meat because I don't like it. Same as some folk don't like Brussels sprout. It's not a big deal. I find that others are more hung up on it than I am.

I'm sure I've met someone who said they were vegetarian when they weren't... Or I imagined this person.

They did it for practical reasons... It may have been a Muslim in a place where halal wasn't available or something.

I'm sure this was a real person and not a figment of my imagination.

I don't eat red meat. It really annoys me when people label me as vegetarian- I certainly never tell people that I am. I do usually choose vegetarian options when eating out, simply because I like veggie food.