To ask how you can be a pescatarian. Possible Triggers

[Jessiejuju]

So the whole point of being a vegetarian is that you don't eat meat from a living thing so why is it OK to eat fish and seafood. I know it is not classed as meat but it is still a living thing that is dying so you can eat it and is actually cruler than other animals for example chickens simply have their neck broken which is relatively quick as apposed to fish who suffercate when removed from the water.

Surely it depends on people’s reasons for not eating meat- not everyone is pescatarian, vegetarian or vegan for animal welfare issues.

Well as pescatarian isn't a vegetarian are they?

Can't speak for myself as I eat meat, but my pescetarian friend doesn't eat meat as she doesn't like the taste and texture (she also doesn't eat quorn products for the same reason as she finds them too similar to meat), but doesn't have this issue with fish or seafood. People may be pescetarian because they can't eat meat for dietary reasons or just don't like it rather than it necessarily being an ethical issue?

A trigger warning for this!?

I don't understand your question.

Vegetarianism and pescatarianism are two completely different things. That's like asking "So the whole point of being a vegetarian is that you don't eat meat from a living thing so why is it OK to eat meat."

They are two different things.

People could choose to be pescatarian for lots of reasons. They might find it too hard to give up fish as well as meat but still want to do something to reduce their environmental impact. They might only eat sustainably sourced fish and so feel that it’s ethically acceptable. They might not like meat.

I’m a vegetarian but I still think better to be a pescatarian than an omnivore. You’re still massively reducing the environmental impact of your diet.

Kaytee87 it stands for pesco-vegitarian so they are actually a type of vegetarian.

Think of the poor cabbages, pulled from their lovely cabbagey home with all the other little cabbages and then left to slowly suffocate in plastic wrapping until some horrible person takes and knife to them and plunges them into boiling water.

Why are you spamming AIBU with veggie threads?

I don't think a pescatarian would call themselves a vegetarian though?
Some people might not red meat or chicken for health reasons, but still eat fish.
Some people might not believe fish are conscious or feel pain the same way a cow or pig does.

OK so if you just don't like meat that's fine but it these people who are like I don't eat meat because it is cruel on the animal. Like having a hook shoved through your lip being yanked out of the water and sufercating is not cruel?

@Jessiejuju pesce means fish

I don't eat meat ( 20+ years) but very occasionally will eat fish, but perhaps just a few times a year.
Gave up when my children were small and just could not imagine eating it now. still like the smell of bacon

@Jessiejuju - It stands for pesco-vegitarian so they are actually a type of vegetarian.

Definitions:
vegetarian = a person who does not eat meat
meat = the flesh of an animal
fish = a limbless cold-blooded vertebrate animal with gills and fins living wholly in water

QED - a vegetarian doesn't not eat fish

@Jessiejuju maybe they like fish but not other meats. Have you quizzed all of them about their reasons?

They're alot less annyoing to have around for dinner.

Aagh - a vegetarian does not eat fish, not a vegetarian doesn't not eat fish.

Double negative completely ruined my point :-)

If someone is trying to make little changes why do people feel the need to bash them? It doesn't have to be all or nothing (and if it did have to be then most people would choose to do nothing!)

From a personal perspective when I was pescatarian - I was happy to eat fish because I wouldn’t have had a problem killing it myself. And also, frankly, I don’t think fish have much sentience, or care that they do if they do.

I’m no longer pescatarian but I will only eat something I could (and have had a go at, so it’s not just theoretical) stand to kill and butcher myself. So venison and lamb are on the table; duck and octopus are off.

Pescatarians and vegetarians will have different views in why they do and don’t eat what they do but I suspect a lot of pescatarians feel the same way about fish as I’ve stated above.

I don’t understand it really if you’re doing it because eating meat is cruel. If you don’t like the taste of meat but you do like fish it makes sense to me. I eat chicken and lamb but not dairy, beef or most fish (I’ll eat farmed mussels and scallops) because I worry about the environment.

OP are you by any chance a meat eater who’s been made to feel bad about your food choices by a pescatarian? Just because your annoyance seems personal! If so I can understand, being lectured by anyone on food choices is irritating.

theymademejoin I know vegetarians don't eat fish. And I know that some people just don't like the taste of meat but there are people who say they don't eat meat because it is cruel so I guess my question really is why is eating say a chicken cruel but eating a fish isn't?

Ds1 is a pescetarian and has been since he was about 9.
He declared it was cruel to eat meat and refused to do it.*
I've never pushed the "but fish are meat" argument because to be frank he's fussy enough as it is without removing fish (which he loves) from his diet.

• he admitted a couple of years later that while this was part of the reason, it was more about his dad trying to force him to eat things he really doesn't like. It was easier for him to become pescetarian than have another argument with his dad about the fact he doesn't (and never has) liked for eg mince

it stands for pesco-vegitarian [sic]

Does it? Are you sure?

The ending ‘arian’ just means ‘advocates or supports a particular belief/theory/way of living/principle’.

Pescatarians don’t tend to do it for ethical reasons unless they are in a transnational period wanting to switch to vegetarianism and then veganism.

The pescatarians I know literally just don’t like meat. They do it for health reasons, they don’t like the taste or smell of meat etc. My DGM is Jewish so doesn’t eat pork, she stopped eating beef after mad cow disease and she’s never eaten chicken or lamb so she’s a pescatarian. No real ethical reasons behind it.