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.

My niece is a vegetarian, she never eats anything that had a face.

My DD is pescatarian,not really because of animal cruelty but for environmental reasons and land use and the inefficiency of it.She eats fish if sustainably caught and if affordable on our budget.
She if 15 so her arguments may change a little as she learns more but this is where she is now so I support her and mostly eat the same now.

I think the trigger warning is for pedants like me who are screaming at the atrocious spelling grin

No, it’s for the 🐠 who might possibly be reading this.

Fish have v little brain and don't care about their young - in fact they often eat them (On MN, only MILs do that)

Many species of fish care for their young. And if you include marine animals such as octopuses, some are quite intelligent.

I've been pescetarian for over 30 years, interspersed with periods of vegetarianism that have also lasted years. I gave up eating other meat as a teenager because I felt the meat industry was cruel and I didn't like the sensation of eating meat. But my mum would not allow me to cook for myself and my dad would never eat anything vegetarian. The cooking was for some reason my mum's responsibility so to avoid her cooking two meals quite so often, I compromised and ate fish.

From my point of view, I can tolerate it in small quantities. Fish are further removed from us in evolutionary terms than the mammals and birds we usually eat. I also reasoned it was less likely to be farmed. Since then I've found out a lot more about the fishing industry and have cut right back on my consumption. I eat it occasionally when I'm out or if I feel below par and in need of a boost.

So it's a compromise. It's practical in some situations to be able to eat fish. I avoid contributing to some of the excesses of the meat industry. I also avoid buying milk and yoghurt, though I will eat cheese. I'm trying to cut down on things which are cruel. IMO, this is better than doing nothing.

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

Utter nonsense. It doesn't stand for that and they aren't a type of vegetarian.🙄

I have recently become mostly vegetarian, for health reasons. It has been really enjoyable and much easier than I expected.

I am still working out my rules, so eating the occasional bit of fish and still eating meat once a month for iron reasons.

@MaybeDoctor you're not a vegetarian then...

I'm a pescatarian and have been for many years. I stopped eating meat as one day I choked (literally gasping for air) on a fatty piece of meat think I was about 11. Since then I can't eat any meat and I live the pescatarian life!

Pescatarian and proud here!

Personally, I don't have an affinity to fish as I have to lambs, cows, pigs etc. Eating fish also gives me just a little more range in what I can eat - particularly when eating out.

It's just a personal choice, just like choosing to eat meat is. I live with myself just fine thanks.

@tillytoodles1 I like that idea !! I'm the same but didn't realise !

why is eating say a chicken cruel but eating a fish isn't?
Some people believe killing higher functioning mammals like cows, pigs, sheep etc involves a level of pain & cruelty that they don't want to cause.

Some pescatarians believe fish feel so little or no pain that the level of cruelty involved in killing them is negligible/zero and it follows that eating them is acceptable.

It is not either cruel or not cruel, there is a spectrum. Even most meat eaters wouldn't kill and eat gorillas, dolphins, dogs or humans because the perceived level of cruelty is too high, even for them.

@MaybeDoctor you're not a vegetarian then...

I don't eat meat or fish (refuse to call myself vegetarian). I couldn't give a shit about animals really, otherwise I would be vegan as the dairy and egg industry is shocking. I have a large lump of cow simmering in the oven for dh.

People who call themselves vegetarian and eat fish (and meat) are idiots.

I think all this categorisation is unhelpful.

Many people eat almost no meat for other reasons than the ethical issues. It is a mistake to assume that vegetarians don't eat meat for the ethics.

I rarely eat meat, but I do so for several other reasons.

I order vegetarian food when eating out, I will choose the vegetarian option at a buffet.

If I find a piece of lamb in my chick pea curry I can't get worked up about it and will happily eat it.

I did say ‘mostly’ vegetarian!
Anyway, I am only a couple of months into it and exploring my new patterns, so refuse to be bothered what other people think about it.

I am turning down meat in all the places of my diet that meat would normally fill. I have had 3 small portions of fish and 1 of meat in the last 8 weeks. Feel free to define me, but if you want to call me an idiot you can take a running jump off a large pile of lentils!

@MaybeDoctor you're the one trying to define yourself. Eat meat and fish, no one cares, just don't define yourself as mostly vegetarian. There is no such thing.

What?

I still don't understand the whole "flexitarian" label? Isn't pretty much everyone other than vegans and vegetarians flexitarian?

I think we need to try to be a bit more positive and encouraging about changes in diet anyone makes towards reducing their meat consumption.
It is one of the single biggest changes a person can make to reduce their carbon footprint.
If everyone even managed to stay within the recommended weekly limits for meat consumption, it would make a difference.

Could we focus less on what divides us and more on 'let's all reduce meat'? I definitely think that vegetarianism is a journey for many people, though I realise for others it's a once and for all decision that they never deviate from.

I'm just contributing to a vaguely-interesting thread about something that is a current area of interest in my life - believe me I am not going around with a teeshirt saying 'I'm mostly vegetarian'!

What I do know is that my eating habits have substantially changed since making this change, I have lost a bit of weight and a heck of a lot less meat has been eaten. My thirty-years-a-vegetarian friend is delighted, btw!

What are the recommended weekly limits for meat consumption?

A big influence on me has been the Hugh F-W book 'Veg'. I have been reading and leafing through it for several years.

I think what most prompted me to make a change was the idea that the vegetable bits of a meal are often the bits we most enjoy.

StripyDeckchair

I completely agree.

I think the hard core stance of some vegetarians is very off putting, a competition to see who has the best reason for not eating meat!

Reducing meat consumption is a good thing for many of us and for the planet.

One reason does not trump another.

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?

Have you asked them?

Coz fish are wankers.

You are thinking of dolphins.

Tilly how original