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.

Erm the whole point of 'being a vegetarian' is generally just to not eat meat, regardless of your preference why.

I have mates who are avid hunters but still eat a veggie diet 🤷🏼‍♀️

Why does it bother you? You eat as you please and let others do the same.

@twiglet - I think we're in full agreement that catering for mass events is pretty crap! Your steak definitely trumps my chicken. At least they asked me do I eat chicken

I never understand this question from carnivores tbh. Isn’t it a bit like saying, “Well if you eat meat such as a beef, why not horse meat?” Or, “What hypocrites you are - fine to eat a sheep, but not a dog or cat!”

I haven’t eaten meat for many many years rvause I can’t bear the thought if it. I do occasionally eat fish and here is my reasoning -

A mammal is warm-blooded with a central nervous system that is the same as a human. They feel pain in the same way. A fish is cold blooded with no central nervous system and it’s nit been proved that fish feel pain

• I tend to only eat prawns or white fish like cod for this reason. I wouldn’t go for “meatier” fish such as swordfish or shark.

• I figure anything is better than nothing. Even if you just cut out beef or something else, it helps the environment, animal welfare and probably your health.

• I don’t even particularly like meat and it feels “unclean” to me personally

• I think people are free to eat whatever they want for their own reasons, just as meat-eaters would eat a sheep, but would probably be horrified to eat a dog, for instance. It’s just where you draw the line and this varies between individuals.

It’s up the individual really. I just get pissed off when people say they are vegetarian but then eat fish. It muddies the waters and makes it hard work in restaurants.

I'm not bothered what other people eat but I am fed up of fish being the vegetarian option because some places think we eat fish because pescatarians call themselves vegetarians

It’s a dietary choice, why does it bother you? People can eat what they like.

Incidentally, plenty of vegetarians eat dairy and that's a really cruel industry. Male dairy calves are shot in the head when they're born. Male chicks go into a mascerator, which is basically a tube with spinning blades inside. Most of the time they are wide awake. Nice. So it's very difficult to take the moral high ground unless you're vegan (I'm not).

Poor male chicks

Little tip, if you say you are vegan when you are hospitalised you get a really good meal. If you dont you get the same crap everyone else does.

Each to their own. From an ethical and environmental point of view, being vegan makes most sense, but I recognize that this isn't something that everyone is currently able to achieve.

What does annoy me is when pescetarians refer to themselves as vegetarians. It causes confusion, and results in vegetarians being served fish often.

I used to know a couple of people that insisted on calling themselves fish eating vegetarians (they didn't want to be called pescetarian, they wanted the veggie bit in there).

I pointed out that in that case, that made me a meat eating vegetarian because I didn't eat fish and still don't, can't stand the stuff. Needless to say they said that was crazy, how could you have a meat eating vegetarian, all I had to do was to say that it was no crazier than having a fish eating vegetarian, that I was a carnivore but they were pescetarian, not vegetarian.

It’s a massive self indulgent, hypocrital conceite. The amount of right on,socially conscious diet bores I have to listen to wanging on about their locally sourced, sustainable existence before hoofting half a gram of Columbia’s basic up their snout makes me despair of the human race.

^ sorry that was actually irrelevant to the discussion but guess who’s spending the evening with vegetarians who eat fish and don’t give a fuck about humans either 🙄 time for bed

@Haint - every time they say they are vegetarian, just ask them when they gave up fish. My sil no longer refers to herself as vegetarian in my hearing........

I like fish and could easily be pescatarian. And I'd be pescatarian because I like fish enough never to eat meat again.

But I agree that the ones who bang on about animal welfare before tucking into fish seem somewhat hypocritical. The Essex chap on the Island did this and it really pissed me off. Let a good dead pig go to waste by burying it at sea when none of them had eaten for days, but was quite happy to tuck into Nemo at teatime.

Where are these restaurants that serve fish as the veggie option?

And who are all these pescatarians who insist on calling themselves vegetarian?

@vincettenoir - Where are these restaurants that serve fish as the veggie option? The one I encountered recently. and mentioned upstream, is in Mayo.

And who are all these pescatarians who insist on calling themselves vegetarian? My sil, for one.

Yeah I admit I am one of these people who are a bit of a hypocrite.

I really don't like the idea of animals being killed for us to eat. But while I don't eat red meat of poultry, I eat eggs, dairy and fish. I think that when you look into the dairy industry this is worse than eating fish (sorry I do see them as a lesser animal) . So a lacto-vegetarian is contributing towards harming animals in the same way as a pescetarian.

I thin there are a lot of people whose ideal would be vegan but get on with their life knowing that by not eating chicken, lamb, pork etc at least they are going some way to reducing consumption of animals.

I don't refer to myself as vegetarian BTW but I do say that I don't eat meat.

Veganism is such hard work though, requiring massive lifestyle changes I'd think.

On a separate, but related matter, I ate vegan chocolate cake on Monday, baked by a colleague, and it was absolutely delicious. I had no idea that delicious vegan cakes existed and did joke that it must have contained milk and eggs.

This thread is weird, and the OP's assumption that everyone's dietary choices rely on what they do or don't consider cruel is not true.

I don't attach any kind of an -arian at the end of my diet (to reserve the right to eat something I don't usually eat, if the fancy took me, I suppose), but my reasons for cutting meat out of my daily cooking has been to reduce the environmental effect of my diet towards a slightly more sustainable one (I know I could cut more things, but at present I don't really want to. Perhaps because I seem to be a really crap veggie cook). That's not to say I'm not bothered by animal cruelty and inhumane farming practices, but those aren't my main reasons.

More triggered by the spelling tbh.
"cruler, apposed, suffercate"
There are many reasons not to eat "traditional" meat. It's not up to you to judge those reasons Op.
Plus, and I say this with sincerity and not trying to be nasty - there is a FABULOUS app called GRAMMARLY www.grammarly.com
which really helps with spelling, grammar etc.

Everyone draws a line where they feel comfortable - whats hard to understand about that?

Well I would only eat chicken & turkey as a child. I hated the texture of meat so just a personal choice.
When I was a Art Student I went Vegan (I was only 16). Did not work out (student life- lots of alcohol) so started to eat cheese & eggs again. When I was pregnant with my first child, I craved fish so ate it. I wear leather shoes, have leather bags so really it is MY CHOICE TO eat what I choose.
Both my children love to eat chicken, ham, bacon, Gammon and beef burgers and all types of fish.
They choose not to eat mince, duck or lamb.
My DD hates baked beans, my DS hates tomato ketchup, my DM hates cheese & pickles & my DB hates dried fruit.
Who cares???
I choose not to eat meat. That's it ...
Personal choice- regardless of whatever label you give it.