To be sick of people thinking vegetarian eat fish

[Dearaugust]

Also, people who eat fish but not meat calling themselves vegetarian!

When people find out I’m vegetarian, a lot of people ask me if I eat fish. If I ate fish, then I wouldn’t be vegetarian! It wasn’t a big deal really, but an incident has happened recently where I was choosing a meal for a wedding and there was only meat options and a “none of these due to dietary preferences” option. So I ticked that. The person then contacted DH (it’s his friend who is getting married) and he explained I’m vegetarian. A few days later she said not to worry, they have sorted a fish meal for me. So he’s now had to go back to her again saying I don’t eat fish. What a faff!

I honestly thought it was common knowledge that vegetarians don’t eat fish. But apparently not because i get asked it a lot.

Pescetarians don't need fish at every meal, so for the purposes of 2/3 categories classification, they can be grouped with vegetarians, they kind of become vegetarians (member of the vegetarian meal eaters group) for the time being.

^ That’s the thing.

I’m pescatarian on the whole. (There are a couple I won’t eat on ethical grounds)

However, most of my extended family regard me as a vegetarian because they themselves don’t like fish so never cook it. To them it’s meat or not meat (vegetarian).

A good 80% of the time my meals are vegetarian. It’s easy to say I am vegetarian when visiting family because that way I won’t get served a pork pie. (Literally. It’s their go to lunch option).

If I say pescatarian all bets are off. I know that from experience.

I appreciate that’s frustrating for actual vegetarians; I was one myself for 15 years. However, I don’t care enough about that nor enforcing correct definitions. I just want to visit my Auntie for lunch and not cause a problem.

(It’s a cheese sandwich for me when the rest have the pork pies they buy from the butcher on a Saturday morning)

My mother in law still tries to get me to eat fish despite the fact I gave it up 25 years ago when I was ten years old! I swear the woman doesn't give up!

I've been vegan for over a year now and honestly really don't want her to ever find out because god knows what she'd make of that if she can't even accept no fish as a thing. I will keep it from her forevermore!

I'd think also there are quite a few of us omnivores who go for the veggie option if we're somewhere with lower quality meat. We all know the reputation of airline food, so probably something quite common on planes.

It's annoying not to get what you've ordered, but in a situation where they've fucked up, it makes sense to ask. I'd feel guilty if someone else went hungry for 9 hours when I could suck it up and have the rubbery chicken.

Pescetarians don't need fish at every meal, so for the purposes of 2/3 categories classification, they can be grouped with vegetarians, they kind of become vegetarians (member of the vegetarian meal eaters group) for the time being.

You can serve a vege meal to a pescetarian or a meat eater.
You should not assume vegetarians eat fish (or meat).

More than 2/3 of 'vegetarians' I've known eat fish, so actually they are picseatarian. Most of these are probably too stupid to know that word - so stick to the (wrong) one they do know.
And so, so many eat chicken as well. I guess claiming your Vegetarian and actually being one are two different things these days? 🤷

Of my friends/workmates only a single one is actually a proper vegetarian and zero are vegan. Guess it's the area I live in and type of people in our tech office?
I personally cannot stand those sanctimonious and self-righteous militant veggies and vegans - who often seem to be the most miserable and depressed/depressing people I've ever encountered! 🙄

My mum was technically pescatarian - no meat, but happy with fish, eggs and dairy. She was no meat, but would usually like the fish option, or happily have a dairy option or a vegan option (she liked most veg too)

What she'd often find though is that at a set menu place or wedding or something, if she said she was pescatarian, people would think she NEEDED fish! They'd panic they had no fish option! If she said she was vegetarian, it there was a nice fish option she could chose it, but she could equally chose a dairy based option if there was no fish option, or even a vegan option if she wanted.

And the stereotyping continues

I am a pescatarian but I think it’s a silly sounding word, so I just say I don’t eat meat 😄

I have no moral basis for eating fish and not meat except that I don’t feel able to cut it out right now. I don’t eat that much of it though as my dd is veggie so I mostly eat what she eats.

It's not stereotyping if it's true about people I've actually met.

Have YOU met these particular people I'm talking about? If so what's your insight into them then? 🙄

I'm absolutely baffled as to how people can quite matter-of-factly assert that they don't eat meat but they do eat (the meat of) fish.

Meat is literally the word to describe the flesh of an animal when eaten as food.

It's like saying that you don't own a car but you do have a Ford Focus; or that you detest all TV soap operas, but you are a big fan of Emmerdale.

Surely, being factual, you would simply say "The only meat that I eat is fish"?!

Have YOU met these particular people I'm talking about? If so what's your insight into them then?

No, I haven't TBH. I am omnivorous and love all kinds of food and have no dietary preferences or restrictions. DD is vegetarian and has been home for a few months. She is a fantastic cook and has been doing most of the cooking, so I have been eating mostly vegetarian food for the last few months, and very delicious it has been too.

She doesn't define herself by being vegetarian and neither do any other vegetarians or vegans I know, nor are they morally superior about their choices nor do they preach about it. But then, I don't make rude comments about their dietary choices.

Some people just struggle with it. My gran could never get over the fact that I (strict veggie) don’t eat bacon 😂

Um, firstly smoking and meat eating aren't comparable.
Secondly, did you miss the word 'mainly'?

There are no fixed rules. It's not great to be self righteous about these things.

I have no problems with the quite veggies who only mention it if you ask them if they can't something to eat etc.
It's the ones that stand over and say "meat is murder" or the vegan at my last worksite who threw out 38 peoples lunches from the canteen/staffroom's fridge - who I've mentioned on Mumsnet before - and was promptly sacked and arrested.
Some of them just seem incapable of keeping quite about it ... THOSE are the ones I object to ... as would any reasonable person.

I'm glad for your daughter that she is a vegetarian. I just hope she's sensible and doesn't shout her choice at anyone in earshot...

I disagree.
If someone states they are vegetarian, whether it's personal choice, food intolerances/allergies, or for religious reasons, they are well in their rights to expect the food to follow the 'rules' (correct definition) and for it not to contain fish or meat.

In the olden days many people who said they were vegetarian ate fish, so people still think that is the case. It what we believed based on experiences back then.

I agree that it is daft but many of my "veggie" friends did that.

Now it feels utterly ridiculous.

Saying that, one of my "veggie" friends couldn't stop himself from eating bacon butties. He obviously wasn't very committed.

Sure, but I think the idea of "being sick of it" suggests a more generalized feeling, outside of the moment.

I almost wonder if it isn't a little harder now than it used to be, because people have so many more different types of special diet. Many people don't seem to have a clear sense of what they all are. And maybe get them mixed up.

This is an issue because so many people claim to be vegetarian - “oh but I do eat fish”.

So you are NOT a vegetarian then.

back in the 80s/90s SO many people used to say "I'm vegetarian but I eat chicken and fish. so it might be generational. people would say vegetarian when they meant they don't eat red meat.

but you'd hope that most people now would know better, and most people who eat only fish use the term Pescetarian.

I knew a woman who insisted she was vegetarian because she only ate chicken and fish.

I've also met people who say they're vegetarian because they don't eat meat often.

🙄

Of course there are fixed rules!

I don't eat meat products at all. If you served me chops or something with gelatin in it, and said there are no fixed rules I'd be MN raging.

Self-IDing as vegetarians.
Transvegetarians are vegetarians... Not.

The people you describe are meat eaters. Just ones that don't eat some types of meat.

I'm glad for your daughter that she is a vegetarian. I just hope she's sensible and doesn't shout her choice at anyone in earshot

No, she doesn't. She is socially aware and not self righteous. What she eats is a personal choice. She doesn't object to other people's dietary choices.

I can't believe that you had a colleague who threw out people's lunches. I'm gobsmacked!