Why do some vegitarians eat fish and shrimp and other seafoods?

Question

It doesn't make sense to me. Isn't it the same principal? You're still eating an animal that was once living, so why should this be any different? Isn't this kind of hypocritic?

Answer 1

You are absolutely right!

Fish and lobsters have very intricate nervous systems - a lobster feels pain as a dog does - would you boiled your dog alive??

Any marine scientist will tell you, a fish feels every moment of the suffocating death it endures.

Real vegetarians do NOT eat fish!

Answer 2

Vegetarians don't eat seafood, poultry, red meat or any other meat. People want the label of vegetarian so pretend that they are one. This helps to make real vegetarians lifes harder because they are always having to explain that fish and seafood and even poultry is meat. Yes it lives, it breaths, it walks or swims around so I don't eat it. Vegetarianism in a weird way has become a fad and every one wants to be a part of it. Vegetarianism and Veganism are not easy life changes, they are not diets. They are ways of life and personal choices.

Answer 3

Well, if you eat seafood, but no meat, you are a pescitarian, which means you eat seafood. Vegetarians don't eat any seafood. Vegans are the next step up, eating no animal products what so ever, (like milk, eggs, honey...). You can get some great protein from foods like tofu, gardenburgers, morning star products, (fake, but really good, meats, you can get their all veggie products from any store) and beans, beans, beans. They are best in canned soups for a quick, easy dinner..l lentils are my favorite. Best Wishes! Lily K

Answer 4

They still eat seafood because they are not TRUE vegetarians. They obviously are a bit confused. It is the same principle and it shouldn't be any different. I find this to be very hypocritical. You're either in or you're out--there is no in between.

Answer 5

I am the type of vegetarian of which you speak, my friend. Simply put, fish is a lean and healthy source of protein that is low on the food chain. That's why I eat it. Yes, I'm killing an animal, but I don't have any moral problem being an animal that kills other animals to eat. It's the unecessary cruelty of caging and butchering animals higher up on the food chain and using them for scientific experiments that bothers me.

Answer 6

If someone eats fish and other seafood and then says that they are a vegetarian, they are either a) unaware that fish and seafood are animals, or b) lying to themselves (and you). What they should say is that they simply prefer not to eat red meat, chicken, or pork.

Answer 7

To me, it is hypocritical.

I asked a priest why the church says fish can be eaten on meatless observance days. Meat is any animal tissue, right? He acted like he didn't understand the question.

If the word meat has any meaning in a food context, fish is meat, and people who eat it cannot be called vegetarians.

--And I am for not 'judging people.' But words have meanings. You can't eat meat everyday and call yourself a vegetarian.

Answer 8

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. If you eat seafood, you are not a vegetarian.
People are using the term too loosely. I have been a vegetarian for 14 years and people constantly tell me they are as well and then I see them eating a tuna fish sandwich or even eating a hot dog. WTF?
I'm thinking exactly what tree did that grow on?

Answer 9

Some still consider themselves vegetarians if they don't eat red meat. My grandmother always thought that, as a vegetarian, I could eat turkey and chicken. I explained to her that I don't eat any type of meat- or any type of animal. People who eat seafood shouldn't call themselves vegetarians, really, but it doesn't bother me if they did.

Answer 10

There are several different types of vegetarians, and they all do it for different reasons. Who are we to judge what other's eat? Some just don't like certain meats, but don't mind white meats or seafood,others it's for moral reasons. We have no right to judge others,especially when we're basing it off their food preference. Just let others be :)