Vegetarians vs wanna be vegetarians?

Question

OK - I am bracing for the 4-6 people who give every question a thumbs down and tell me what a jerk I am.
A few questions ago, someone used this article as evidence of vegetarians being more intelligent than non-vegetarians.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6180753.stm
Now, my question pertains to the following portion of the article:

"366 of the participants said they were vegetarian - although more than 100 reported eating either fish or chicken"

100 out of 336 is 30%. 30% of people who call themselves vegetarians eat chicken or fish.

I know there are many different "levels" of vegetarians, but isn't it simply inaccurate to use the word vegetarian when you eat any kind of meat, whether it be beef, chicken, seafood, ants, whatever?

I have no problem with those who choose to be vegetarian. I just find it silly when I see an alleged "vegetarian" chomping on shrimp or a drumstick. I even saw my "vegetarian" mother in law eating fries with beef gravy! Explain?????

Kitkat I think I agree with you - if you eat any animal, from a blue whale down to a bumblebee, you are not a vegetarian.

However I think this means that the percentage of people who really are vegetarian is lower than generally thought....

Answer 1

I can't even explain how irritating I find this. I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian. Hey, I guess that makes me a vegan who eats eggs and dairy! Vegan like Scarlett Johanssen! Like, how awesome am I? It annoys me because sometimes I feel like people are dubious when I refer to myself as a veggie, and they wonder if I'm a "real" one or not, so they ask if I eat fish or chicken or if I actually don't eat any meat. This should be inherent in the terminology! I guess it's also annoying because it's hard work being veggie or vegan- we earn the right to give ourselves a label with which to effectively communicate our situations. And if you're a proper, dedicated one, it's annoying to see people abuse the title.

ARGH! And by the way, the whole mushroom comparison? Kinda silly. Vegetarians get a label because we eliminate a lot of different foods, but there's a common theme. To eliminate one food is usually a taste thing, to eliminate a whole group is usually a dietary decision, and they usually get labels.

Answer 2

An age old question to which the answer is obvious.

All ( and i mean ALL ) the recognised authorities on the subject say a vegetarian diet excludes meat, fish and poultry.

Feel free to check out the Vegetarian Socity or the International Vegetarian Union - both the world leading authorities on vegetarian issues.

There is no such thing as semi, demi, partly, almost, strict...vegetarian.

you are either a vegetarian, or you are not, its simple.

Its a shame so many people get it wrong, and seem to care little about changing or getting it right in the future.

I think they deserve more shame than meateaters - at least our meateating friends are honest about eating meat.

And to another part of your comments - the % of people being veggie. REAL research shows that 5% of the UK polulation say they are veggie, but when asked tester questions the actually number ends up at 3%. Sorry, i don't know the figures for the US but perhaps its comparable.

I have notices the fishy veggie question has got worse the last 5 years, so i guess the unmoderated internet is responsible. Shame as veggies went through the 60's and 70's fixing the fishy discussion. The 80's and 90's were ok, and now we find t'internet has taken us back years, rather than improving the knowledge.

Answer 3

It is absolutely inaccurate to say you are vegetarian if you eat any meat or fish.
I think the word pescatarian was invented because there were so many people describing themselves as vegetarian, then eating fish. It was confusing restaurants, chefs and everyone else. Personally, I don't see why there should be a label for that - what's wrong with simply saying I don't eat meat.
For us true vegetarians, the number of people who claim to be veggie but aren't cause massive problems.
The other problem is that most people aren't prepared to actually comment when they see/hear someone claiming to be veggie then eating meat or fish. If we actually went up to them and said "Excuse me, but exactly how are you a vegetarian?" then explain vegetarian principles to them, maybe they would think again.
The Vegetarian Society UK does some great little credit card sized cards which you can hand out to other people, or leave in restaurants, which have a picture of a carrot on one side and a picture of a dead fish on the other, and an amusing description of each. I have left several of these on the tables at restaurants where such things as Fish Pie have a small "V" sign next to them on the menu.
It's a long slog but if us real vegetarians actually take the time to educate people about what we do and don't eat, then maybe eventually they'll get the message.

Answer 4

Unfortunately, too many people want to jump on the vegetarian bandwagon without actually becoming vegetarian. Vegetarianism seems to be very 'in' at the moment (anyone who is a long term vegetarian can attest to the massive attitude changes towards vegetarianism that have occured in the past decade or so). With that comes a desire for people to want to be vegetarian for some reason or another (maybe they think people will look up to them, maybe they think it is an 'intelligent' choice, etc - I'm not really sure). But many of these "wanna be vegetarians" don't actually want to actually be vegetarians. To me it is odd that you would want the label for something that you actually aren't. Perhaps a meat-eating "vegetarian" can give you a better answer.

I think part of the problem might be that too many people view vegetarianism as a 'diet' as opposed to a lifestyle. Most often, people choose a vegetarian lifestyle because eating the flesh of animals goes against their moral principles and they have no more trouble avoiding cow/pig/chicken/fish/etc than most people would have in avoiding dog/cat meat. On the other hand, there are some 'health vegetarians' as well. I may be wrong, but I see these types of vegetarians as more likely to eat meat on occasion, assuming that eating meat does not go against their moral principles. (This isn't to belittle those who choose a vegetarian diet for health reasons - I think any reason to be vegetarian is a good one!).

What it comes down to is labels - there is a label there, and for whatever reason, some people want it, but don't want to actually make the committment to live up to it. I'm sure 'vegetarian' isn't the only label with such a problem.

It's also very possible that the meat-eating 'vegetarians' out there have created an image that vegetarians do not actually have to avoid all meat (including fish), creating the impression that vegetarians do eat fish/chicken/whatever. I do believe that there are a certain number of fish/chicken eating self-proclaimed 'vegetarians' that are just truly ignorant about what 'vegetarian' means and use the term with good intentions (but unfortunately create problems for the rest of us when we are served a 'vegetarian' meal of fish!)


ETA: Regarding the answer below: Vegans can (and do!) eat yeast. Vegans do not eat *animal* products. Yeast is not an animal.

Answer 5

Explain?

I don't know how. I think these people are looking for a label.

"...but isn't it simply inaccurate to use the word vegetarian when you eat any kind of meat, whether it be beef, chicken, seafood,
ants, whatever?"

- Yes it is, absolutly.

" I just find it silly when I see an alleged "vegetarian" chomping on shrimp or a drumstick."

- Me too.

I agree with you 100%.

Have a good day. :D

Answer 6

If you want to get down to technicalities, Although I am a vegetarian for almost 10 years, I'm not truly a vegetarian because I still eat some dairy products. Technically, a true vegan is the only true vegetarian. However, I know many people who call themselves vegan who are not truly vegan. I have never met a true vegan (someone who doesn't ride in cars because the tires have animals in them, someone who doesn't watch vhs or hasn't taken film pictures, one who doesn't drink wine because most are made with fish oil and gelatin to settle it)
We are what we are, but in my eyes, the people who call themselves vegetarians but eat fish, or chicken or no red meat are being those people who act different to be cool instead of really doing their own thing.

Answer 7

I've met people from all over the world, and only in North America are people not certain as to what a "vegetarian" is. Everywhere else in the world, you either eat animal products, or you do not. It's very common knowledge from Asia, to India, to the Middle East.

Yes, anyone consuming animal products and saying they are vegetarian, vegan, lacto-ovo, vegetarian-prone, it all means the same thing -- "vegetarian wanna-be".

Besides, the word vegetarian is being used in place of Herbivore these days. It drives me crazy watching all these animal nature shows where they state that, "this animal is a vegetarian".

Animals cannot be vegetarian; only humans can. A Vegetarian is simply an Omnivore living amongst other Omnivores yet chooseing to live as a Herbivore.

Answer 8

Exactly. You're a vegetarian or you're not. It's not that hard.
This kind of thing:
A. Makes vegetarians look bad,
B. Makes complete vegetarian look impossible or unhealthy, and C. Insults the true meaning of vegetarianism.

And if you're a vegetarian for any reason other than dropping a few pounds or whatever, it is not "cheating on your diet plan" to eat an animal. That is ludacris. When you "sin", are you "cheating on your religion"? It's just something you do not do.

Answer 9

"Explain?????"

Can't, really.

I agree with the ideas that they're people in search of a trendy 'lifestyle,' and a 'label.' What's wrong with "I do not eat red meat," I have no idea.

That said, I have minimal problems with anybody willing to self-identify as a bit loopy by using a nonsense term like 'flexitarian.' What _is_ the point of that?

That about.com link posted above is certainly one of the worst I've seen. "“Flexitarian” is a term recently coined to describe those who eat a mostly vegetarian diet, but occasionally eat meat." Uh huh. And my understanding (ditto Wikipedia's) is that a macrobiotic diet includes (if one fancies) fish; I'm not clear on why it'd fall under the category of 'vegetarian.'

Rather tellingly, I can't find many vegetarian recipes on the about.com site I'd ever make. Loads of fake-meat stuff. Most of the vegetarians I know are ones who've been that way for years, and they all disdain that stuff; whenever I see "vegetarian recipes" too clogged with same, I think:

-- trendy
-- some issues with missing meat
-- no ability to adapt traditional recipes (a real failing, I think -- classic recipes are 'classic' because, usually, they taste good)
-- some issues with being self-conscious about one's vegetarianism. It seems to be "less vegetarian," and ergo less fashionable, to call stuff like fettucine alfredo "vegetarian."

But I'm getting off-topic. Really, I have no idea what the point of self-identifying as vegetarian when you're not really ditto might be. Convenience it certainly isn't, given how difficult it makes life for the rest of us.

Answer 10

Many people are misinformed about what vegetarianism is and articles like that make the issue more misunderstood. The facts are simple...vegetarians do not eat any kind of animal and for people to call themselves vegetarians that are not are just people that are misinformed.

The article (link) given by the first poster is also an example of misinformation. A pescetarian is not any kind of vegetarian. There is no such thing as a semi-vegetarian..either you are or you arent.