Why is there so much "veggier than thou" stuff going on here?

Question

I've had some messages from another user who seems to think that i am not a vegetarian because i can eat sweets that contain gelatine. Apparantly this makes me "a meat eater who cant eat most meats" and i am ruining the "discipline which real vegetarians exhibit"
For the love of God! Can we PLEASE leave all this "veggier than thou" **** at the door!
Yes i can eat gelatine but thats because it DOES NOT TASTE OF MEAT OR SMELL OF MEAT!
Some people give me a damn headache....any views on this?

Answer 1

There is no Tofu Mafia... there is no Veggie Police. Your level of involvement is up to you. I think what is important (if you are a vegetarian for animal rights reasons) is that you do the most good for the animals. Not eating meat accomplishes this. Whether you think gelatin classifies as meat is up to you. Some will say yes, some will say no.

I don't actively seek out food with gelatin in it, but if I happen to eat something with gelatin in it I'm not going to have a stroke.

Since I'm a vegetarian for mostly health reasons, I've never really understood the rants about gelatin and other byproducts. Some people completely avoid sugar because it is processed with animal bones, and some people could care less. A lot of the "veggier than thou" comes from the pride people take in being a vegetarian. Most vegetarians "know" that everything they do is right, and that the masses are completely wrong... even the masses of other vegetarians.

I don't care what Webster says about vegetarianism. To me, a vegetarian is someone that doesn't eat meat. End of story. How nitpicky someone wants to get after that is completely up to them.

Remember, in the society we live in it is impossible to not harm animals in some way, but you should at least try. Everything from our shoes to the tires of our cars contain animal products. Hell, the keyboards we type on probably has some animal products in them... are vegans going to stop posting here... no.

So... you are a vegetarian... pass the Starburst.

Answer 2

We aren't trying to be, as you put it "veggier than thou" just to be stuck up. There is an actual definition of what constitutes being a vegetarian ( check out the meaning at encyclopedia Britannica online sometime) and it requires a certain discipline to follow it. It isn't fair to those who do if people decide for themselves what is OK and what isn't OK to eat. I think ovo veg*n is stretching things too far and is a westernized version of veg*nism. Gelatin is blatantly an animal product, just because it doesn't resemble a pork chop doesn't make it less so.

Consider this; if you went on the South Beach diet and ate certain foods that are high in carbohydrates during the phase in which they are restricted, would it still be right for people to agree that you are on that diet? Vegetarianism is a prescribed diet not an elite club for people to get into. Why are you so determined to be called a vegetarian anyway? Since you want to make your own rules, just give up the label and eat what you want to.

Answer 3

You can of course eat whatever you like but if you eat gelatin you are not vegetarian because gelatin is in no way vegetarian.

According to How Stuff Works" : The gelatin you eat in Jell-O comes from the collagen in cow or pig bones, hooves, and connective tissues. To make gelatin, manufacturers grind up these various parts and pre-treat them with either a strong acid or a strong base to break down cellular structures and release proteins like collagen. After pre-treatment, the resulting mixture is boiled. During this process, the large collagen protein ends up being partially broken down, and the resulting product is called gelatin.

Answer 4

So you will eat animal products so long as you don't Know they're there because of taste or smell? That means you just don't like _meat_, but you're still willing to eat animal products. That by definition means you are not a vegetarian. Gelatin is made from ground up pigs hooves, among other animal sources. There is a form of vegetarian gelatin, that comes from a seaweed source, I think, but it would be marked as saying that.

Those who are vegetarian by ethical choice make a bigger deal out of that sort of thing because we have to try very hard to avoid all the animal products that are processed foods.

Answer 5

If you go to a restaurant, tell them you're a vegetarian, and then order something wih gelatin, that ignorant waiter is going to think vegetarians eat gelatin. When *I* go there, not knowing about all this of course, I might be served gelatin in all good intentions. I don't want that. No one wants that kind of situation. Why can't you just say "sorry,I don't eat meat, don't like the taste of it". Why call yourself a vegetarian in public?

Answer 6

Well......

In most cases, I agree with you that a lot of people do have quite the attitude about their and other people veg status.

If you eat no other meat, but do eat the candies containing gelatin, then you probably have a far healthier diet than the average meat-eater, for which I applaud you.

However, in my opinion, and in many others, you are not a vegetarian due to it. Gelatin IS meat. The lack of similar smell or taste does not change this.

There is nothing wrong with eating them, if you choose to do so. I have no problem with people eating most meats. It's an individuals choice. But please don't call yourself something you are not.

Answer 7

Wow, that seems like a harsh letter.

Gelatin is not vegetarian. A quick explanation is that vegetarians do not knowingly eat animals. Gelatin is animal parts like tendons and bones etc. that are boiled down and made to look like candy. It is similar to eating a hot dog, a bunch of random animal part that you can't really see, but smushed together to form a food.

I remember that I was a vegetarian for about a year before I learned what gelatin was. Of course, I learned from a very nice vegan who just thought I might want to know. When I found out, I decided I did not want to eat it because it went against my beliefs of not eating animals.

Who knows, if a jerk would have told me, the situation may have been quite different.
:)

Anyway, sorry about your bad experience.

Answer 8

Word have definitions. That is the nature of them. "Vegetarian" is no different than any other word. It has a meaning and if people keep trying to expand that definition to include anything and everything, then the word means nothing at all. Vegetarians do NOT eat dead animals. That is what the word means. Gelatin is a dead animal. Just because it's a small part and it's processed to be unrecognizable, it's still dead animal. If you want to be a vegetarian and you want to stop supporting the industries of death, then how hard would it be to just give up the gelatin? You've already made a drastic change to your diet to get this far; is the candy really that important to you?

Answer 9

Yeah, I'm guilty of that, at least partly.

But somebody was asking a question about gelatin. I got kind of P-O'd because a bunch of people were saying vegans don't eat gelatin but vegetarians do. I am lacto-vegetarian and I don't knowingly eat anything that contains gelatin.

I guess I get a little tired of vegans being "veggier than thou." I follow the ancient Hindu tradition of Ahmisa (non-violence); sometimes vegans imply they are the only ones with any depth. I guess that will get me some thumbs down, but what the heck.

If some folks aren't as concerned about gelatin as I am, maybe they can keep it to themselves. I don't eat eggs either, but I'm not going to get into a debate with anyone about that.

Answer 10

Why do you want to label yourself "vegetarian" so badly? You are not a vegetarian if you continue to eat food made from dead animals. So, you're not a vegetarian if you eat gelatin; it's that simple. Maybe you should stop being such a wannabe and just call yourself what you are: someone who doesn't eat meat.