Why do some people call themselves vegetarians when they eat fish??

Question

If you are vegetarian, you don't eat fish either!

Fish is a meat!

Answer 1

I don't get this either. I remember, about 7 years ago, when I first became vegan in college, there was this girl in my class you claimed she was veggie before I became veggie. Then, one day in class I saw her eating orange chicken. I asked her about it and she said 'oh, well, I eat poultry sometimes'. BS! Veggies don't eat meat of any kind!

I assume some people do this because they want to give themselves a label...but don't want to do the work that that label requires. It's all Bull in my opinion

Answer 2

Because they never looked up "vegetarian" in the dictionary, or they never studied biology and think fish are plants.

Vegetarianism means not eating the bodies of animals. Fish are animals, not plants, so eating fish is not vegetarian.

Whether someone chooses to call fish "meat" or not makes no difference; "meat" is a culinary term, not a biological term.

I even heard of someone who called herself a vegetarian and ate pork "because pork is the other white meat."

nusnoom: I don't see what is so hard about saying you are a pescetarian and I don't see why you would have to call yourself vegetarian. Just say "pescetarian is like a vegetarian but you eat fish and no other animals" or "I don't eat red meat." What's so hard about that?

"Pesco-vegetarian" doesn't make any sense; it's like saying "I don't drink alcohol, I just drink vodka" or "I'm a non-smoker because I only smoke filtered cigarettes."

The person who said fish is considered vegetarian by Hindus is wrong. My wife is Hindu and vegetarian--fish and eggs are non-veg according to Hindu vegetarians. Hindu vegetarianism is about not eating animals--the thing about fish not being meat was invented by Europeans. My wife's family are mostly vegetarian and none of them eat fish--no one who eats fish is considered vegetarian by Hindus.

Answer 3

A lot of people don't consider fish as meat, or chicken and turkey for that matter. When I was becoming veg. I took it slow, I was still eating chicken and turkey and omnis were calling me a vegetarian. I would say I am not but they would continue it and eventually I started saying it for awhile. Maybe that happens to SOME of them.

Julia S. has an excellent answer!

Answer 4

I think the reason derives from the religious roots of vegetarianism. Vegetarianism as a social movement only picked up in the US relatively recently, before then, the majority of vegetarians were Hindu. Since many Hindus do not object to fish, it came to be seen as a "vegetarian" food.

Answer 5

I think that this is because there's no real name for people who eat only some types of animal flesh. With the exception of kosher, there's no widely-recognized terminology for it. A lot of people who aren't strict, total vegetarians really struggle with identifying themselves. For example, if a person is an environmentalist and for ethical reasons only eats game, they're not a vegetarian, but they won't go out for steaks or sushi. Saying, "I'm a vegetarian" generally is a satisfactory way of explaining one's dietary needs if they restrict their intake of meat in any way. It's quite simple and easily understood, which is important in social situations, even if it isn't 100% accurate.

I think that a lot of vegetarians show a remarkable lack of support for people who use the term "vegetarian" to describe a diet less restrictive than their own. I think it's important for us to support one another rather than judge someone's sincerity. Vegetarians of all levels of rigidity catch enough flack from people who don't restrict their meat without members of the veggie community questioning them, too. There's a lot more to ethical eating than whether or not you include animal flesh. When taking into account the treatment of animals, the cost to the environment, and various consequenses to other human beings, it is entirely possible that a diet that includes animal flesh from carefully selected sources is more ethical and animal-friendly than one that eliminates all animal flesh (and flesh by-products) but is indiscriminate in every other way. I sometimes think that sarcastic responses from strict veggies to the semi-veggies are what give people the idea that vegetarians are elitist and judgemental.

If you're secure in your own decisions and convictions, there is no reason to question someone else's. That someone calls themselves a vegetarian but consumes Worchestershire sauce doesn't make you any less vegetarian and is no reason to judge them.

Answer 6

vegetarians DO NOT eat fish...no animal flesh of any kind...fish is an animal made of flesh...if you eat fish, you ARE NOT a vegetarian and should never call yourself one...and since when was a teeny bop magazine the authority on vegetarianism?

Answer 7

It's not just "people" but whole cultures that have been vegetarians for centuries that eat fish and/or poultry but eschew red meat.

Narrow-minded vegetarians and their very narrow definition of vegetarian are largely confined to the veggie wannabes of modern societies. "Real vegetarians" don't have that kind of mental constipation or obsessiveness.

Answer 8

there are many degrees of vegeterianism/veganism. She might be a pecastrian. Fish is not a meat technically. While it is stil from animals fish is fish.

Answer 9

vegetarians don't eat meat, fish is not meat, and 2 to 4 servings of fish per week is very good for your body.

Answer 10

I have no idea.

They're too supid to follow high school logic:

IF: A vegetarian is one who eats no animal flesh
AND: Fish are animals.
THEN: One who eats fish is not a vegetarian.


---A vegan.