Vegetarians and Vegans (corn, vegetables, meat, tasty)

[songinthewind7]

Someone please explain the difference.
I know a vegetarian or some of them choose not to eat meat but some eat fish and it seems like there are different types of vegetarians. I'm totally lost on the vegans too.

[Racelady88]

Vegans do not utilize any animal product. This includes wool, leather, honey, silk, etc.

Vegetarians come in many varieties. Some will eat eggs, but no other animal product (ovo-vegetarian). Some will use milk & milk products, but no other animal product (lacto-vegetarian). I have several friends who are vegetarians of one type or another. I have 1 friend who is a vegan. I love her to death, but she is a pain to have around!

Many times the reason for making this lifestyle choice will define what category they fall into.

One of my vegetarian friends will eat "anything that does not have a face". By this she means she will eat clams, but not shrimp.

[katzenfreund]

A REAL vegetarian does NOT eat fish or chicken or seafood...some people like to say they are a vegetarian that eats fish, but no vegetarian I know would agree with calling a seafood eating person a vegetarian. I think this all started when it became kind of "in" with a certain crowd to be vegetarian.


here is the definition from Wikipedia

Vegetarianism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vegetarianism is the practice of a diet that excludes all animal flesh, including poultry, game, fish, shellfish or crustacea, and slaughter by-products. There are variations that admit dairy products, eggs and/or products from animal labor such as honey.[1]
Veganism in comparison, excludes all animal products from diet and in some definitions from attire also,[2] whether or not the production of clothing or items has involved the actual death of an animal (dairy, eggs, honey, wool, silk, down feathers, etc.).
A generic term for both Vegetarianism and Veganism as well as for similar diets is "Plant-based diets".[4]
The reasons for choosing Vegetarianism, beyond simple personal choice, may be related with moral, religious, cultural, ethical, aesthetic, environmental, social, economic or political convictions, as well as with health concerns.




Pescetarianism

Pescetarianism is a dietary choice, in which a person — known as a pescetarian — will not eat the flesh of any animals other than types of seafood. Other animal products like eggs and dairy may be part of a pescetarian diet. Pescetarianism is the chosen diet of some people for various reasons; most commonly cited are health benefits.

[songinthewind7]

It's confusing to me because I know of people that call themselves vegeatarians but they eat fish. They say fish is not considered meat or red meat and the list goes on and on and then the term vegan came up and I figured it was a new name or a name for a person that ate vegetables only.
Thanks to both of you for your answers.

[litlux]

People will often define their own rules when it comes to those words. There is no vegetarian council to set national standards.

I have vegan and vegetarian friends, some who are ovo or lacto and some who are not. Some choose their foods for ethical reasons, ie to avoid the killing and eating of other creatures. I know one gentleman who even worries about killling and eating plants. But there is no alternative to eating, unless one can survive on chemicals. And these days, much of the foods we eat are just that.

I have periods where I come close to being a vegetarian, but for health reasons. So much manipulation occurs in our meat and dairy industry with growth hormones, antibiotics and a corn diet which is not the natural choice of domesticad animals.

It is possible to eat quite well without meat on the menu - I have prepared many a tasty tofu and seitan dish and know a hundred ways to make veggies taste out of this world.

Oh I forgot one category of vegetarian I have come accross, poor artists and social/charity workers who can't afford much else.

[katzenfreund]

Originally Posted by songinthewind7

It's confusing to me because I know of people that call themselves vegeatarians but they eat fish. They say fish is not considered meat or red meat and the list goes on and on and then the term vegan came up and I figured it was a new name or a name for a person that ate vegetables only.
Thanks to both of you for your answers.

I guess the way I look at it is that a fish is not a plant. It is living being. When you eat living beings - you are not a vegetarian.

[ProLogic]

Plants are living beings. They have a nucleus, which are like hearts.

[PinkString]

Next thing you know, someone will say "bacteria are living beings."
"They have little ittsy bitty teensy microscopic heart like things". lol

[litlux]

Originally Posted by PinkString

Next thing you know, someone will say "bacteria are living beings."
"They have little ittsy bitty teensy microscopic heart like things". lol

What a great sense of humor you have! but it does raise a point.

Where do we draw the line? When we eat anything, we are eating DNA of another organism. Meat, fish and plants have sex, and so do bacteria, and that is essential to reproduction.

Colds are caused by viruses which also have a form of DNA (RNA) and are living organisms. Should we order our bodies to stop killing them?

And when Noah gathered two of each living thing for his Ark, where did he draw the line? The Bible says he did not take anything that lived in the ground, so I wonder how worms, fungi and many plants survived.

Sometimes too much thinking confuses things even more.

[VillageLife]

I guess fish is not vegetarian,some people would make rules for themselves.