definition of vegetarian
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definition of vegetarian
| Fri, 06-03-2005 - 10:19am |
I am so tired of hearing people who eat seafood refer to themselves as vegetarians. If you eat fish or any kind of seafood, you are NOT A VEGETARIAN. You are a carnivore - a meat eater. Period. Fish is an animal. Fish is meat. Look it up the dictionary.

Pesco-vegetarian is a label for people who eat fish but not other forms of meat, and more than one of my dictionaries limits the word "animal" to four footed creatures and "meat" to the flesh of an animal. Poultry isn't "meat" according to that definition, either.
"I do not eat fish, but consider anything that reduces the suffering of living creatures a positive step."
i agree with you, and i think there are much more pressing concerns to worry about in the world than to try to police the definitions of vegetarian, vegan, etc. or to bother getting upset about fish-eating "vegetarians."
i used to call myself vegan before i stopped eating shellfish, and before i stopped wearing leather and wool. strictly speaking i was incorrect to do that, but i think identifying as "vegan" helped me transition to being more completely vegan. if it helps other people become vegan to call themselves vegan, i'm happy to be flexible about the term. anyway, it's a slippery slope to start policing the term. it seems pretty obvious to us that fish is meat, but what about beer that uses fish products in the filter? Guinness beer uses fish parts - is drinking Guinness "vegetarian"?? no one is truly vegetarian or vegan, so in my view that really denies us any sort of moral high ground from which we can stand there and say "you can call yourself vegetarian, but you can't."
there are several types of vegetarians... I am a pollo-vegetarian, which means I only eat chicken and eggs... there are other types too...
1. Semi-Vegetarians
Semi-vegetarians eat no red or white meat (beef, pork, venison, etc). The only animals that semi-vegetarians eat are fowl and fish. (Purists would say that semi-vegetarians are not vegetarians at all, but I have included them in order to show the complete hierarchy.)
2. Ovo-Lacto Vegetarians
The most common type, ovo-lacto vegetarians do not eat any animals, but do eat eggs and dairy products.
Subcategories:
* Ovo vegetarians (eat eggs but not dairy)
* Lacto vegetarians (eat dairy but not eggs)
3. Vegans
Vegans eat no animal products - no eggs, no dairy, no honey, etc.
4. Raw/Living Foodists
Raw or Living Foodists eat only raw food, because enzymes are destroyed by normal cooking processes.
5. Fruitarians
Fruitarians eat only fruit, fruit-like vegetables (e.g., tomatoes, cucumbers), and sometimes seeds and nuts.
this info was found on http://veggietable.allinfo-about.com/articles/whatisavegetarian.html