I’m A Vegetarian *apart from ______
While discussing vegetarianism with a colleague, he said “my girlfriend’s a vegetarian…but she eats chicken.” I’ve heard this many times, but still find it odd. According to PPTHealth website:
Vegetarianism is the abstinence of meat, fish and fowl from the diet.
Types of Vegetarians
* Vegan
* Pesco-vegetarian
* Lacto-ovo-vegetarian
* Lacto-vegetarian
* Ovo-vegetarian
* Pollo-vegetarian
I emboldened the two items above. Since when were fish or chicken no longer considered ‘fish or fowl’? The clue’s in the title. How can you be a vegetarian if you eat any animal, regardless of the species? This got me thinking. When people do add exceptions to vegetarianism why, oh why choose chicken: the most bland and tasteless of all commonly used meats with the most convincing soya replacement? It hardly seems worth the effort of singling it out. Yes, it’s widely available and convenient, but surely these people are lacking in taste and imagination and are certainly missing out on a great conversational opportunity. I would react very differently if someone said “I’m a vegetarian, but I eat eagle” or “giraffe” or “krill”. Or, even better, learn what the word means and use it correctly.
For some time now I have been a non-meat-eater. I won’t say ‘vegetarian’, as this is incorrect. I have avoided fish, meat and products of slaughter, including cheeses made with rennet and animal gelatin and fats. This has encouraged me to improve my cooking skills, invest time and effort into finding balanced, tasty recipes and to consider my health on a more practical level than previously. Then I hit a sticky patch. About two weeks ago I started obsessing over fish and smells of meaty foods were driving me to distraction, even invading my dreams. My mother advised me it was due to my diet lacking in amino acids which only animals could provide.
Friday night, after serious deliberation, I decided to eat meat. I chowed down on a selection of chicken, lamb and pork (it occurs to me now that, while peeling fatty bits of flesh off the pig’s rib bones, I never once considered that it was an animal. It was meat. To add further distaste, it wasn’t the best quality so probably not ethically sourced, and it was only briefly enjoyable). After such a long period of going without, the sudden heft of fat and protein hit me hard and I was unwell soon after. Farewell to the flesh. The next day I returned to my normal eating habits; stocked up on falafel, tofu, fresh fruit and vegetables and a generous array of Quorn products. This wasn’t a wasted experience as it confirmed to me that I am no longer impressed by the taste of ‘traditional’ meats. Their aromas are beyond comparison or duplication, but fail to deliver on the promise. It’s still early days for me and I’m not yet able to use the term ‘vegetarian’ without feeling like a fraud. But I am less inclined to eat animals than ever before. Some people find it easy to make the transition, but it’s a gradual process for me; one that I am determined to strive for as long as it takes.
- Many cabbages were harmed in the making of this advertisement
Saying one is vegetarian but eats chicken/fish is like saying one does not do drugs but smokes weed.
I think maybe vegetarian is now a dated word? bit of an umberalla term as E said. like most things, it’s not as simple as a single word. it all depends on the motive behind it I guess. Because my girlfriend doesn’t like the texture of meat, she finds it perfectly reasonable to eat sweets and crisps that aren’t veggie. But then she calls herself a vegetarian.
Hey!
This is an interesting conundrum – when do you get to call yourself a vegetarian? When you make the decision? After a year? After 5 years? If you eat some meat one day, do you suddenly stop being a vegetarian?
As someone who has been a vegetarian for 23 of my 37 years (!), I sort of think its used as a shorthand rather than being an absolute term. People generally have an understanding of what being a vegetarian means, so when you describe your dietary choices, you don’t have to reel off a long list of foods. Unless you are me of course, and have 9 million allergies, so vegetarian does not do justice to your requirements lol!
But I do feel you can be too hard on yourself. You have every right to call yourself a vegetarian – people who have a lot less dedication to their diets use the term to describe themselves, so you are certainly not a fraud!
E
Thanks E! I think feeling like a fraud is partly down to my reasons for choosing veggie life, which began as abstinance over Lent, rather than animal welfare. But there are many reasons why people choose a healthier, cheaper, ethical lifestyle. I’m getting there.
I agree, although I generally only eat chicken, I eat beef occasionally. At a BBQ I have veggie burgers. I always check the vegetarian option when eating out. I would never consider myself vegetarian??!! I am fussy about where our meat comes from and Wayne is even worse, being a butcher by trade. He doesn’t enjoy eating falafel or Quorn products so we have meat at family meal times.
During the days I very rarely have meat but do prepare it for my extreme meat eater daughter who will eat a plate of meat!!! If I cook a lamb chop dinner, extra have to be done just for her :-D. She spends the majority of her time with me but quite the opposite.
Do we influence our children???
We absolutely influence children, but not always intentionally or how we want to. Also, children’s tastebuds are different to adults and they seem more sensitive to textures and presentation of foods. As with your daughter, who will happily eat dry ham, sausage, chicken etc. but needs encouragement with something like soft and squishy like swede or egg.
Great post, Ceri.
An interesting angle (regarding vegetarianism) might be general attitudes towards it. As common as it now is as a lifestyle/diet choice, I’m constantly patronised and (in some ways) ridiculed for my decision to go veggie. The most annoying thing is that, despite this surprisingly widespread (even ‘well-intentioned’) ignorance, supermarkets always sell out of the veggie option(s) first!
I expect this has something to do with the lower quantities bought in but there’s a particular range that does a few excellent vegetarian options; they are the first to go. Many of the meat options (which, in variety, always outnumber the veggie ones at about 4 to 1) are then left over, reduced and often wasted. And there’s me without a dinner.
Food for thought perhaps?
General attitudes definitely change according to company. I recently worked with a group of 5 students, of which 4 were vegetarian and currently work in a large team where I am the only non-meat-eater. The responses were very different indeed. As for supermarkets, I don’t understand their decisions at all. They appear to be suppying to a ‘set’ market and not taking enough public choice into consideration. This behaviour extends across all fresh produce, with dairy wastage being another vast issue.