Who considers fish and eggs to be vegetarian and why?!


Question: I am lacto-vegetarian, so I don't eat eggs (or fish).

However, the American and English definition of "vegetarian" has always included eggs since the word was invented in the 1800s. The term "vegan" was invented later to refer to people who don't use animal products at all.

The original vegetarians from India generally use dairy products but not eggs. However, they did not invent the word "vegetarian"--they were following the Hindu/Jain/Buddhist principle of Ahimsa (non-violence) and not eating meat was part of this. There does not seem to have been a word specifically for "vegetarian" but it was generally understood that people who were of the priestly caste (Brahmins) would abstain from eating animal flesh.

Some people call themselves vegetarian and eat fish; I hate that because fish are obviously animals. At least eggs are kind of ambiguous since it is not a fully formed animal (and never will be if it isn't fertile).

The idea of saying "fish is not meat" is apparently based on ideas from the Catholic Church that don't have anything to do with the original concept of vegetarianism. The semantics of that don't really make any sense because the point of vegetarianism is to not eat animals; and vegetarianism was not invented by the Catholic Church.


Answers: I am lacto-vegetarian, so I don't eat eggs (or fish).

However, the American and English definition of "vegetarian" has always included eggs since the word was invented in the 1800s. The term "vegan" was invented later to refer to people who don't use animal products at all.

The original vegetarians from India generally use dairy products but not eggs. However, they did not invent the word "vegetarian"--they were following the Hindu/Jain/Buddhist principle of Ahimsa (non-violence) and not eating meat was part of this. There does not seem to have been a word specifically for "vegetarian" but it was generally understood that people who were of the priestly caste (Brahmins) would abstain from eating animal flesh.

Some people call themselves vegetarian and eat fish; I hate that because fish are obviously animals. At least eggs are kind of ambiguous since it is not a fully formed animal (and never will be if it isn't fertile).

The idea of saying "fish is not meat" is apparently based on ideas from the Catholic Church that don't have anything to do with the original concept of vegetarianism. The semantics of that don't really make any sense because the point of vegetarianism is to not eat animals; and vegetarianism was not invented by the Catholic Church.

Eggs ARE ovo and lacto-ovo vegetarian.

Fish, obviously, are not.

People who think fish is vegetarian and eggs aren't are BOTH misinformed or ignorant. :)

Eggs are vegetarian-friendly simply because no animal had to die for me to eat the egg although egg laying chickens will most likely still end up on someone's plate eventually.
Vegetarians don't eat fish.

"What happens when the hens cannot have anymore eggs?

After twelve months, our egg-laying ability starts to decline. Hens are then considered “spent” and so are sent off to slaughter. Their brittle, calcium-depleted bones often shatter during handling or at the slaughterhouse, usually end up in baby foods, pet foods, soups, pies, school diners and other processed foods in which their bodies can be shredded to hide the bruises from customers."

fish is definetly not vegetarian

and i think eggs are not but some people think eggs are because they are not fertilized

fish is not! eggs i guess if not fert but id say not to eat eggs.. i dont

Unfertilised eggs are vegetarian. Fish are not. I know a lot of people think of fish as veggie but i can't understand why.

Fish is NOT vegetarian.

Eggs are vegetarian. Vegans don't eat eggs or any animal products.

For the person who said their egg-laying chicken will someday end up on someone's plate, it's not true. Egg-laying hens and broiler chickens (the ones we eat) are two completely different species of bird.

Eggs are and fish is not. No animal flesh. The eggs are unfertilized and would never hatch.

I don't and here's why:

Neither fish or eggs grow out of the ground. They may derive nurishment from plant life, but they are not plant live. Real vegetarians only eat plants (vegetables, fruits, roots, legumes), hence the term vegetarian.

i dont consider fish, it was an animal before it was a carcass. eggs are vegetarian, they arent fertilized, so they werent alive. i dont really like em too much tho.

vegitarian is not eating meat, and anything that used to have a face. fish, cows, chickens, etc.
vegan is not eating anything that comes from an animal. meat, eggs, milk, etc.

The issue is with the word "vegetarian".

Vegetarianism is the practice of a diet that excludes all animal flesh, including poultry, game, fish, shellfish, and slaughter by-products (such as bacon, sausage, etc).

Lacto-vegetarians will eat dairy.
Lacto-ovo-vegetarians will eat eggs and dairy.

Veganism excludes all animal products from diet and in some definitions from attire also, 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.).

But NO vegetarian considers fish to be vegetarian - fish are animals.

Any seafood. No matter how small has nerves, thus any pain that they feel no matter how insignificant is there. So I definitely consider fish to be meat and thus not vegetarian. Eggs on the other hand are subject to the cruel treatment of the chickens while laying the eggs. The eggs themselves are just an unfertilized egg, no baby chicken inside.

Fish are dead animals. Clearly not vegetarian.

Eggs are a single, unfertilized cell discarded by a living animal. I do consider that vegetarian.

FISh is Not!
and Eggs..i BELIEVE should be not..
the animals are treated badly then killed..

Fish, no. The definition is very clear abut this and has been so since 1847.

Its only the recent spread of unmoderated internet information that has introduced the idea that veggies eat fish, the trend will calm down. If it doesn't, vegetarians will move to a new word

http://www.vegsoc.org/fish

Eggs are considered vegetarian. Eating eggs from a commercial source DOES directly mean the death of 20% of the laying population every year. I think many veggies do their best to reduce egg consumption or they buy from hobby farms where the hens are not rotated after a year.

An egg will never be a living animal, its the husbandy of the hens, rotation of older birds, and dispatching of cockerals that are the issues.

Chickens are probably the most abused of any farm animal

Eggs are vegetarian. They are not animal flesh.

Fish is not. It is animal flesh.

This is not a question of opinion, but a verifiable fact.

----A vegan.





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