Just discovered I am a pescatarian when I thought I was a veggie

i became a vegetarian on my 11th birthday

and I did a very good job the first year. I did not eat anything with a face basically, then the next year or two later I went to my Uncles Ranch and he literally forced salmon down my throat because I was becoming very unhealthy and not eating any protein.

So therefore I was still a 'vegetarian' I just ate salmon on rare occasion and then sushi and tuna came into the mix. Know I eat seaafood but still considered myself a vegetarian

NOW...

4 years later I am 15 and have jsut realized yesterday that I am a pescatarian I would like to continue being a pescatarian because it has become ruitine not  to eat meat or anything that does not come from the sea :) but it seems as though the last couple years of my life have been a lie.. what should I do??/ and i never knew there were so many types of vegetarians ..WOW

1 year-vegetarian

3 yyear-pescatarian

i dont like labels, tho id be considered a pescatarian too..there are alot of exceptions to my diet.. only eat seafood and dairy when people make it for me.

They have feelings.

That article was actually hard to read, I felt so bad for those fish. =/

Edit: If it bleeds I'd rather not eat it. But I don't label myself as any type of -tarian. I just eat the way I eat. My family unfortunately strongly disagrees.

Original Post by xdarthveganx:

Commercial fishing is literraly KILLING our oceans. I am not going to cite articles as many can be found online just by searching. Oh and before you recommend "sustainably" caught fish remember one thing, if the process can not be used to feed 6.5 billion people without vastly depleting resources faster than we can replace them than it is NOT sustainable.  "Sustainable" fish and "sustainable" meat is a lie. We must do something now, or we will be left with irreversible damage to our eco-system. Sure one has to make sure they are eating healthy and getting enough nutrients for their body. With a little research this can be done easily on a vegan diet. The body needs certain amino acids found in protein, it does not care if those amino acids come from plant or animal sources. So please, next time you make a choice, choose compassion. The animals and our beautiful oceans will thank you.

ok well i suppose in one way you are right, if you eat something & its dissapearing, its not really sustainable. but there are varying degrees of the way we catch fish, some are less un-sustainable (since you don't like the term sustainable) than others. like catching fish with a line & rod is "less un-sustainable" than dropping a huge net on the whole school of fish.

they came up with that term depending on around 3 things (im not going to pretend that i can explain this well so bear with me). if there are any fish left in the same school if caught, if any of the fish caught are mature enough to have bread already, if they leave enough fish to breed some more & if there are no by catches. 

I truly hope you are kidding.

I normally never post "mean" things-- but seriously!

Did you not realize that fish are living animals?? Anything to do with eating dead animals is not vegetarian! 

How on earth could it be??

Original Post by katesorad:

I don't really agree with pescatarianism being anything close to vegetarianism.  The whole point of being a vegetarian or a vegan is to not eat anything with a face or heart or feelings.  I guess some people do it more for health reasons, but as far as I go, I can't ever see myself eating anything that I know has feelings.  It would be like eating my husband, which would be gross.

Animals don't have "feelings".  People have "feelings".  There is no real proof that animals have any "feelings" in the people sense of the word.

ughhhh some people.

okay seriously I hate it when vegetarians or vegans think they're above everyone else. I'm latin and my family eats red meat every day, they're huge carnivores. My best friend has been  vegan since she was 7 because her mom is vegan and she would invite me to organic vegan farmer markets and stuff. I really loved it but I knew I could't make the complete switch because my mom can't cook for the whole family and then me. we compromised and for the last 2 years i haven't eaten red meat or poultry. sometimes it is hard to explain "oh I don't eat red meat or pork, so i'm not a vegetarian but please dont serve me red meat or pork" so I will just say I'm a vegetarian and eat vegetarian meals in other houses. My best friend is really nice and she would never be like "UGH BUT YOURE NOT A VEGETARIAN STOP SAYING THAT". she's just happy I'm doing my best.

but other vegetarians will get really angry about that, even though my intentions are good. maybe if they were nicer more people would want to become vegetarians. I mean, you'd think meat eaters were the violent ones but sometimes.....

Original Post by wifi92:

Original Post by katesorad:

I don't really agree with pescatarianism being anything close to vegetarianism.  The whole point of being a vegetarian or a vegan is to not eat anything with a face or heart or feelings.  I guess some people do it more for health reasons, but as far as I go, I can't ever see myself eating anything that I know has feelings.  It would be like eating my husband, which would be gross.

Animals don't have "feelings".  People have "feelings".  There is no real proof that animals have any "feelings" in the people sense of the word.

HUBBA WUBBA? o.O

Original Post by i_scream_for_ice_cream:

Original Post by wifi92:

Original Post by katesorad:

I don't really agree with pescatarianism being anything close to vegetarianism.  The whole point of being a vegetarian or a vegan is to not eat anything with a face or heart or feelings.  I guess some people do it more for health reasons, but as far as I go, I can't ever see myself eating anything that I know has feelings.  It would be like eating my husband, which would be gross.

Animals don't have "feelings".  People have "feelings".  There is no real proof that animals have any "feelings" in the people sense of the word.

HUBBA WUBBA? o.O

ah whatever, he doesn't think liberals have feelings either.

Original Post by brtaylor:

Original Post by katesorad:

I don't really agree with pescatarianism being anything close to vegetarianism.  The whole point of being a vegetarian or a vegan is to not eat anything with a face or heart or feelings.  I guess some people do it more for health reasons, but as far as I go, I can't ever see myself eating anything that I know has feelings.  It would be like eating my husband, which would be gross.

 I see your point on this, I really do.  But please understand that it's a transition for some people.  It's hard to go from meat once or twice a day (which is how I was brought up) to "nothing with a face or feelings."  I haven't had meat from a land animal since I saw a PETA-sponsored video on factory farming (I didn't see any fish farming videos, otherwise I probably wouldn't still eat it haha).  But there are a lot of posts on this website about making gradual lifestyle changes, and I think that the transition from meat eater to vegetarian can be included in that category.  It's not easy to totally change your habits overnight.  If you've always felt the way you do about animals, then I commend you.  But not all of use are in the same boat =)

Plus, keep in mind that the OP is a teen and therefore most likely still not totally independent in her food choices (in her post, it sounded like family members forced her to eat the fish).  I'm sure when she becomes an adult and can make her own food choices that she will do what is ethically sound for her.   She did mention that she did well with the "nothing without a face" concept, which indicates a leaning towards your beliefs. 

Not to hijack the thread, but I look forward to the day that my once-a-month sushi addiction is a thing of the past and I can become a vegetarian.  It's hard to give up old habits, but not impossible.  I would love to get to the point where I never eat ANY meat, but it is difficult to make such a huge change at once. 

 (Just to respond to this)  There are veggie sushi types out there.  I am trying to work my way to prescatarian, then to vegetarian hopefully!!  It is too hard of a transition as I grew up eating red meats for dinner every night until I was 13.  I could NOT ever give up sushi so I request vegetarian styles or even sushi with egg slices in it. 

You shouldn't feel like you've been lied to, fish is meat yes, but it is also much much healthier and the fish are not treated nearly as harsh (In my opinion).

Then please explain how and why a mother cow cries after her calf when it is taken away?  Animals most certainly have feelings, there is no doubt about that.  They feel pain and emotions just like us.

Original Post by keys1987:

Then please explain how and why a mother cow cries after her calf when it is taken away?  Animals most certainly have feelings, there is no doubt about that.  They feel pain and emotions just like us.

don't bother. you know the saying about deaf ears.

Original Post by octo-luv:

Original Post by keys1987:

Then please explain how and why a mother cow cries after her calf when it is taken away?  Animals most certainly have feelings, there is no doubt about that.  They feel pain and emotions just like us.

don't bother. you know the saying about deaf ears.

The same way a female dog will snap if you yank a pup away from the booby nipple, nothing more, nothing less.  It's called "instinct", not "emotion" or "feelings".

In terms of animal welfare, I think the most important thing is that it's wild caught fish and not heavily farmed fish. A lot of farmed fish are sick and diseased and don't have enough room to swim freely, and they become very aggressive towards one another, hurt eachother, and generally live a miserable life.

Please don't bother yourself by trying to convince people with no compassion and no SENSE, that animals have feelings.

If they can't see that animals have emotions now... it's unlikely they will ever see it. Human beings and animals are equipped with the same bodily systems. We have such similar nervous systems, that it is ridiculous to claim that animals can't feel what we feel. Instinct and emotions are intertwined, they are not separate. So this person that is claiming animals only have instincts, and not feelings or emotions... is quite frankly very ignorant and sounds extremely uneducated. Of course we are not identical to a cow for example, but it's ridiculous to not realise that we also have things in common. Human beings, and animals, were all born into the same world. We are all equipped with the same senses in order to perceive and survive this world of ours.

So I completely agree with you... a mother cow cries in emotional pain, and instinct, for the return of her calf.

Don't waste your breath honey

Original Post by wifi92:

Original Post by octo-luv:

Original Post by keys1987:

Then please explain how and why a mother cow cries after her calf when it is taken away?  Animals most certainly have feelings, there is no doubt about that.  They feel pain and emotions just like us.

don't bother. you know the saying about deaf ears.

The same way a female dog will snap if you yank a pup away from the booby nipple, nothing more, nothing less.  It's called "instinct", not "emotion" or "feelings".

Last time I checked the books, emotions and feelings ARE instincts. Also, your ability to percieve nociceptive pain is a feeling. And yes, animals have pain receptors.

Also I may like to challenge wifi92 with this moral dilemma:

According to wifi92, animals don't have feelings, and under this premise, it is O.K to eat them.

Then,

Assuming that a mentally challenged woman has the mental capacity of a calf - is it then okay to force breed, slaughter, then eat her?

Recent discoveries have shown that a pooch has the same cognitive functioning ability as a 24 month old child. If this 'instinct' (as wifi92 refers to it) that a pooch demonstrates when it snaps at a threatening enemy is at the same cognitive level that a 24 month old child is capable of demonstrating, is it then morally sound to cook a 24 month old child?

Please reply, I am genuinely curious of your response to this.

That really depends on how someone feels about cannibalism and not what mental capacity a person has. If you want to present a moral dilemma go the other way. What if a calf developed an intellect.

UD

Original Post by wifi92:

Original Post by katesorad:

I don't really agree with pescatarianism being anything close to vegetarianism.  The whole point of being a vegetarian or a vegan is to not eat anything with a face or heart or feelings.  I guess some people do it more for health reasons, but as far as I go, I can't ever see myself eating anything that I know has feelings.  It would be like eating my husband, which would be gross.

Animals don't have "feelings".  People have "feelings".  There is no real proof that animals have any "feelings" in the people sense of the word.

Wow.

I think terms can be important, because My extended family always asks, directly after I say I'm a vegetarian, "So do you eat fish?" And I explain that's a pescatarian, so no, I do not. (One time my mom was telling her student sI was a vegetarian so I ate no meat or animal products, and one of her students asked "But she eats chicken, right?")

Oh, Oklahoma.

Anyway, Good job on cutting out other meat, maybe someday you can transition to vegetarian or even vegan. :]  I used to eat meat with every meal, and I quit cold-turkey (haha, non intended). I hope to someday have the strength to give up cheese so I can go vegan.

I agree, Veg*ans can have that whole superiority thing, but I try to avoid it. I was ina class for a whole year before anyone knew I didn't eat meat, and it was only because the vending machine gave me a Rice Crispy treat and I gave it to someone else in the class.

I like the vegtable sushi, even if it's just a cucumber roll. It's the rice and seaweed I like the most. Yum.

Original Post by yelir:

Original Post by wifi92:

Original Post by katesorad:

I don't really agree with pescatarianism being anything close to vegetarianism.  The whole point of being a vegetarian or a vegan is to not eat anything with a face or heart or feelings.  I guess some people do it more for health reasons, but as far as I go, I can't ever see myself eating anything that I know has feelings.  It would be like eating my husband, which would be gross.

Animals don't have "feelings".  People have "feelings".  There is no real proof that animals have any "feelings" in the people sense of the word.

Wow.

If one humanized their pet, they can never be convinced (usually) that the animal is not human.  When I am prepping something in the kitchen, poochiekins sits and does a little tail waggy thingy.  I am not naive enough to think he is happy to see me, it's the response-instint that food may be coming.  When I come home from work, poochiekins is happy, wagging his tail.  As soon as I let the door open, the dog then goes outside to lay in the sun.  The dog doesn't "miss" me, he just wanted outside, nothing more, nothing less. 

Watch "It's Me Or The Dog" on Animal Planet for some nutty dog owners, and the things they let poochie get away with, thinking they are human.  Victoria Stillwell, professional dog trainer, has actually told one owner that she was using the dog as a kid substitute.  That's using a dog to make the owner feel needed and wanted.