Question for vegetarians - fish & eggs

Why is it that fish and eggs are not considered meat products? I've always been a bit curious.

They are considered meat/animal products same as milk/dairy.  Some people consider themselves vegetarian even though they eat those products.  I'm one of them.  Some people don't consider themselves vegetarians unless they've removed all meat/animal products from their diet. 

Pyxiedust summed it up. I think in some vegetarian circles eggs and dairy are accepted because no animal (in theory) is harmed during the process. Fish, I think because they are usually raised in their own environment, no meat factories or anything. I think it boils down to whatever your beliefs are and what works best for you as an individual. I am vegan but I eat honey, so some would consider me not "full on". I dunno its something I am still looking into and researching.

Fish is not considered as a animal like others by some people because they think they have no feelings what so ever and they dont feel pain

And dairy and eggs dont hurt any animals

Thank you!  I've just always been so curious, I don't know anyone that's vegitarian that I could ask. 

I guess there is a lot of grey area around this.  I guess like you said, it all comes down to what peoples values and beliefs are.

Not to get too label happy but there is a vocabulary evolving around this:

Pescatarian: refers to someone who eats fish, but no other meat and whose diet (besides the fish) is generally a vegetarian diet.

Vegetarian: Typcially refers to what some will call a lacto-ovo vegetarian. That is someone who eats no actual meat, no flesh, but does eat dairy and eggs.

Vegan: Refers to someone who eats no meat and no meat bi-product, this can very extremely to do they eat honey, or red dye number five, what about clothing....

Level 5 Vegan: refers to a Simpsons quote: "I'm a level 5 vegan, I don't eat anything that casts a shadow".... it reminds us to not take ourselves or these labels too seriously. :)

"Fish is not considered as a animal like others by some people because they think they have no feelings what so ever and they dont feel pain"

Those people are so wrong!
Makes me angry, how ignorant can one be?
IMO, If you eat fish you're not a vegetarian.

People used to call it the pescatarian diet the "mediterianian" diet.

I'm not sure I agree that it is a form of vegetarianism, what I do agree with is that it is a life style choice geared towards making a lighter foot print on this earth than the standard North American diet.

I think vegetarian communities often draw criticism for being too exclusionary of others who are in earnst trying to improve the earth and their own health. From that vantage point, I think I will accept pescatarians as vegetarians in the spirit of encouraging people to explore alternatives that are better for themselves, and better for this earth.

if you eat fish, you're not vegetarian.

you can eat eggs and be vegetarian. but if you eat eggs/dairy, you are not vegan.

If you eat fish your are a pescatarian.

There are many different types of "vegertarians" as an overarching label for a concious eating choice based on flesh or no-flesh. As a group vegetarians have included lacto-ovo vegetarians, lacto-vegetarians, ovo-vegetarians, vegetarians who do not eat eggs or dairy, but do not consider themselves vegan because they do eat other animal bi-products (i.e. products with animal meal in them), vegans and there are all kinds of different levels of vegan-ess....

I think it is counterproductive and divisive to try to hold one form of "vegetarianism" to be "better" or a "higher" level than another. It is in short exclusionary.

So under a general umbrella of "vegetarianism" as a group I would accept pescatarians as a form of concious eating.

Once we get to discussing the different forms of vegetarianism, then pescatarian is a form of vegetarianism that includes eating fish, vegetarian traditionally refers to a a lacto-ovo vegetarian, and vegan traditionally refers to someone who consumes no animal bi-products including eggs and dairy. We can continue to split hairs, but I don't see the postive point in it.

I am a sortof ex vegetarian, and i am still curious about those who do not eat meat because of how animals are raised on farms and such...Would you eat moose meat or other hunted, wild animals?  

Personally, I wouldn't eat any kind of meat. 

But in regards to hunted animals, I would rather people hunted their own food.  Populations, such as deer, become too large because of man's interference (killing or driving off their natural predators), so I think it's man's responsibility to make use of the meat rather than let it go to waste as road kill.

Well generally I just don't eat meat, but it's an interesting question.

I don't think I would want to encourage people to hunt for meat as I don't think the regulations are watched too closely and who knows what would happen to population control. That being said I do think free run farm animals have a better standard of life than factory farm animals and that is a consession that I think most meat eaters could make.

fish is considered meat. eggs are considered an animal by-product just like cheese and gelatin. i am a vegetarian that still eats fish. i know fish is a meat, so that makes me a pesco-vegetarian.

I've also referred to myself as a piscetarian. I used to eat fish that  is not farmed. I had another post about my reasons for being piscetarian are economical. I also had a really hard time getting off of meat that this was the best way to go. This way I could eat something that is like meat that isn't farmed.

But I've gotten so sick of fish that I've stopped eating it all together and I eat other types of seafood on occassion. :(

Supersized, lol I just wanted to say actually there is more like a "level 5 vegan" I know one, it's called Fruitarian. Fruitarians eat fruits, seeds, nuts, beans, pulses, oils and some grains that you can pick and do not destroy the plant. It can be healthy if you eat nuts, pulses, seeds and grains that contain protein and stick with lower-sugar content fruit like banana. Banana is a low sugar/water content fruit but high in nutrients. You can also de-sugar lots of fruit that is high in nutrients or contains protein. People who follow this diet usually do, because they don't believe in killing any form of life.

I'm not sure much in vegetables but I think pumpkin, squash (maybe a few others?) are included as long as the plant is not harmed.

I see as next step from strict vegan =]

Fish is as much an animal as cows, pigs, humans, and chickens. People who eat fish are NOT vegetarians. Eggs are not animals but what bothers me about them(other than the cruelty to chickens) is that they are a chickens menstruation. Ewww. It's the gross factor that gets me more than anything.

I consider fish a meat product, that's why I get so mad when my mom's like, "You can eat tuna, right?" xD But I eat eggs, and I still consider myself a vegetarian.

@sarah_sue - Ewwww. xD I try not to think about eggs that way. ><

@xlovelesslullaby

Ghandi was a fruitarian. :D

"And dairy and eggs dont hurt any animals"

Sorry but it does. If you eat battery eggs the hens are badly treated and milk? Well to get it the cows have to have calves which are then taken away from them. I still eat dairy, but only free range eggs (we have our own chickens).

mad_alice--- Ghandi was amazing.


I always get the fish thing too... "you eat chicken and fish though right? those aren't meat". haha To me, like everyone else has pretty much said, vegetarian means no meat product... AT ALL (poultry, pork, beef, seafood). I hate eggs so I don't eat those and I don't like milk either... so I stick with soy.