meat eating "veggies"

[Aradia]

I've heard it all now! On another forum (not ve*an) I read a member stating they ate an exclusively vegetarian diet. Including the rabbit the fella eats and the oily fish they both eat!

I pointed out that since neither a rabbit nor a fish are vegetables, that they aren't acutally vegetarians. And that is is confusing to others if you say they are .. it will result in .. oh, you're vegan, you can eat fish then. Because my other friends are vegie and they eat rabbit and fish.

Some f**** people!!

[Ruby Rose]

To me that just emphasises why it's so important to keep the descriptor "vegan" clean - meaning very specifically people who always eschew animal products as far as practical and possible. It's the erosion of the term "vegetarian" which has led to the sort of nonsense you're seeing there.

[pavotrouge]

Well I've also met "vegans" who eat cheese and free range eggs, so the definitions are not so clear on that side for some people, either.

[Korn]

Of course they are not vegetarians.

These weird stories only document that it's becoming more and more trendy to be a vegan/vegetarian - otherwise, why would people who are not veg*ns call themselves veg*ns?

[Aradia]

Apparently I was being "pedantic". As somebody who was vegetarian for 30 years she can call herself what she likes if seems, as there are many "shades" of veganism and vegetarianism! (I'm an African princess then, in that case!)

And..... this is the best bit ... her actual question was "what is free-range meat called in France" as she has friends coming who live on chicken dishes so that's what she's going to cook them.

The mind boggles

[ellaminnowpea]

Why would people want to be labeled veg*n? It usually comes with a lot of criticism, confusion, and sometimes even anger. I don't see how being labeled would be a desirable thing. The only reason I label myself that way is to make a clear distinction from omni/ vegetarianism in order to inform other people.

I find veganism quite isolating because of other people's assumptions about me. They seem to use it against me a lot. "You can't eat out with us" or "you can't eat what I just cooked for you" or "you can't wear that" or "you can't use this certain soap/ shampoo/ etc"... It's so frustrating. I suppose it could be desirable to them if they can have the label of veganism but do whatever they want, eat whatever they want, etc as it won't "interfere" with their life.

[Korn]

It usually comes with a lot of criticism, confusion, and sometimes even anger.

I haven't seen that here in Scandinavia - with only or two exceptions, and then it wasn't even the veganism - but certain types of activism some vegans that had gotten a lot of media coverage were involved in. It could change, but with everything from Oprah too famous actors and artists being positive to vegan stuff - and vegan gourmet cookbooks and restaurants popping up, the old stereotype that obviously exists here and there will hopefully disappear.

It took 40 years from the hippies talked about saving the environment to an American near-president got a Nobel Prize for saying pretty much the same things, and as much as I dislike potentially becoming 'mainstream', the same thing is happening with veganism and vegetarianism.

[RubyDuby]

It would be great if (actual) veganism was mainstream, because it really can be isolating. People don't understand it most of the time. My vegetarian boss eats chicken and my neighbor jumped down my throat when I implied her fish eating aunt has actually not been vegetarian for years. I get the 'you can't eat there' comments too ella.

As somebody who was vegetarian for 30 years she can call herself what she likes if seems, as there are many "shades" of veganism and vegetarianism!

I would like to know her definition of vegetarian and/or her reason for 'being one'.