# Vegatarians eat birds? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 16, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813 "2017-11-16T23:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/1 "2017-11-16T23:11:02Z")
My boyfriend, not the brightest light on the tree, claims vegetarians eat turkey and chicken because they aren’t meat. I told him if it moves of its own accord, its meat. Can you give me a link or two so I can prove him wrong? ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/2 "2017-11-16T23:17:36Z")
There are about as many definitions of vegetarian as there are practicing vegetarians. We had a big long thread a while back about if turkey and chicken were meat. If you look in some cook books you see meat and poultry listed separately. with meat being things like beef, pork and lamb. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/3 "2017-11-16T23:18:42Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Can you give me a link or two so I can prove him wrong? Here you go > **[Investigate the Animal Kingdom: Vertebrates & Invertebrates…](http://sciencefunp.blogspot.com/2012/10/investigate-animal-kingdom-vertebrates.html)** > > The five most well known classes of Vertebrates (animals with backbones) are mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians.   They are all p... ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/4 "2017-11-16T23:23:43Z")
> **[The Different Kinds of Vegetarians - dummies](https://www.dummies.com/article/body-mind-spirit/physical-health-well-being/diet-nutrition/vegetarianism/the-different-kinds-of-vegetarians-201601/)** > > There are different kinds of vegetarians, depending on what they eat. The definition of a vegetarian that’s most widely accepted by fellow vegetarians is a pers > [@](#): > > There are different kinds of vegetarians, depending on what they eat. The definition of a vegetarian that’s most widely accepted by fellow vegetarians is a person who eats no meat, fish, or poultry. A vegetarian consistently avoids all flesh foods, as well as byproducts of meat, fish, and poultry. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/5 "2017-11-17T00:12:00Z")
The word your friend is looking for is [Pollotarian](https://www.mealplansite.com/lifestyle/pollotarian.aspx). [I like the Urban Dictionary top definition for politarian:](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Pollotarian) > [@](#): > > A person looking for a fancy name for their meat restricted diet despite knowing that 99% of people don’t have a clue wtf a Pollotarian is & have to explain afterwards. You might want to check out [the usage examples following the definition](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Pollotarian). [Meal Plan for a Pollotarian](https://www.mealplansite.com/lifestyle/pollotarian.aspx) [Facts on Pollotarian Diet](https://www.livestrong.com/article/2944-facts-pollotarian-diet/) Now, having said that, people call themselves whatever the hell they want. There’s no way to stop some diet-fanatic from declaring that he is a vegetarian even though he eats meat. In fact in 1944 Donald Watson invented the term “vegan” to mean “vegetarian who really means it” because so many different people had co-opted the term “vegetarian.” ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/6 "2017-11-17T00:20:30Z")
I thought vegans were [blue skinned aliens from Vega](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Immortal#Plot_summary). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/7 "2017-11-17T00:27:53Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I thought vegans were [blue skinned aliens from Vega](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Immortal#Plot_summary). Nah, more like [this](http://aliens.wikia.com/wiki/Vegan_(Robert_Heinlein)). Generally, vegetarian means no meat, poultry, fish, but do eat eggs and milk. Some people get “creative” with their definitions. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/8 "2017-11-17T02:01:43Z")
I’m partial to the term “flexitarian.” As in, a vegetarian who is flexible enough to eat meat sometimes. It pretty much describes my family’s diet. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/9 "2017-11-17T02:06:50Z")
No chickens - no turkeys. But [barnacle geese are okay](http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast1195.htm), if you’re sure they ripened on a tree. Actually, that’s not vegetarianism, it’s medieval fast days. For those, fish were okay. And they were closer to vegetarianism than your boyfriend is. Don’t tell him about beavers’ tails. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/10 "2017-11-17T02:49:08Z")
pretty sure if it has heart lungs gills or a brain, it is meat and not veggie safe. Birds breath bleed and think :smack: ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/11 "2017-11-17T02:51:20Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Nah, more like [this](http://aliens.wikia.com/wiki/Vegan_(Robert_Heinlein)). > > Generally, vegetarian means no meat, poultry, fish, but do eat eggs and milk. Some people get “creative” with their definitions. In the past and in some religions “meat” does not always include fish. Under Kashrut fish can be eaten with dairy but “meat” cannot, and during Lent one can eat fish but not meat. Pretty much 4 + decades ago a “vegetarian” might well eat fish normally. Today- not so much. Tomorrow I suspect that the dfeintion of “vegetarian” will = “vegan”. But fowl is indeed meat. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/12 "2017-11-17T02:54:04Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > My boyfriend, not the brightest light on the tree, claims vegetarians eat turkey and chicken because they aren’t meat. > I told him if it moves of its own accord, its meat. > Can you give me a link or two so I can prove him wrong? While vegetarianism has different shades, everybody I’ve known for the past twenty or so years who refer to themselves as vegetarian excludes eating any creatures. And, yes, that includes fish. Vegans are stricter vegetarians who also eschew any animal products (that includes dairy and eggs as the big ones, and often honey). There are also other types of vegetarian, like Hindu vegetarians tend to be of the lacto-vegetarian kind (meaning, dairy is okay, but eggs are not. And, still, no creatures.) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/13 "2017-11-17T02:58:26Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > In the past and in some religions “meat” does not always include fish. Under Kashrut fish can be eaten with dairy but “meat” cannot, and during Lent one can eat fish but not meat. > > Pretty much 4 + decades ago a “vegetarian” might well eat fish normally. > > Today- not so much. Tomorrow I suspect that the dfeintion of “vegetarian” will = “vegan”. > > But fowl is indeed meat. Roman Catholics have always been allowed to eat fish on Fridays, before Vatican II, and even today on Fridays during Lent, when they are expected to abstain from all meat. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/14 "2017-11-17T03:11:42Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > In the past and in some religions “meat” does not always include fish. Under Kashrut fish can be eaten with dairy but “meat” cannot, and during Lent one can eat fish but not meat. > > Pretty much 4 + decades ago a “vegetarian” might well eat fish normally. > > Today- not so much. Tomorrow I suspect that the dfeintion of “vegetarian” will = “vegan”. > > But fowl is indeed meat. That’s usually called a pescetarian these days. > [@CairoCarol](#): > > I’m partial to the term “flexitarian.” As in, a vegetarian who is flexible enough to eat meat sometimes. It pretty much describes my family’s diet. There’s also the “I’m vegetarian but will eat meat when I’m really hammered”-arian. I think that’s the official term. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/15 "2017-11-17T03:20:05Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I thought vegans were [blue skinned aliens from Vega](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Immortal#Plot_summary). More like this: [http://mporcius.blogspot.com/2016/12/agent-of-vega-by-james-h-schmitz.html](http://mporcius.blogspot.com/2016/12/agent-of-vega-by-james-h-schmitz.html) ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/16 "2017-11-17T03:20:21Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Roman Catholics have always been allowed to eat fish on Fridays, before Vatican II, and even today on Fridays during Lent, when they are expected to abstain from all meat. Fun fact: [Fish are a different category of animal. Salt and freshwater species of fish, amphibians, reptiles, (cold-blooded animals) and shellfish are permitted.](http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year/lent/questions-and-answers-about-lent.cfm) So while you may not feast on chicken, you may endure having to eat lobster, frog legs, and rattle snake. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/17 "2017-11-17T03:28:33Z")
For that matter, there are some religions where “vegetarian” also means no onions. Religious rules don’t have to make sense. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/18 "2017-11-17T03:49:51Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > My boyfriend, not the brightest light on the tree He better be really, REALLY good in bed. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/19 "2017-11-17T04:18:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > For that matter, there are some religions where “vegetarian” also means no onions. Religious rules don’t have to make sense. Well, if it’s what I’m thinking of (Jainism, some Buddhists, etc), it’s not that they don’t consider onions (and garlic, potatoes, root vegetables, depending on who we’re talking about) non-vegetarian—it’s that their diet is vegetarian plus excludes certain foods that “excite the senses” or are otherwise considered bad for the soul. It’s really a separate issue from their vegetarianism, which is based on non-violence. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813/20 "2017-11-17T04:20:31Z")
I think that someone who is a vegetarian doesn’t eat any flesh from an animal. Is that not the case? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegatarians-eat-birds/801813.md?page=2)