# Vegetarians - is it OK to eat eggs? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 2, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarians-is-it-ok-to-eat-eggs/623881 "2012-06-02T17:52:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarians-is-it-ok-to-eat-eggs/623881/21 "2012-06-02T20:32:24Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > How are cauterized chicken embryos not technically meat? A chicken is meat, a pre-chicken is still meat. No. “Meat” is offal and animal flesh, and flesh is skeletal muscle and fat. An unfertilized egg is not offal or flesh, thus is not “meat,” it is an animal product, like cow’s milk. Is milk “meat”? ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarians-is-it-ok-to-eat-eggs/623881/22 "2012-06-02T22:51:45Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > For every female chicken that grew up to lay eggs, a male chicken had to be killed at birth so you’re not completely innocent. I made no claim to be ‘completely innocent’, and many backyard chicken farmers will not kill on hatching (sexing newly hatched chicks is difficult) but let them grow for several months until the difference is easy to tell, then kill them for food. My parents kept (and ate) them when I was a kid, and that’s what they always did. Personally, I’m more concerned with quality of life for animals than simply lifespan. It’s quite obvious that most animals produce more young than can possibly survive and breed themselves, I just don’t feel that that makes it OK to keep them in awful conditions before killing them. I am vegetarian, but only because a) I don’t like the taste that much, and b) it’s hard to find meat from well-cared for animals that I can afford. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarians-is-it-ok-to-eat-eggs/623881/23 "2012-06-02T23:19:08Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > I would strongly encourage you to watch the movie “Food Inc.”. It changed the way I looked at food production in the US. I never gave much thought to the ethics of eating eggs from factory farms until I saw that movie. The chickens often are kept in small cages and never get to see the outdoors. Male chicks are frequently killed en masse because they’re not worth anything compared to the female chicks that can lay eggs later (which is one reason that some people become vegans and are against all egg consumption). I would rather not watch something horrible and despressing, unless there’s something I can actually do to change the horrible and depressing things it depicts. And if there is something I can do, can I please do it without watching the movie? ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarians-is-it-ok-to-eat-eggs/623881/24 "2012-06-02T23:54:52Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > How you define vegetarian is entirely up to YOU. There are far too many “diet Nazis” in the world who spend their lives judging other people and their food intake, and are quick to pounce if you violate some ethereal law. This. OP’s vegan friend ought to be willing to accept whatever he decides. As a purely practical matter: lacto-ovo is the default meaning of “vegetarian” in Western countries. It’s the usual definition used by restaurants and airlines, and it’s what most people will assume. If you go with a stricter form, you’ll need to be clear about it when eating out and visiting. PS for restaurants, Indian food is your best bet. Hindu vegetarian food is lacto-veg, so it’s compatible with lacto-ovo. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarians-is-it-ok-to-eat-eggs/623881/25 "2012-06-03T00:48:16Z")
As a beginner, go ahead and eat eggs. Include them in your diet an get used to not eating meat. If you research the subject and want to not include eggs, by all means dont. As you can see hear, there is no definite answer. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarians-is-it-ok-to-eat-eggs/623881/26 "2012-06-03T03:46:36Z")
Veganism is kinda, how should we say, open to interpretation? I don’t mean to be snarky but on one end there are the Jains in India, who go so far as to wear masks so they don’t accidently inhale and kill mosquitos to Westerners that require meditation and mood music and all sorts of other new agey stuff when preparing the meal to people that just eat (and usually wear) zero animal bi-products. You have Chinese buddhist monks and nuns that have taken full vows who also think that onions and garlic are verboten. It’s a pretty wide range within the “vegetarian definition.” If you cut out all eggs, you’ll find it’s a lot harder to eat a lot of mainstream stuff because eggs are included in a lot of basics like noodles and bread. ditto with dairy products. Like Tomcar wisely said, most people tend to stick with the vegetarian diet (however it might be defined) when they kinda ease into it. Initially have eggs and dairy, then just eggs and dairy as ingredients, then no eggs and dairy. Going straight to no eggs and dairy is a big change unless you love tofu, rice, vegetables and legumes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarians-is-it-ok-to-eat-eggs/623881.md?page=1)