# What do you consider to be a vegetarian diet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 23, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-a-vegetarian-diet/511174 "2009-09-23T01:14:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-a-vegetarian-diet/511174/1 "2009-09-23T01:14:42Z")
Does it include eggs and dairy products as using those products does not kill animals? Does it include fowl, as they are not mammals? Does it include fish, as fish have a nervous system that (in theory) does not register pain? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-a-vegetarian-diet/511174/2 "2009-09-23T01:18:50Z")
Editing does not appear to give me the option to change this to the intended multiple choice. I’ll check with the mods; please ignore the thread till then. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-a-vegetarian-diet/511174/3 "2009-09-23T02:16:16Z")
since it isnt multichoice yet, add dairy and eggs for lacto-ovo vegetarian [didnt mention honey though…] ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-a-vegetarian-diet/511174/4 "2009-09-23T02:42:26Z")
I would say it depends on the vegetarian. But I would doubt that a diet that includes animal flesh such as fish or fowl can be accurately called vegetarian. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-a-vegetarian-diet/511174/5 "2009-09-23T02:47:39Z")
Whatever the people calling themselves vegetarian eat. Really, hasn’t playing “gotcha” with the vegetarians gotten old yet? And, on the other side, hasn’t the “you ate sushi once in 1997 you’re not a real vegetarian!” insecurity-fueled self-righteousness played itself out among the vegetarians out there? People eat what the eat. If they find it useful to describe their diet as vegetarian, awesome. No need to get up in arms about words that people who aren’t you use to describe a diet that isn’t yours. -Sven, flexitarian, meat-curious, vegetable inclined omnivore, general boundary ignorer ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-a-vegetarian-diet/511174/6 "2009-09-23T02:55:12Z")
I’m fine with milk in my “vegetarian” diets. And I’ll eat egg products but not eggs directly (ie: Mayo and Cake, but not scrambled eggs). But that last one i know is stretching it. So vegetarian for me usually goes up to dairy and plants. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-a-vegetarian-diet/511174/7 "2009-09-23T11:10:28Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Really, hasn’t playing “gotcha” with the vegetarians gotten old yet? What makes you think I’m playing “gotcha”? The vegetarian thread in this forum has many people defining it differently, and I’m genuinely curious. That said, if the poll can’t be edited to be multiple choice, I’d just as soon the thread be closed. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-a-vegetarian-diet/511174/8 "2009-09-23T23:28:12Z")
If your concerned about animal not being used, then Vegan would be the only way to go. For instance, cows must give birth to calfs to produce milk. These calfs are sold as veal. I guess there could be some way to artifically stimulate a cow to produce milk without having a calf. Chickens will lay eggs but they are sold for meat when their laying days end. I guess one could restrict egg intake from chickens that are free range and treated humanely and allowed to live out their days on a farm after they stop laying. In the above two examples it would take a lot of work. So it’d probably be easier to go Vegan. If you don’t want animals to suffer well then you have to decide what the “breaking point is” Few people have any issues squishing a roach, but what about a mouse in your house? To my mind, I consider Vegetarian diets to include that which doesn’t produce the immediate death of THAT particular animal. That would include eggs and milk. ---
**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:** [September 23, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-a-vegetarian-diet/511174/9 "2009-09-23T23:38:17Z")
The standard definition includes eggs, milk, honey, and anything else that doesn’t require killing, but excludes any dead body parts of any member of Kingdom Animalia. Of course, many piscatarians (who eat fish) will describe themselves as vegetarians for the sake of simplicity, since a vegetarian meal will be acceptable to them and most people don’t know what a piscatarian is. Likewise, those who (for instance) will only eat wild animals, not farmed. ---
**Author:** ![the\_first\_supraliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@the\_first\_supraliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_first_supraliminal)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-a-vegetarian-diet/511174/10 "2009-09-25T17:18:30Z")
What is a component of a vegetarian diet? Eggs Dairy Fowl Fish Plants You forgot Fungi ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-a-vegetarian-diet/511174/11 "2009-09-25T19:13:08Z")
If you eat animals which were killed to make your meal, you are NOT a vegetarian. Chickens are animals. Fish are animals. Eggs & Dairy qualify for a vegetarian, but not vegan diet. I don’t understand why this even needs to be polled. ---
**Author:** ![vifslan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f4b2a3/32.png) [@vifslan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vifslan)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-a-vegetarian-diet/511174/12 "2009-09-25T21:12:32Z")
I’d say plants, eggs and dairy, and would qualify that dairy must not be made with animal rennet.