I was in line at the grocery store yesterday and I overheard the cashier and another employee talking about the movie Earthlings. Then the cashier said “I have a friend who watched that and went vegetarian, but she still eats chicken and fish.” I don’t usually like to butt into people’s conversations, but at this point I had to say something, and I turned to her and said “I’m sorry, but your friend is NOT a vegetarian.” She seemed confused because in her mind if her friend isn’t eating red meat she’s a vegetarian.

The funny thing is I know that there are lots of people out there that consider themselves vegetarian because they don’t eat red meat, but still eat chicken, turkey or fish. Let’s check the dictionary for the definition shall we…
“a person who does not eat or does not believe in eating meat, fish, fowl, or, in some cases, any food derived from animals, as eggs or cheese, but subsists on vegetables,  fruits, nuts, grain, etc.”

Or, the way I like to define a vegetarian “someone who doesn’t eat anything that had a mother or a face.”

If you’ve stopped eating red meat, that’s fantastic and I commend you for taking that first step, but please, please stop calling yourself a vegetarian if you’re still eating any other animal flesh. Sorry to rant about this, but it’s one of my pet peeves.

Is it just me or do you feel the same way? I’d love to know what you think.

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