Classifications of Vegetarians
I’ve complained before about “faux vegetarians” who muck up things for the rest of us by claiming vegetarian status when they still eat chicken. After all, how’s a vegan supposed to get soup in a restaurant if the staff has been trained to think of chicken broth as vegetarian? But, truthfully, there is some value in labels as a means to communicate what one does or doesn’t consume to someone else. Below contains what I consider to be a complete and correct list of the terms currently in use. Please feel free to let me know if you find any of this incorrect or misleading.
The two (well, four) most common types of vegetarians are:
- Lacto-ovo vegetarians don’t eat beef, poultry, or fish, but do eat eggs and dairy products. (Similarly, lacto vegetarians consume dairy but not eggs while ovo vegetarians eat eggs but don’t consume dairy.)
- Vegans consume no animal products or animal by-products. This means no beef, poultry, fish, eggs, or dairy (many vegans also avoid honey). Veganism also extends beyond the diet. Vegans avoid leather, wool, silk, down, etc. Some people use the term strict vegetarian for people who follow a vegan diet but still use animal products in other parts of their lives.
There are also some restrictive subcategories of veganism:
- Fruitarians eat raw fruit and seeds only.
- Raw/living foodists eat at least 75% uncooked (items may be heated up to 110 degrees), unprocessed, organic fruits and vegetables, with the intention of preserving more vitamins and minerals. There are very few “pure” raw foodists though many people “eat raw” at least occasionally.
Then there are the classifications of vegetarians that aren’t really vegetarians. Their inclusion here does not imply an acceptance of these often confusing, misleading terms, but rather to serve as a reference.
- Pesco-vegetarians eat no beef or poultry but do eat fish.
- Pollo-vegetarians eat no beef, but do eat poultry.
- Semi-vegetarians or Flexitarians eat “less” meat (than who? Most people? Themselves, before? Ted Nugent?)
And, finally, there is the one classification that I made up but at least one person thought I was serious about:
- Cannibal-vegetarians eat no animal flesh, with the exception of human flesh. These folks might do good to consider starting a company.
This page also has some very good information about classifications and definitions of the varying types of vegetarian.
i dont like vegans. they dont like me. im a pesco vegetarian, but ill be damned if im not good enough for most of the vegans to consider good enough.
vegans, i hate to break this to you, but you kill things. you kill animals. you bash little bugs to bits driving down the road. your fresh vegetables come from farms where little rodents are mowed down by harvesters. all of this suffering is part of your life, despite your good intentions.
i have good intentions, but i also realize i cannot completely end the suffering in this world. i pick the suffering that REALLY bothers me and try to end it. what suffering is that, you ask? the meat industry. i abhor animals living a life God did not intend them to live. that is why i dont eat meat. fish… well, they are free. i dont eat farmed fish, nor am i into any seafood besides fish. i rarely eat fish at all, to be honest. my rationale is that fish arent suffering until they are caught- thus they are still evolving and we contribute positively to better fish in the world. i would also eat a deer if i went into the woods and killed it with a bow and arrow for the same reason. nature is cruel. this is God’s way. i cant stop all the suffering in the world, nor do i try to deceive myself into thinking im somehow better than anyone else for my efforts. i just do what i feel is right.
i am a vegetarian. 99.5% of my diet is vegetables.
Damian –
vegans, i hate to break this to you, but you kill things.
No revelations there. Every vegan I’ve ever met is fully aware of The Real World and realizes that you can’t live a life that completely avoids death. So, um, “Duh?”
I think that if you were to take a closer look at the devastating environmental affects of fishing and the cruelty associated with dairy and eggs, you might not just start to like vegans a little more, you might even become one.
Congrats on being nearly vegetarian. I suspect that if you’re really that close, you’ll eventually go the rest of the way.
Ok, I’m going to clear something up here. If you eat parts of animals, you are not a vegetarian in any way what so ever. Period. Meat from birds is meat. Meat from fishes is meat. Just like meat from mammals is meat, and so is meat from amphibians and meat from reptiles. If you eat meat from any kind of animal, then you are not a vegetarian at all.
I can perfectly understand how incredibly annoying it must be to have meat eaters call themselves vegetarians. It’s ludicrous, and shows a severe lack of common sense/intelligence. Even I, as a meat eater, thinks it’s quite stupid and very annoying, that there are people who eat meat, but call themselves vegetarians.
Wake up people, animals don’t grow on plants, they grow inside other animals, or inside eggs, which come out of animals. So I’ll repeat it once more: When you eat meat of any kind, you’re not a vegetarian, you’re a meat eater.
To all the judgmental vegetarians and vegans out there:
Your unabashed intolerance of anyone unlike you is causing the exact opposite of what you should want. If you want more people to stop eating meat, then stop judging people when they EAT LESS MEAT. Labels are labels – actions are more important than words. If someone calls himself a pescatarian and eats fish, get over it – the ends justify the means. Fewer animals are being slaughtered. Get off your high horses and bend toward the common good.
To MKC: Yes, you are absolutely right, of course. That sort of behavior is very annoying. However words mean what the mean, and the word ‘vegetarian’ does not mean ‘meat eater’. ‘Meat eater’ means ‘meat eater’!
As said in my first post, I’m a meat eater, and even I get annoyed by meat eaters calling themselves vegetarians, it just sounds so stupid, and actually, it is just stupid. Meat, from whatever animal source, is not vegetarian food. Period.
Example: I once lived in a place with a group of people, and a cook. One day, I saw some fish, and I thought: Great, I’ll have some fish for a change. When I tried to take some of the fish, the cook told me that it was for the vegetarians. Now, in this case, the cook knew better (a lot better, in fact), but there were actually people in the group, who called themselves vegetarians, who then went to eat meat! Ridiculous and very annoying, too.
People should just use words for what they mean, and not assign meanings to words that just don’t make any sense.
I havn’t eaten poutry my enitire life and I think red meat is unhealthy for me because I have an illness that suggest we stay away from it…yup diabetes…so I eat fish, shellfish, fruits and vegies. People always ask me if I am a vegetarian, I use to say semi, but really what does that mean. I agree non vegetarians should not say they are vegetarians if they consume animals fish included. So no Iam not a pesco vegetarian I am a pescatarian because the dictionary meaning for a pescatarian is someone who does not eat meat but eats fish. You see being a pescatarian does not infringe on the rights of a vegetarian because the suffix -tarian can be used by any group. You can be fruitarian, pescatarian or you can be a vegetarian and understanding that tarian is not exclusive to vegitable eaters can make life a lil easier for all of us.
some of you people are down right rude!~ excuse me for having questions about a major lifestyle change for me and my family. I simply have questions and am looking for answers. Please dont judge..
*
Alot of your websites are about compasiion for animals and their welfare and yet you “purists” are more concerned w/ your own self righteonous than anything else…
*
obviously most people understand that there are different types of vegatarians thats why people ask for clarification, and most of us do understand that vegan means strict vegetarian.
Doesn any one know of any books or sited that offer actual dietary guidance for familes w/ small children? I am lookung for real answers not some ones snooty opinion. Thank you for your unsderstanding.
*
These same comments are repeating and getting kind of tired, going in circles. So, after my quick reply to elaina, comments are getting turned off for this entry.
Elaina — it sounds to me like you’re the one doing a lot of the judging, coming in and accusing people of being purists (in quotes for some reason) and accusing them of self-righteousness… no one’s dismissing you and the questions you have.
As far as books, Becoming Vegan by Brenda Davis, RD and Vesanto Melina, MS, RD is the main one to look for. Thoroughly researched and it covers all ages. It’s extremely good and should be on everyone’s bookshelf.