Why are you a Vegetarian but not a Vegan, or why do you eat chicken/fish but not other animals?

I was interested to know why some people felt they had enough jusification to become a vegetarian but not a vegan.
And why some people feel justified to eat fish or chicken but not other animals.

I'm vegan now, but I will tell you why I wasn't before.

It was ignorance.

I thought by being vegetarian I no longer had a part in animal slaughter. I thought that it was good enough, and that veganism was just "too extreme."

I didn't know that male calves in dairy cow breeding went on to become veal.

I didn't know that male chicks in egg chicken breeding were ground up live into fertilizer or simply suffocated in garbage bags.

I wish I had found out sooner.

ok im not 100% Vegetarian i eat chicken fish i drink milk ect i just dont eat red meat because i dont like the tast and white meat is much healthier any way. being a Vegan is a personal choice

well i read a book about a native American group. they ate many different animals but they believed that fishes were holy, other groups thought that fished were cursed so if you ate them you would be cursed too

Justification? For me it's all about suffering. I can't justify the modern methods used to produce meat, and I would have a hard time doing the killing myself, so I choose to be a vegetarian. On the other hand, most of the dairy cows in my area (northern California) live a pretty sweet life, and I only buy organic to ensure that they aren't being pumped up with hormones and antibiotics. And free range chickens don't endure the hell that the average egg layer does.
I guess I feel I can be guilt-free without being a total vegan.

Vegetarians can't call themselves that and eat chicken or fish! Vegans are vegetarian, but do not eat dairy or eggs, in addition.
You're right, it sounds like "some people" as you call them don't know what a vegetarian is! I eat fish and chicken but don't like other meats, based on personal choice, and I don't call myself a vegetarian.

i hate the way red meat tastes, i don't mind the way poultry tastes and i like seafood. no moral or ethical issues at all. some animals were put on this earth to be food, whether for humans or other animals. i just don't like the flavor of some of them. i don't consider myself to be a vegetarian but i could easily become one and never miss any of the meat.

I would like to take my vegetarianism that further step and become a vegan. I have cut down on dairy & eggs, and don't eat honey anyway (do you know how bees produce honey? The word 'regurgitation' comes into play quite a lot!). Drinking cow's milk & eating cheese doesn't make sense as it's still supporting the slaughterhouse industry, and is something I find hard to justify.

It's something that I'm doing gradually and hopefully one day soon, I'll be able to call myself vegan.

Red meat to me is just heavy on my digestive system for hours. I want to eat light. I do only eat chicken and fish 98% of the time and eat pork 1% of the time and red meat 1 to 0% most of the time.
It's just a healthier choice to me.

I don't really eat dairy foods either. If and when I do it is only 1% to .5% of the time.

Hope this helps.

I dont eat dead animals, but I do enjoy fresh raw milk from my happy cow, and eggs from well cared for chickens. I live a vegan lifestyle in all other regards, even going as far as to make my own cosmetics, cleansers, detergents, etc., so I know that they contain no animal products and were not tested on animals. We donated all of our leather, wool, and other animal clothing to charity. I think some people get there in their own time, in their own way. I still ate fish at first, but gave that up when I was ready, then shellfish after that. I drink mostly homemade rice or almond milk, but I consider the milk from my cow to be a gift-she doesnt mind giving it up, she has more than enough for her calf, and I churn it into butter and make homemade cheese with it, using vegetarian rennet.

People who say they are vegetarian or vegan because they are opposed to the killing of animals for food should pause a moment and think. Are they wearing leather shoes?, do they wear a leather belt?, does the wife or girlfriend carry a leather
purse or handbag? ,do they go home and lounge on a leather settee. Lets face it-we can't do without leather and
leather comes from animals the rest of us kill for food.

I am not a vegetarian, but have friends that are. No flesh of any kind, including fish and chicken. I believe they call themselves lacto ovo vegetarians, meaning they do eat animal by-products such as milk, cheese, eggs, etc. I think vegan means no flesh and no animal by-products.
No one died and left me God in a Dress, so I pass judgement on no one. I will support the eating habits of my friends. I enjoy alot of vegetarian and vegan foods.

Many people avoid meat for reasons other than ethical reasons. I know several people who will occasionally eat white meat but not red meat because it is usually leaner and lower in cholesterol. This however is *not* vegetarianism.

On the ethical subject, many people are comfortable eating eggs, cheese, etc. because animals are not slaughtered to produce these foods. Others become true vegans because animals may still be mistreated to produce them.

I think there is a difference between principle and taste.

I'm a vegan so I don't anymore.

I used to be vegetarian but that was ignorance-like Vegan a few answers above me-as soon as I learned of the cruelty involved in the dairy and egg industry I became a vegan.

I call myself a "selfish" vegetarian, because I don't eat any meat or fish purely because I don't like the taste of it. I don't think killing animals for food is wrong which is why I couldn't be a vegan. Besides that, I LOVE honey and vegans shouldn't eat that either.

im a vegetarian, i dont eat any meat what so ever! i think people who say they are vege but eat chicken are clearly not vege lol, it jus contradicts there 'belief'. its wierd tho, im not a vege because i hate killing animals etc but because i have a phobia of findin grissal and chewy bits in my food. ( yeh u can say it, im strange lol)

Vegitarian and Vegan should mean the same thing.

I still don't know what vegitable eggs, cheese, chicken or fish come from.

I have been a Vegan for over 4 years now and I appreciate the fact that vegitarians (so called) are walking in the right direction but your point about it seeming hypocritical is a valid one.

If you knew how much torture was involved with eating any animal product you probably would decide to become Vegan too.

http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?...

I'm not, I eat the diet I evolved to eat, and that includes meat.

As for why some people call themselves veggies but eat chicken .... they're hypocrites

I am a vegan

Chicken and fish do not feel pain, so it is okay to eat them. However, I have been eating a vegetarian diet, so I only eat chicken or fish in small amounts.

I believe Vegetarians do not want to kill living things. However, some very strict vegetarians like the Jain sect in India do not eat root vegetables because they believe it destroys the plant. I also know of other sects who only eat seeds and beans because they believe that green leaves and shoots are living things too. Hindus don't eat beef because the cow is sacred to them. Muslims and Jews don't eat pork. Respectfully and inoffensively, I believe that people who take these vegetarian beliefs to extremes are very wierd, to say the least. We have to realise that every time you wash your hands you are killing thousands of micro-organisms. Every time you swallow any food into your stomach, you are killing micro-organisms with the hydrochloric acid in your stomach. Every time you take a walk in the park, you are killing ants and other insects that you step on. Similarly, every time you take anti-biotics for a bacterial infection, you are killing the bacteria that are making you sick so you can get better. The tears in your eyes are killing micro-organisms to protect your sight, so are the white blood cells in all our bodies. And when you spray insecticide against mosquitoes, cockroaches, houseflies, termites, etc. what do you think you are doing? And if you do not want to eat chicken meat but you eat the eggs, what do you think you are doing? Isn't the egg new life for the chicken?As you may have guessed by now, I am not a vegetarian.

the light white meat,moderation is best

I am justified in eating any animal I want. It's just that some of them taste better than others.