The rise of the non-veggie vegetarian
   Vegetarianism used to be simple - its protagonists foreswore the flesh
   who eat no meat but don't call themselves vegetarians. What happened?
   "Yeah, I'm a vegetarian."
   "vegetarian" and their interrogator cover the issue of what is an
   animal and whether fish feel pain. But the Vegetarian Society, which
   has acted as the custodian of British vegetarianism since 1847, has a
   "A vegetarian does not eat any meat, poultry, game, fish, shellfish or
   The society tackles the issue of fish-eating vegetarians with a page
   headed in red capitals: "VEGETARIANS DO NOT EAT FISH."
   Juliet Gellatley, director of the vegan and vegetarian group Viva, is
   vegetarian.
   "It does cause confusion if someone who calls themselves a vegetarian
   Many of the fish-eating vegetarians will be making a dietary exception
   intake is thought to help fight heart disease. Vegetarian organisations
   Classic vegetarian: Eats no part of any dead animal
   There may also be a tendency among some fish-eating vegetarians to
   something that is vehemently rejected by vegetarians.
   Vegetarian escalator
   Fish-eating vegetarians used to have their own term - "pescetarian" -
   says, there is a rise in the use of a new term for the part-vegetarian.
   Eschew on that - vegetarians typically start by giving up red meat
   But for vegetarian activists, anybody taking on the vegetarian badge
   says Ms Gellately, alluding to a virtual vegetarian escalator.
   see vegetarianism as aspirational."
   fish-eating vegetarianism, concrete numbers are not easy to come by.
   classic vegetarianism is now stagnant. It rose from 0.2% of the
   "I am a vegetarian". But the Food Standards Agency's recent Public
   strictly vegetarian, and 5% partly vegetarian.
   Viva cites a survey done on behalf of the Linda McCartney vegetarian
   vegetarian these days.
   Vegetarian food has had some powerful backers
   She was raised mostly as a vegetarian, but given fish for health
   reasons. She became an orthodox vegetarian at university but then
   "I was brought up as a vegetarian. We were given the choice when we
   [when young]. When I became a proper vegetarian I started to get quite
   eating an animal. She uses the term "vegetarian" almost for the sake of
   One of the reasons it's so hard to assess the level of vegetarianism is
   without necessarily ever calling themselves "vegetarian".
   might well accept the ethical basis of vegetarianism.
   I agree with humane farming methods. In my mind a vegetarian who eats
   fundamentally different from being vegetarian. However, most people
   vegetarian, but I also eat fish". In my experience about half of the
   people who identify themselves as vegetarian have some kind of caveat
   recognised as the vegetarian diet.
   "Oh, you're vegetarian then."
   "No, vegetarians don't eat fish"
   as veggie, whose only adherence to vegetarianism is that they don't eat
   I class myself as vegetarian, but I still eat products than contain
   I was raised vegetarian, by a strict veggie mum. I tried meat, at 13 I
   [when young]. When I became a proper vegetarian I started to get quite
   ill and tired." This statement shows that even amongst vegetarians
   acids found in fish can also be found in a vegetarian diet - minus
   health, vegetarians must educate themselves properly. I have been
   vegetarian for over 20 years, do not eat fish and do not feel "ill and
   Vegetarian Society