A chickeny friend

I was talking with a friend the other day who doesn't eat red meat but eats poultry. I asked her if when she started she was a full-fledged vegetarian, and she said she was, and that she started when she was eleven and was just too lazy to find alternatives so her mom made her eat chicken and such. She's fifteen now and I'm wondering why she still eats poultry, and I want to ask her and suggest that she stops eating it, but I don't want to sound like I'm in her business or anything. She's really touchy about things and I was just wondering if there's any way you think I could go about asking her without having it turn into an argument. Should I just mind my own business?

 

I'd ask her about why she decided to go vegetarian in the first place. I mean, chances are, it's for ethical reasons. But by eating chicken, she's still supporting murder of animals, and it's a fact that chickens are by far the worst treated factory-farmed animals.

I mean, I really don't get why people would eat poultry instead of red meat, especially because it's necessary to kill several animals that belong to the poultry group (chickens, ducks, whatever) to get the same amount of meat as killing one cow. It would make more sense if people ate beef rather than chicken, if they absolutely had to have some meat in their diet.

 

Basically she's not a vegetarian if she eats chicken or other poultry, because, by definition, a vegetarian doesn't eat any animal flesh, be it red meat, poultry or fish. She's probably touchy about it because she knows she's not really vegetarian and doesn't want to have to explain why she eats chicken, especially as she's probably realised there is no reason to eat chicken. If she's a vegetarian for ethical reasons, yet is too lazy to find alternatives, she can't care that much about animal welfare. I think your friend likes eating chicken but likes being seen as a veggie, despite actually not being one.


Summer. xx.

 

Technically, you have pesco-vegetarians (eat fish) and pollo-vegetarians (eat poultry)... but they're not really all that reckognised, at least not by lacto-ovo vegetarians and vegans.

I think that your friend really is trying to avoid animal cruelty and all that stuff, but isn't making such a big effort...

 

Hey, I'm a pesco-pollo vegetarian. Granted, it's not for ethical reasons, but I still try to buy free-range chicken when I can. You should ask her to look into that. Free-range chicken actually tastes better than the other kind and where I live, it's significantly cheaper. Other than that, I'd say mind your business. You have no idea how annoying and counterproductive preachy, self-righteous vegetarians are.


-Kate

 

I know how "annoying" they are, and I'm a vegan actually. But I just think it's hypocritical on her part. I forgot to mention that she rips on people for eating "animal flesh" and tells them how gross it is when they eat red meat, and then when one person might bring up that she eats poultry she'll get defensive and say it's because she needs the nutrients. I'm not sure where I'm going with that, but it still really bugs me.

 

Well, maybe she just cares more about the plight of cows than the plight of chickens. Or maybe she just likes the taste of chicken over beef. Who knows.

 

You're a cannibal vegetarian, Oniko? Do you fall into the category of baby-on-a-stick Vegans? ;-)

So, ummm, for the pesco-pollo vegetarian... uhhhh... what exactly is it that you don't eat, that makes you call yourself vegetarian?

 

There's nothing wrong with that. No one's saying she can't eat chicken, or that she should be argued with all the time- she's just not a vegetarian. Vegetarians by definition don't eat any flesh. That's the whole point of it.

Summer. xx.

 

hehehehehe! That cracked me up.

 

I don't eat beef, pork, or lamb. I do this for environmental reasons--to be honest, I really don't give a rat's ass if a fucking chicken is tortured and murdered. I do not put chickens in the same category as humans--period.

I only called myself a vegetarian because the guy before mentioned the pesco-pollo vegetarianism and I fit into that category. If you don't think I'm a real vegetarian, then fine. I don't really care. In fact, I'd prefer not to associate myself with the self-righteous morons who so commonly (but not always) occupy the label of "vegetarian".

-Kate

 

Same here. Even more so because in my case it is actually totally true.

TTFN

Sage

 

Quite simply I think, if you don't want to be known as a vegetarian, don't tell people you are. I'm not trying to be mean or anything, just seems a way to avoid trouble If you don't really care, why argue it in the first place? The issue here was with the girl getting arsey with people eating red meat but eating chicken herself, and people here, including myself, were pointing out that she wasn't a vegetarian. It gives us veggies a bad name and means we have to put up with people thinking that chicken and fish isn't meat. To me, all the label veg*an says is that you don't eat flesh.

Peace,
Summer. xx.

 

Well said, Summer.

 

yeah, that was well put.

as for the whole 'i'm a vegetarian 'coz I only eat white meat" that your friend is talking about, - isn't that kind of like saying "I'm a virgin, coz I only have sex with white guys"?

a white meat eating vego - it just seems kind of like an oxymoron....

 

Re: didge

That was really hilarious, lol, I think you need to add that category of vegetarians to Astro's categories...

Re: Strawberry_Fields_Forever

If you think vegetarians are self-righteous morons, then fine, just don't call yourself a vegetarian and we'll all be happy

Re: FrozenMoonbeam

I love that analogy!! That was SO well put... I'm gonna use it next time my friend calls herself a vegetarian, because she doesn't eat any meat except chicken that is served at Burger King ;-)

Re: Oniko

What are you talking about??! Nobody ever deletes posts on this site. It's a free speech site. You can voice your opinion freely, without being censored, and the webmaster is really open-minded and accepts all kinds of constructive criticism/complaints.

You must have got it all wrong...

 

Me? No way!! How could you think such a thing??!?! I truly believe what I said about the site. I'm sure you can ask anyone else on the site and they'll back me up

 

Its great you dont eat cows/pigs/sheep, good for you and i dont care what people call themselves, vegetarian or whatever, every effort to help animals, well it helps animals.
But you dont need to regard chickens on same level as human in order to be kind to them...to me thats not an excuse for hurting them. I think you do care... why? causes i dont understand how someone who cares enough to eat to stop eating cows/pigs/sheep does not care if chickens get tortured. doesnt make sense to me cause it takes a lot of kindness to stop eating any animals.

to the first poster maybe you could jsut ask your freind why she eats chicken and then tell her how they get hurt and feel pain. If she gets upset, thats not your fault and she will get over it.
There is no need for you to feel you shouldnt say anything, if shes happy with eating chicken then she should be able to handle you talking to her about it.

 

Clawsy:

I base it on this: There are certain animals I would be willing to kill, i.e. insects, fish, other kinds of seafood, and yes, chickens (anyone who thinks they like chickens has obviously never lived in an environment where they wake you up at 3 every morning) assuming of course that I would be eating them and not just killing them, with the exception of insects. Cows, pigs, sheep, and any other animal I would not be willing to kill, for reasons I can't fully explain. Maybe it's because they're cuter, or bigger, or fuzzier (hey, at least I'm honest ) Whatever the reason, at least I am not being a hypocrite by eating animals I would not be willing to kill myself. Another thing about the beef issue is that the beef industry destroys the environment, which to me is a much bigger issue than just "don't hurt the poor animals!"

-Kate

 

mmmmmmmm shish-kebaby