oysters and clams

my motto is that if it has a face I won't eat it. But clams and oysters don't have faces.
Do you guys still eat these "creatures" or not? I've talked to some and it seems to be a fifty-fifty tie~!

 

Funny you should say that. My bf's motto is "I don't eat bugs, and if you keep your bones on the outside of your body, you're a bug." So no, we don't eat shellfish.

 

No fish or seafood at all for me. I'm really not sure if clams/oysters can feel pain, but I prefer to stick with plants, cuz I know they can't. Plus, ocean critters, especially bottom-dwelling shellfish, tend to be chock full of pollutants like mercury since our oceans are so messed up.

 

Yea shrimp are the cockroachs of the sea, oysters are there to filter the water. All shellfish are nasty.

 

Geez, when I was little and someone said they were vegetarian it meant that u didn't eat meat......usually thought that meant beef, pork, chicken, fish,....u know, any animal that was alive once upon a time. But now people want to complicate everything.



1. What does a "vegetarian diet" mean? The term "vegetarian" is really a misnomer, since vegetarians eat more than just vegetables. Vegetarian simply means a plant-based diet. There are several kinds of vegetarian diets, defined by what types of foods are consumed.

• A strict vegetarian, a vegan, avoids all foods of animal origin, including meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, and eggs.

Pesco-vegetarians eat fish, dairy products, and eggs along with plant foods.

 

I dont get you...youve got to make a decision whether or not to eat shellfish sooner or later...i wouldnt say it was complicating things...

 

P.s-Im vegan and no, do not eat shellfish

 

Also, labels aside, diet is always a personal thing. Some may be comfortable with their "plant based diet" and also be comofortable eating a clam but not a pig...Its personal choice

 

so eat a clam then, eat a whole bushel of fried clams in tartar sauce for all I care.
I was just saying that anyone who eats any fish/shellfish is not what I grew up thinking as a veggie

 

I ate fish for the first few months after I stopped eating other meat. But technically if you eat any animals, you're not really a vegetarian. Flesh is flesh, whether it comes from a land animal or an aquatic one. Everyone has to decide where they draw the line for themselves, labels aside...

 

Same here
Not that I ate oysters before then anyway, they just looked too disgusting. Fish was the first thing I gave up, just the way it happened.

 

For me it's not really about labels. I honestly don't give a rat's ass about labels. I don't tell people I'm "a vegetarian" but instead I go at it one thing at a time. If somebody asks whether I want to eat this or that, I'll say "no, I don't eat [insert food here]". If someone is preparing a meal for a dinner party or something, I usually specify that I "don't eat meat" and steer clear of all animal products for the evening because I don't know the source of the food, or the ingredient list (In cases like this, I usually end up just having a large serving of salad).
When I'm cooking for myself at home as usual, I try to always stick to free range/organic dairy, and I will occasionally eat free range salmon. Salmon is the only animal I ever eat, and it's only once in a great while.

I probably shouldn't even be posting on this forum, since every time I mention these habits I get jumped on for not being a "real vegetarian".

 

Hey I respect that, it's the people who proclaim themselves vegetarian but still eat fish/chicken/bacon*/whatever that pisses me off. That just messes things up for everyone (omnis get confused, vegs get prawn cocktail ... that was not a happy family gathering).

Is it really too much to ask that if people are going to conciously adopt/use a label that they actually know what it means and live by the [general consensus] defintion thereof? Otherwise seriously WTF is the point?

*yes really, I don't know in what kind of paralel universe that would make sense, but there you go.

 

Well, like I said I try not to label myself, but I can see how some people might feel it's necessary to label themselves with something more "extreme" than would match their private behavior. Because like I said, I will eat dairy and salmon on occasion in my own home, if I know the origin of the food and feel it's okay. But I don't eat those items when offered to me in a restaurant or even a friend's house. If I'm given the choice between telling someone I'm vegetarian, even though my personal home diet isn't always, or not telling them and having to turn down a zillion things or have a friend slave to make a main course I won't come near, I'll choose the former. (Did that make any sense? I should sleep more before trying to take part in intelligent conversation...)

 

No, i dont eat clams, Im what people term a vegan

 

Yes that totally makes sense.
That's the only reason I use the term anyway, it's just a useful shorthand (though I still get people wondering if I eat fish ... no, damnit).

 

Beers & Clams rocks ! Jersey Shore Style !


no I'm not a vegan

 

Oh crap i wrote out a long reply then lost it

What i wanted to say is, the aboveis all true...however im not sure we should be so quick to hand out the rules and regulations

We all know that thats what the terms "vegetarian" and "vegan" mean. But diet is a highly personal thing, and each person must decide what they will/wont eat in their own time.

I dont like to see a "you eat this so youre not in our club" attitude...I could understand it with a full-on meat eater, but these are people who are making an effort and are helping our causes...Having cut out cow, pig, sheep meat etc from the diet is a huge, respectable step to have taken, and although eating clams and things is still bending the rules, in COMPARISON to the mass destruction aided by meat eaters this is small...

Im vegan, and i fit your description of a vegan. I dont even eat honey. Yet i know some people who are otherwise vegan in very other respect but do eat honey. To me their vast effort still makes them vegan

All this aside, when we have tight rules/tell people theyre not "real" vegs all the time etc, its a little offputting. We should be encouraging people in all possible ways. This includes praising for what they do not include in their diet rather than condemning for what they do

-Maxi