veganism: I'm quite curious about, veganism and, vegetarianism. No meat or, animal products? Why do some, vegetarians eat fish? Aren't they animals too? Just want to know more about it...|||vegetarians who eat fish aren't vegetarians, since vegetarians don't eat animals. people who consume fish and no other animals are called pescatarians. some vegetarians consume milk and eggs, they are called lacto-ovo vegetarians. vegans don't consume or purchase any animal or animal byproduct (i.e. leather, feathers, suede, etc.) or companies that test their products on animals. basically, anything that involves the suffrage of animals is not to be eaten, bought, used, etc. there are people who eat a vegan diet, but they should not be labeled vegans, as they are just doing it for health reasons (which is one of the many benefits of a vegan diet) but they are not living the lifestyle. if you're interested in becoming a vegetarian or vegan, i strongly encourage you to try it. like i said before, there are many health benefits: most animals are injected with growth hormones and antibiotics which are passed into your body when you eat them. the growth hormones increase the risk of cancer in humans and the antibiotics increase your immunity to other antibiotics. as for moral reasons: factory farming is at the top of the list. peta.org is a good place to gather information on this. i strongly recommend that you check out the video on their website called "meat is murder". peta (people for the ethical treatment of animals) is kind of a fundamentalist organization and i personally think they are about as effective as the jehovah's witnesses that come pounding on your door. they over dramatize most facts, but they still present the facts, nontheless. once again, give it a shot. being a vegan is a lot easier than most people think. it's just a lot of label reading at the grocery store. but you'd be surprised at how much of the food you already eat is accidentally vegan. did you know oreos and nutter butters are vegan? they are so artificial that they somehow managed to leave out any animal products. (yay!) if you have the funds, i highly recommend you buy "how it all ve-gan" or if you have a local bookstore/distro try to get your hands on a zine called "soy not oi!" it's not only full of delcious recipes, but has lots of stories about becoming vegan and tips on things to watch out for (things like calcium phosphate [animal bones and teeth] and rennet [found in most cheeses, it is the stomach lining of an unweaned calf]) hope this information is of use to you.|||yes fish are animals too but some vegetarians eat it because of the essentials oils and such. vegans are the ones who eat NO animal byproducts. vegetarians will still eat eggs and milk and whatnot. but yeah, i'm still sort of confused about the fish thing myself.|||I think Veganism is when they don't get fish, eggs, and dairy. Mostly they eat veggies, fruit, soy. So cakes, breads, cookies, would be out of their diet too.|||There are many different types and reasons for vegetarianism. Vegetarians in general have a wide veriety of reasons for doin it, such as dietary or health restrictions. For vegans it is more of a moral issue, such as the Linus not wanting to kill a tree. As a note, I find vegans very annoying since they try to push their "communist" views on everybody.|||Some vegetarians choose to not eat animals for cruelty reasons, while some others do it primarily for health. Fish, even though they are animals, have healthier flesh than mammals or birds - in fact it can be pretty healthy stuff! So those primarily concerned with health reasons might still eat fish because it's healthy. Some vegetarians eat fish, but only when they are out at restaurants. The reason for this is that it's easier to find something to eat at a restaurant if you eat fish. Some people believe it's worse to eat a mammal or a bird than a fish, because fish seem to be less advanced than mammals or birds. Fish are also a lot more different from us humans than mammals or birds, so it's easier to eat something that doesn't look so much like us.|||But...eating meat is healthier than not eating it... Your right though, fish is even healthier, fish is the single healthierst food around these days.|||I think people pretty much answered the 'why' part for you. It's different for each person. I just wanted to let you know of a few false statements in the previous answers. 1- Vegans can still eat cookies, cakes and things. They just use milk and egg replacements in their baking. 2- It is not healthier to eat meat than to not eat meat. Our bodies were made to live off a diet of mostly plants with very little meat. If you choose to eat meat, the healthiest amount would be about two servings a week. 3- Fish is NOT the healthiest food out there. It may be the healthiest meat to eat, I'm not sure, but soy (found in many meat substitutes) is much healthier than any type of meat.|||Vegetarians dont eat fish. Just because someone calls themself a vegetarian does not mean they are one. Vegans are the ones that avoid all animal products.