Chook Me!

Where did the idea of eating poultry meats get included in vegetarian diets?

Not everyone who is a vegetarian will eat chicken (I don't) but when some people cook for me, they will give me poultry, and tell me it's vegetarian because chicken is poultry I don't understand this, where does this idea come from?

Public Comments

1. I have no clue.. but I know that some people are... my friend was a poultry vegetarian .. its weird because it kinda defeats the purpose right? But if someone says that poultry is vegetarian you ask them, " Since when was meat included in vegetarian food?"
2. maybe they have the idea that vegetarians don't eat meat and poultry is not meat.... i really don't know though
3. I'm still trying to understand why fish is considered vegetarian.
4. It's meat, it's the muscles of an animal, that's meat. I guess they think because it's not red meat it's different, then that means fish and pork are okay too.I always thought it was anything with a face was off limits.
5. Well, I've never seen a chicken tree or a fish plant, so I don't know who thought that they were vegetables. But this is one of the stupidest things - ever.
6. ignorance, basically. People generally interchange the words "meat" and "beef." When they want steak, they say "meat", but when they want chicken, they say "chicken." Same problem with fish-- people figure fish isn't meat. You have to explain to them any food that comes from any animals (including broths) is meat. People who eat meat in any form are not vegetarians.
7. The idea came from guilt-ridden idiots who convinced themselves that they could still be vegetarian if they ate a certain dead bird. It's stupid, it's preposterous, and eating chicken does NOT make one a vegetarian. Anyone who thinks so is fooling themself. Tell the people who cook for you that eating a dead bird isn't part of the vegetarian lifestyle.
8. Ok we have got to stop saying "Vegetarian's don't eat meat so I can eat poultry" NO! we should say "Vegetarian's don't eat animal flesh" Simple and short vegetarians do not eat any animal nor do they take part in eating gelatin and some retain from eggs and dairy or both.
9. I never understood this. When I was just eating poultry, I would tell people that I didn't eat red meat, I was not a vegetarian. The thing that really bothers me about it is the fact that you are killing so many more chickens and fish just eating those than you would if you ate red meat. From personal experience, you are really killing a lot of poultry, because I would only eat chicken breasts because the fat and any veins would gross me out, understandably. I don't know how many breasts people think chickens have, but last time i counted it was two. All I know is yuck either way vegetarian=vegetables. Chicken=not vegetables.
10. Finally someone who has the exact same problem I do! My family and friends are under the impression that chicken is not meat. Technically it is not in the "meat" category. Generally cows are. I'm guessing that people think that when we don't eat "meat" they get technical and automatically think red meat. But I have the same problem and it gets on my nerves so much! They have just now-after 3 years- realized that I don't eat chicken.
11. Those people tell you that for one of two reasons: 1. They had a friend or family member who claimed to be vegetarian but also ate chicken, so they think that chicken = vegetarian-friendly. 2. They don't understand what a "food group" is. I can't tell you how often I've heard people say something like, "I'm giving up all dairy 'cause they say we're all lactose intolerant, so no more milk, eggs, or cheese for me." Yeah, they honestly think that eggs, which fall out of chicken vagina, is somehow the same stuff that comes from a cow's udders. Yeah. YEAH. Really geniuses there. In short, some douche bag convinced them that chicken = vegetarian, or they're too stupid to understand what "meat" is.