Today I read an article on BBC, The rise of the non-veggie vegetarian and it really struck a cord with me.  I’m a vegetarian.  To be extremely specific, I’m a lacto-ovo vegetarian.  I don’t eat meat but I will consume dairy and egg products.  I love cheese and eggs and see no need to give them up.  It was a process over many years for me to become a vegetarian and I did it for personal health reasons.

The article points out the misuse of vegetarian by people who consume fish and/or seafood.  Those people are pescetarian, not vegetarian.  Unfortunately it’s become very common for people to say things like, “I’m a vegetarian.  Oh yes, I eat fish.”  Which is extremely frustrating.  For about 6 months I would occasionally eat shrimp, lobster or fish.  Never during that time did I claim I was vegetarian, because it was not true.  I gave up all meat over a year ago and feel comfortable saying I’m a vegetarian.

The very common misuse of the term vegetarian has made my personal life slightly frustrating.  When I tell people I’m a vegetarian, I’m often asked “But you eat fish, right?”  This gets old fast.  It doesn’t take me long to correct them to the fact that I don’t eat any meat, but why is the assumption that I would eat meat?  I used the term vegetarian!

I really wish people who eat some meat would stop misusing the term vegetarian.  I couldn’t care less that they eat meat, I just don’t like the assumption that I do.