What is the ethical justification for pescetarianism? & Some other questions.
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I'm myself a vegetarian, eating dairy and eggs. I abandoned meat eating due to ethical and health reasons.
I was first vegan for years, but I couldn't maintain it primarily due to being constantly hungry and never feeling satisfied (6'2" 230 lbs), even though I actually gained weight (yes, I'm aware of whole foods, fiber, etc.). I also highly disliked how cooking intensive it is, but that's another topic.
I switched to vegetarianism, and things like quark / cottage cheese and eggs helped somewhat. I was thinking of switching back to meat eating, but I'm quite disgusted by the whole practice (the eggs I buy are sold by local farmers), and the ethical arguments are very solid against it.
Recently I've heard that ancient vegetarians (such as among the Greeks) did not consider fish to belong in the category of meat, which made me look up pescetarianism. Fish also represent a grey area among Indian vegetarians, with some eating it and some considering it impermissible (on the grounds of religion).
I'm interested in how pescetarians would defend their ethics, and on what grounds they consider the eating of fish as permissible but not the eating of other meat (like chicken, cow, etc.). I'd also like some insights on the health front; since vegans mention the heavy metals in fish.
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I was a vegetarian for five years before switching to a pescatarian diet. The reason for the dietary change was mostly for convenience and wanting more variety in my diet, rather than any ethical reasons.
Ethically speaking, I would be willing to kill a fish as opposed to a chicken, pig, cow, etc.
I will and have killed fish, filleted, cooked and eaten them. I won't do this to other animals (except maybe chickens, but I don't currently eat chicken).
That said, commercial fishing is an entirely unsustainable business the way we do it, so I'm likely going vegan at some point in the not too distant future.
I’m not pescatarian for animal rights reasons, but it might be interesting to add to your list that Jewish people who keep kosher also do not consider fish to be “meat” - obviously not dairy either so it fits in with veggies and can go with either a meat or a dairy meal. There are restrictions on what types of fish can be eaten. Again though it’s not about animal rights for people who eat that way.
It's not ethical and I don't try to explain it away. The only people that I feel like I can criticize without being a hypocrite are all of those fat dudes with the "eat beef" license plates, and they make their whole personality about meat, but they've only ever bought it at the store or eat fast food.
I can plainly see the fear when I pull a fish from its environment. All I can do is smack it on its head ASAP and hope it didn't suffer too much. It's exactly the same "steel your feelings" that you need for killing a fellow mammal (like butchering a deer), but there's much less time to have to dwell on it. Bump, chop, slice, slice, done. Having a dog helps me feel less bad, since any part that I don't want or old freezer-burned fish can be used for dog food.
As far as metals and contaminants, I'm going to gamble that pescetarians don't eat fish for every meal or even every day. I don't even eat it every week. There are a few recommendations I follow, such as limiting tuna, or keeping an eye on water quality alerts in local lakes. I'm the most worried about worms - some fish are just riddled with parasites! But fish really are a good source of many nutrients for people that are on restricted diets.
I am also a vegetarian for ethical reasons. AND I was a vegan for a couple years. I would like to quit eating seafood, and I would like to go back to vaganism. But I have Crohn’s disease and there are so few things I can eat that don’t tear my insides apart. I can’t eat a ton of beans or legumes or tofu, and I need to get protein from somewhere. So I eat eggs and peanut butter. I don’t eat a ton of seafood but I do when I need it for nutrition reasons. In short, I don’t think it’s ethically justified. I wish I could stop. I won’t go back to other meats. But I have to be able to eat SOMETHING.
Honestly I didn't really consider ethics when switching from a "normal" diet to a pescetarian one. Personally I don't care about animal suffering, but I do care about the disadvantages of intense agriculture to the environment and about my health.
I also know about industrial fishing and how bath it is for the aquatic fauna, as well as the problem with mercury, but for the moment I don't really consider going full vegan.
I am conscientious omnivore.
I won't eat where the animal is suffering, veal, goose liver, factory chicken, etc.
My eggs must be true free range, not just a 5x5 outside pen. You can tell the different in a outside living chicken. You drop one of their eggs, it just crushes in one side and doesn't get all over your floor. Almost as if not keeping them cooped up makes them more healthy and producing harder shelled eggs... who would have thought?
When it comes to beef, same thing. I don't eat it often, but I will pay extra for something that is healthier.
Your size and weight doesn't matter, I got 50lbs on you and can go for extended periods of time without any meat products without feeling hungry. Hunger is more an issue of not having something in your gut than not having nutrition. Want to see hungry vanish? Next time you got a hunger pang, drink a bit of pickle brine. When I went on a 18/6 intermittent fasting to fix a bowel issue and this was my way to curb hunger and it worked, especially if it was hitting me around bed time.
Another great filler is shirotaki noodles. They go 10% of the calories of a equal amount of wheat or rice noodles and help form some nice BMs. You will feel very full after eating 20-30 calories of these things.
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