(veg•e•tar•i•an, noun)
The answer to this question seems obvious, right? Ask anyone on the street and they are likely to tell you it’s “a person who doesn’t eat meat.” But this is only partly true.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines “vegetarian” as “a person who does not eat meat or fish.”
The Vegetarian Society says that:
‘A vegetarian is someone who does not eat any meat, poultry (that’s chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese to you and me) , game (any animal caught by hunters) ,fish, shellfish, or crustacea (like lobsters), or any kind of slaughterhouse by-products (such as gelatine or rennet).'
So what do vegetarians eat?
Lots of things! One of the great things about a vegetarian diet is
that it is full of healthy, fresh, nutritious, delicious food!
We don’t just eat salad. We eat pasta, pizza, curry, rice,
cheese, beans, jacket potatoes, eggs, a luscious variety of fruits
and vegetables. We even eat ice cream, chocolate, chips and crisps!
The only things we don’t eat are those foods for which an
animal (including fish) had to die.
For some easy vegetarian recipes click here
What types of vegetarians are there?
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lacto-ovo vegetarians are the most common type of vegetarian. They
eat vegetables, fruit, pulses (peas, lentils and beans) and grains
(such as wheat, oats and rice) and supplement their diet with eggs
and dairy products (milk, cream, cheese and yoghurts).
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Lacto-vegetarians eat dairy products but no eggs.
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Ovo-vegetarians eat eggs but no dairy products.
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Vegan diets are totally plant based and do not include eggs, dairy
produce or any kind of animal product, including honey. For more
details visit The Vegan Society.
What is gelatine?
Gelatine is made by boiling the ligaments, tendons, skin and bones
of pigs and cattle in water. Gelatine is generally used as an emulsifier (an additive often used to stabilise processed food) or thickening
agent, and can turn up in low-fat yoghurts, ice cream and confectionery
(including lots of jelly sweets and even mints).
What is rennet?
Rennet is an enzyme taken from the stomach of a slaughtered calf
and is used to curdle milk to make cheese. Vegetarian cheese is
made from non-animal-based rennet. Most UK cheese manufacturers
use vegetarian rennet so just look out for packs marked suitable
for vegetarians.
What else don’t
vegetarians eat?
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Animal fat refers to fat made from the tissues and
bones of slaughtered animals. It is used in the manufacture of some
margarines, cakes, pastries and biscuits. Non-vegetarian suet and
lard are types of animal fat.
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Many vegetarians will only eat free-range eggs because of objections
to the battery farming of hens (battery farming is where hens are
put into cages when they are very young and stay there for about
a year, at which point they are taken out to be slaughtered). The
Vegetarian Society only endorses products containing eggs if the
eggs are certified as being free-range. To find out more read our
information sheet on laying hens.
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Vegetarians do not eat fish!!!! See The Vegetarian
Society's Fish Campaign
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For more information on vegetarian stumbling blocks, click here.
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