When is a Veggie NOT a Veggie?

You’d think that was a fairly easy question, wouldn’t you, but some people have real difficulty with it. The problem arises when people say “I’m a vegetarian” when they quite clearly aren’t; you know the sort….they sometimes eat fish, or bacon, or maybe even chicken!!!

The trouble is, these people who call themselves veggies really make things a lot harder for the rest of us. It’s still common to be offered fish as a ‘veggie’ option on a menu, but it isn’t too surprising when so many alleged veggies are quite happy to eat fish.

Here's a little anecdote to illustrate my point: Before I retired I used to work at a hospital, where you might think a chef would know something about diet. One day in the canteen the 'veggie' option was tuna pasta bake! I asked to speak to the chef who got quite shirty with me when I asked, innocently "What vegetable is a tuna, exactly?" I got just as shirty back and told him he was in the wrong job if he couldn't distinguish a fish from a vegetable!

Unbelievably, I recently saw someone on a food forum say “I don’t eat meat but I do eat fish and chicken”! I so wanted to reply “Fish and chicken ARE meat, you brainless cretin!” I didn’t, because I’m far too well-mannered, but oh, I wanted to!

So to end my rant, if you eat bacon, fish, chicken etc. that’s fine, it’s your life and your prerogative…I’m happy for you. But could you do the rest of us a favour and please stop calling yourself a bloody vegetarian?!

Thank you.


I've included this picture of peppers, just because it's cheerful and I like it.