Basically, it was all about not actually killing a sentient being for a human to eat. Not biological classification. The grey area was the indirect killing involved in the diary industry.

Vegan can eat oysters, by that definition. And I know they eat salmon. And lie about it.

Then it's the wrong term for that. Vegetarianism implies you eat nothing but vegetables.

And my vegan friends agree.

But for me? I'm just a picky eater. I eat what agrees with both my body and taste buds.

It is the term used by the Vegetarian Society of the UK since its foundation in the early 20th century. So over the years it is how hundreds of thousands of people described their way of eating. If you are entirely plant-based then you are Vegan. If you call yourself a Vegan but eat eggs, cheese, fish or beef then you are telling fibs.

In the 1970s some vegetarians would qualify themselves as ovo-vegetarian, lacto-vegetarian, pesco-vegetarians or combinations thereof. The later had to do with not eating anything with a cute face, so apparently fish were OK.

I was a vegetarian for a couple of years (to lose weight and "for health"; neither were sustainable) and ate veggie burgers, but I made everything from scratch from real food, following Moosewood Cookbook, Indian curry and Mexican recipes, soaking beans or using a pressure cooker or slow-cooker very rarely stooping to use canned legumes. Plenty of flavour from real herbs & spices. Rather than thickeners I still use techniques like putting part of a soup or stew's vegetables in the blender and then adding them back to the pot. Big batches with extras frozen in individual servings has been my time saver for 50 years!

And those 7 supplements just get you up to the RDA to prevent common diseases of malnutrition, not optimal levels of vitamins & minerals.

Seems to me they just want to be in the vegetarian cult.

What's next after pesco?

Fowlo? Porko? Beefo?

So I'm a lacto-ovo-pesco-fowlo-porko-beefo vegetarian. But I'm still a finiky eater. If I don't like the taste, if it has too many carbs, or it doesn't agree with me, I don't eat it.

I have a friend who eats seafood, dairy, and veggies. He calls himself a pescatarian, but not a vegetarian.

For me, a vegetarian eats nothing but plants. As soon as one adds any animal products, they are an omnivore.

But if some people want to be in the vegetarian cult and still eat animal products, I guess it's OK.

Bob