Is fish meat?

I was debating some vegetarian on another forum I post on. He says he is a vegetarian but he eats fish(salmon) because fish is not meat. I said to him he must be Catholic LOL. I remember on Fridays during lent when we used to have fish as a child. I would always ask my mom "Mom if we cant eat meat today because of lent how come we can eat fish? Isn't fish meat?" and she would just say "not according tot he church it isn't" HAHA......

Anyway is fish meat? what do ya think?

Websters definition of meat
Noun:

1. The flesh of an animal as food.
2. The flesh of a person's body: "put some meat on your bones!".

I could vote either way, but voted 'no' to respect common usage. Also there is quite a bit of difference between meat and fish, especially boney fish. But it is all "flesh of an animal".

Usually. Over the long term, fish is definitely meat. But in the short term, a fish suckers out on you quite often, and then you're meat. So most of the time and in general yes, but on some days it just isn't.

As the expert on all things vegetarian on this forum - fish is definitely meat. If I tell a random person I'm a vegetarian, sometimes they will say "Oh, I'm a vegetarian too, but I eat fish and chicken". Ok, you're not a vegetarian if you eat any portion of a living animal.

Sorry, had to get that out.

Quote: FinsRule

you're not a vegetarian if you eat any portion of a living animal.

Don't they kill the animal first?

But seriously, I totally agree with you.


From a religious standpoint, fish and meat are different for different reasons.

Regarding Catholic Lent, back in the day, meat was more scarce and expensive, and considered a delicacy, one which was given up for lent.


Jewish Kosher laws also segregate fish from land animals. This is from the rule to keep meat and dairy separate. That stems from a rather obscure line in the Torah which dictates that an animal should not be cooked in it's mother's milk. From this simple law, the rabbis expanded it to mean that no mean and milk should be cooked together for fear of accidentally voilating that law. It was further expanded to mean they can't be consumed in any manner at the same meal. Further, even though only mammals produce milk, because recipies can easily substitute chicken or turkey for the meat ingredient, bird meat is classified as meat, but fish and eggs are not. Fish, even items that sound like meat such as tuna steak, are still excluded from the meat category, because it's hard to confuse a dish made with fish from one made with meat.

I.E. You can make a casserole with meat, veal, chicken, turkey or tuna. To an undescerning palate, of the first four, it may be difficult to tell which is which. Not so for the fish version.

Fish is fish. Meat is meat.
Vegetarians eat vegetables (and fruits, and grains)
Fish is not a vegetable. Vegetarians do not eat fish.
Meat is not a vegetable. Vegetarians do not eat meat.

Quote: SOOPOO

Vegetarians eat vegetables (and fruits, and grains)

What do humanitarians eat? :)


Seriously, fish is not meat, but vegetarians still don't eat it. Poultry is actually not meat too. And also shellfish, insects, reptiles etc.
People, who eat fish, but not meat call themselves pescatarians. Others often refer to them as "fishy people" :)

Both Oxford and Websters define "meat" as the "flesh of an animal or bird as food".

Disctionary.com: "
1. the flesh of animals as used for food.

Fish meat is meat.

If you are a vegeterian, you don't eat meat, and shouldn't eat fish.

Quote:

Both Oxford and Websters define "meat" as the "flesh of an animal or bird as food".

Technically, bird is an animal ... Evidently, they don't know that. Can you be sure, they know that fish is animal too? :)
Forget dictionary, just go to a grocery store, and try to find fish in meat section :)

In food industry, there are three kinds of "meat" - fish, poultry and meat (which is flesh of mammals). In a broader sense, the word is indeed sometimes used as in "cab meat" or "crocodile meat", but in the food industry it is not meat. Just like tomato is not a vegetable.

My brother and sister in law are vegetarians. I'm pretty sure their policy is to not eat anything with a face.

All Meat is muscle. All Fish is muscle. I guess that doesn't necessarily prove that all muscle, and therefore all Fish, is Meat. But I just don't see how that isn't the case.

Is fish meat? Is water wet? Is fire hot? Is the Sun bright? Is air breathable?

Please.

"flesh" is defined as meat from a mammal.

If you're a vegetarian, your food restrictions should depend on your reasons for being a vegetarian.

If you're being a vegetarian for moral reasons (animal cruelty, animal suffering), I would deduce that fish are just as smart as animals. A tuna or salmon, probably has more intelligence than a chicken but not on par with a pig or cow. So, I would avoid all animals, and eggs too, unless they're free range.

If you're being a vegetarian to avoid hormones, then I would avoid fresh or buy meat that is free of hormones and to only eat wild caught fish. That's easy enough to find.

If you're being a vegetarian for health reasons, I don't see why you would avoid fish, unless eating fish makes you sick.

If you're being a vegetarian for lifestyle reasons and don't really have a good reason, then by all means, come up with any reason you want.

Quote: Wizard

My brother and sister in law are vegetarians. I'm pretty sure their policy is to not eat anything with a face.

Oysters?

Quote: Wizard

My brother and sister in law are vegetarians. I'm pretty sure their policy is to not eat anything with a face.

What about Mr. Potato Head?

For the Greek Orthodox, like me, there has always been a debate about this. Some people consider anything that bleeds meat, but, for example, shellfish is not considered meat. Others consider all fish not meat. So Mike, do they consider shellfish meat? My cousins wife is a vegan yet she eats scallops.

Quote: hook3670

My cousins wife is a vegan yet she eats scallops.

She is not a vegan then, she just likes being called that :)
A vegan is much easier and less ambiguous than vegetarian - it's a person, who does not eat anything coming from any kind of animal (yes, scallop is an animal, and so are crickets and spiders), including milk, cheese, eggs, etc (i.e., even food that does not require an animal to die to be produced is still not ok). They only eat parts of plants and minerals (like salt).

i am not up to speed on the distinctions, but I guess that makes sense! Although i must say i do think the rest of her diet is the way you described it, but I am not around her very often.

Scallops and most seafood in general are very clearly animal food.

I would still consider a vegan someone who takes their coffee with creamer (not cream from a bottle, just powder), or occasionally eats sweets and chocolate (both frequently contain animal/dairy products), but that's about the line. Fish sauce, oyster sauce, wor sauce, not vegan.

Difficult for me to imagine living like that, but it's known that different cultures and therefore people vary in their body's ability to process animal food and their need for it. Red meat is the toughest (IIRC no more than ~1/4 lbs of meat per meal and no more than ~1 lb per day can be properly digested by an average adult), followed by other meat, fish, seafood, etc.

Quote: rdw4potus

All Fish is muscle.

Makes me chuckle.

Clearly, fish is a fruit. They grow on trees and have seeds inside. Just like spaghetti!

Quote: P90

I would still consider a vegan someone who takes their coffee with creamer (not cream from a bottle, just powder), or occasionally eats sweets and chocolate (both frequently contain animal/dairy products), but that's about the line. Fish sauce, oyster sauce, wor sauce, not vegan.

By definition, vegans do not consume these things ("non-dairy creamer" in powder form almost always contains a milk protein called sodium caseinate, by the way). Vegans eat sweets that do not contain animal products, like the dark chocolate bar that I bought for my girlfriend yesterday. And out of curiosity, what's wor sauce?

Oh, and to the OP: yes, fish is meat.

I've heard of vegans who won't even wear things made out of animal corpses, like leather.

BTW my diet has made me largely vegetarian. I've no objections to eating meat, but meat and animal products are usually higher in fat, and protein, than most vegetables. As I'm cutting out fat, I'm cutting out meat. For protein I sometimes eat chicken, the rest of the time I make it up with beans and soy. I haven't had beef or pork in over two months (except for the turkey sausages I use on some soups; those surely have lard or beef fats.)

Quote: LonesomeGambler

By definition, vegans do not consume these things

If they're religious about it. If someone claims to be a vegan, but doesn't have a problem with these foods (containing small amounts of highly processed animal derived products), I'd consider his claim legit.

That is if his reasons aren't religious, and leaving aside whether religion is stupid in itself, I believe Halakha allows for a 1/60 ratio threshold. Not sure if that applies to just milk/meat, to other products as well, or if interpretations vary.

Worchestershire sauce.

p90,

The 1/60 ratio is ONLY when a mistake happens, and yes it only applies to milk accidently introduced to meat.

For religious reasons meat, poultry, and fish are different. I find it funny that for thousands of years poultry was not considered "meat", and today it is. Just like gay up until a few decades ago meant happy (still does).