Pescetarian?

[Guineahamster65]

Hi I'm trying to become a pescetarian(someone who eats fish and dairy but not meat). I have looked at other people on the forum and got some great tips. My family is supporting my decision and are helping me out with my food. I learned how to seer salmon and make butternut squash and rice today with my dads help. But it still makes me feel weird at
school when people are like why are you doing that. The animals are already dead. There is a girl who is 1 grade ahead of me who is pescetarian and she gave me some pointers. If any of you are willing to give info I'm all ears

[jaycriae]

Even if the animals are already dead, you're indirectly hurting the businesses that keep them in cruel conditions by giving them less money. Even if your family still eats meat, you'll go through less of it and buy less of it. It's the same reason getting guinea pigs at pet stores is bad, it supports the horrible trade. So you are doing something helpful and good, regardless of what people say!

In my experience, it's not super hard or at all expensive to be vegetarian as long as you eat dairy. Some of my favorite meals are pasta with marinara sauce or pesto, bruschetta, pumpkin soup (its great this time of year!), and breakfast foods like waffles and pancakes (and french toast, if you eat eggs. I want to eventually stop because of the condition so many hens are kept in, or at least start buying from ethical egg producers, but atm I need the protein & the money).

Good for you!

[Guineahamster65]

Even if the animals are already dead, you're indirectly hurting the businesses that keep them in cruel conditions by giving them less money. Even if your family still eats meat, you'll go through less of it and buy less of it. It's the same reason getting guinea pigs at pet stores is bad, it supports the horrible trade. So you are doing something helpful and good, regardless of what people say!

In my experience, it's not super hard or at all expensive to be vegetarian as long as you eat dairy. Some of my favorite meals are pasta with marinara sauce or pesto, bruschetta, pumpkin soup (its great this time of year!), and breakfast foods like waffles and pancakes (and french toast, if you eat eggs. I want to eventually stop because of the condition so many hens are kept in, or at least start buying from ethical egg producers, but atm I need the protein & the money).

Good for you!

Thanks for the messege! Now I'm excited to start!! I'm glad that I'm starting to make a difference. This forum has changed me. I was assigned to write a two page. Paper on a cause that we strongly believe in. I ended up writing 5 pages on animal welfare. I got an A!

[jaycriae]

Nice! That's awesome, omg.

[Lagertha]

I've been pescetarian for almost 6-7 years now due to medical reasons. I am unable to digest the proteins in chicken, turkey, beef, pork, sheep, and I am also lactose intolerant. I've been this way since birth, something to do with not being born with the correct enzymes. For some reason though, I can handle fish and seafood! Honestly it was the best choice I ever made to just cut all meat out other than fish and seafood! I used to get mind numbing stomach pains, head aches, and body aches after eating meat and the pain got to the point that I would have to lay down and curl up to lessen it. Then my body started to reject it completely and I would become extremely physically ill to the point of screaming and vomiting. Not pretty. At all.
Once I cut out meat and stuck with fish, I lost a bunch of weight, gained loads of muscle, stopped getting sick after eating, and got a bunch of energy! If you ever need recipe ideas or want to explore different fish and seafood; don't hesitate to send me a private message I would love to share what I've learned over the years!

[Lagertha]

p.s. I can still eat eggs too and I substitute milk with almond milk :3 (which can be used in baking too!)

[Guineahamster65]

I've been pescetarian for almost 6-7 years now due to medical reasons. I am unable to digest the proteins in chicken, turkey, beef, pork, sheep, and I am also lactose intolerant. I've been this way since birth, something to do with not being born with the correct enzymes. For some reason though, I can handle fish and seafood! Honestly it was the best choice I ever made to just cut all meat out other than fish and seafood! I used to get mind numbing stomach pains, head aches, and body aches after eating meat and the pain got to the point that I would have to lay down and curl up to lessen it. Then my body started to reject it completely and I would become extremely physically ill to the point of screaming and vomiting. Not pretty. At all.
Once I cut out meat and stuck with fish, I lost a bunch of weight, gained loads of muscle, stopped getting sick after eating, and got a bunch of energy! If you ever need recipe ideas or want to explore different fish and seafood; don't hesitate to send me a private message I would love to share what I've learned over the years!

thanks I will pm you later! I'm super excited to start doing this. I wanted to go vegetarian but then I remembered I would have to give up sushi. And that CANNOT happen or I would literally die. I would love to learn some recipes. I'm a pretty good cook so maybe I could give some a shot. Today is veggies shopping day so I may be able to get some when we go to the store today.

[Lagertha]

thanks I will pm you later! I'm super excited to start doing this. I wanted to go vegetarian but then I remembered I would have to give up sushi. And that CANNOT happen or I would literally die. I would love to learn some recipes. I'm a pretty good cook so maybe I could give some a shot. Today is veggies shopping day so I may be able to get some when we go to the store today.

I hear you there!!! Sushi is life xD
I'm more than happy to share!

[lunarminx]

I am not much of a fish eater but after reading some articles about farm raised fish, please eat wild fish, it seems farm raise fish is worse for you over our farmed meat animals.

[Lagertha]

yes! I agree with @lunarminx!

though I do believe there a few selection of fish that are better to eat farm raised due to mercury contents in the fish that are wild. I can't recall which ones they are though

[Guineahamster65]

I know my father buys wild caught salmon. So I guess we are not buying farm raised fish. I didn't even know there was a difference!

[Beatrix187]

I think the difference is that farm raised fish are usually in China and kept crammed up in tanks where they can barely move and fed poop and stuff from sewers or something, and some people (like me) think its not that healthy. But maybe some other farms are different. I just tend to avoid it.

[Soecara]

There are actually a few different types of fish farms, the most common are tank, ditch/pond farms and net farms.

The main issues with tank farms are the level of care provided, in all aspects, to the fish and antibiotics are sometimes used on the fish (this varies depending on location and much like using antibiotics on any farm animals this can lead to more anti-biotic resistant bacteria and can expose humans to said bacteria). Ditch/pond farms can also suffer with the same issues.

Net farms can consist of net pens in rivers and ponds but often consist of large net pens containing fish out in the ocean, the issues with this are the diet the fish are fed, the level at which these nets are stocked and the potential for parasites and disease (which is also a concern with wild caught fish, which is how the net fish are being exposed to them), there is also the moral issue of the raising of non-native potentially invasive species in these net pens as they can sometimes fail and the fish can escape.

Overall there are also moral issues raised by wild caught fish, namely the collateral damage caused to all species by accidentally netting them, and the demand causing certain species to rapidly decline in numbers which could potentially lead to extinction (blue-fin tuna is one such species I can think of off the top of my head).

Farm raised fish are not all bad, just like all other aspects of farming there are some very nasty farms and some well kept farms. As I am located in Australia I personally never eat ANY fish that was not caught in Australia or New Zealand, this applies to both farm raised and wild caught fish. I am actually quite happy with the level of care legally required to be provided to farm raised fish in my country.