Seafood and Veggies = Pescetarianism
So I learned a new word this week and that word is: Pescetarianism. Now you have learned the same word let me explain what it means.
Also known as Pesco-Vegetarianism it is a diet that includes seafood, vegetables, dairy, eggs. Basically it is a diet that includes no meat but fish and dairy are permitted. What I have read about this lifestyle choice is that it is basically an alternative to going from the average North American diet into a “cold-turkey” (no pun intended) full vegan or vegetarian diet. The other reason to choose this particular diet is to cut out saturated fats and raise omega 3 over all. This could be for health reasons or prescribed by a doctor.
I personally didn’t know that such a diet existed but it makes sense that it does. This diet would never work for me because I don’t care too much for fish. In my family that is the polite way to say “I don’t like that” (Thanks Grandpa for instilling manners into our everyday lives!) Also I can see this diet being difficult for those who live in the middle of the continent and not so close to the ocean. I live in a place that is no where near the ocean so certain kinds of fish must be brought in frozen or canned.
As I’ve stated before in previous posts I don’t follow any sort of limited diet but one thing I have been trying to do in my day to day life is eat FRESH more. This crosses over into the whole buying local movement but that is not the reason I try to eat fresher food. Food with preservatives or that have been imported aren’t going to give your body the best vitamins it needs to create energy (I’m not doctor this is mostly assumption on my part but I think it works for me!) I need to feel alive not tired or run down.
This post was just a quick HOW DO YOU DO to maybe introduce some of you (like myself) to options. There is a lifestyle out there for everyone even if you haven’t found it yet! I hope everyone finds one that suits them.
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Claire Gosse
It never bothers me when people eat meat in front of me, but I just can't stand the smell of seafood, it makes me want to vomit. I've never understood why people like seafood, but then again not everybody likes tofu either. Like you said, Meg, there is a lifestyle out there for everyone, even if I don't get it.
Cassie
Before I decided to go completely vegan, I thought I would ease into the lifestyle by continuing to eat seafood. After watching The Cove, I no longer feel the need to eat fish. Knowing that eating fish is perpetrating the killing of dolphins makes it impossible to enjoy sushi. I haven't even had the urge to eat sushi since I watched the movie. I feel compelled to live a completely vegan lifestyle.
James Kimbell
You can spend days going through wikipedia looking at all the diets out there, with all the combinations of prefixes. It's kinda fun.
If someone wants to ease into veganism, then pescetarianism is just as good as any other arbitrary half-measure. Some category is going to be the last one you get around to giving up, and that may as well be fish. However, it's hard to say that eating seafood is any better than eating, say, beef. They have different issues, ethically, environmentally, and nutritionally.
Stevie P.
Cassie – I totally agree with you.
Half measures are still half measures. I often think if people educated themselves a little more about the types of process their food undertakes before it gets into their stomachs we would have a heck of a lot more vegans (that's what did it for me).
Eating seafood when we're depleting our oceans right now is not really helping. That is one important ecosystem we're messing with.