Is a vegetarian diet that hard a concept to understand?

Titian1948, I'm with you on the "is chicken stock OK" front, people often just don't seem to understand...but things are getting better. The good news to hang on to is that people are becoming so much more aware of where their food comes from and what processes have taken place to get it onto their plate.
The vegan trend, which is fabulous (though I'm too set in my ways to follow it) has rather complicated things and caused a bit of backlash, but in the long run it's good that people are thinking about it. People like Nannarose's friend, who don't get arsey when friends make a genuine mistake, are great ambassadors for cruelty-free eating.
Things are not quite as bad as when we were in Germany in the 1980s and when a friend asked us to dinner I said, "by the way, we don't eat meat" and she replied "Oh, that's alright, we're having chicken"

BlueSapphire - that's easy to answer - People eat who are vegetarians eat a plant based diet for ethical/moral/religious/environmental/health reasons. Why would you expect someone to go against that when they are providing an acceptable alternative that has been prepared for you? You could always decline the invite!

My brother became vegetarian for convenience's sake when he married his first wife, and brought up their family as vegetarian as well. We had to cook vegetarian when they came to us; likewise we had to eat vegetarian when we went to them. DH used to say, "we cater for their dietary choice, why don't they cater for ours?" By the way, their eldest daughter married a butcher's son!
Sadly his first wife passed away a few years ago; he is now remarried, gave up the vegetarian diet, and is very proud of his new wife's roast dinners!

I find it very interesting. I have had many vegetarian friends, and although I eat pretty much everything, I respect their feelings and if/when they visit, I prepare a veggie meal to the best of my ability. The thing about parmesan was new to me. I really didn't know that it contains rennet, and hardly think that it makes me a bad human being. I get the OP's frustration, she has to live with people's ignorance on the matter day in, day out, but I think she might be kinder. After all, it is her choice to be vegetarian, and if it means she needs to explain her diet so many times, well, it is a bit sad that she finds it such a trial.

Jalima1108 Yes, in this country, and it has happened more than once. This is where there is a set meal, not a choice from a menu - usually my husband's work 'do'. Ia gree mutton is not often seen these days although, I gather from TV chefs that it is making a come-back in some areas.

Why not decline an invitation to dinner and save the hostess from a headache ?
DD has been a vegetarian for thirty years and does not give anyone grief, she happily provides meat for us when staying with her.

The definitions were put on another post but usually vegetarians don’t eat meat but do eat animal products, whether that is cheese, eggs or honey.
Vegans don’t eat meat or animal products.
I think the original poster is confusing the issue by saying she is vegetarian but actually she is somewhere between vegetarian and vegan.
Why not just tell your hosts you are vegan, no animal products?

I think we all have our likes and dislikes. I love lamb, but never willingly eat chicken, unless smothered with a tasty sauce.

Is that in this country Tweedle?

I find that lamb is not often on menus, I've not seen mutton as far as I know and there is usually a wide selection of vegetarian dishes these days.

I am not vegetarian but cannot abide lamb or mutton. When having those on a set menu for an evening ‘do’, I used to ask for the vegetarian option. Can’t tell you how often that option has been fish! It did not matter to me but, a real vegetarian would have gone hungry.

Oh dear. What DO you eat? By being on such a very strict diet, you must find it difficult to know what to have for meals - but it's your choice, and you can't surely expect everyone to accommodate your needs?

Yes, aren't we also being encouraged to eat these " plummeting insect numbers ?"-- In our diets,( bawk,blurrgh ) Crickets, Witchetty grubs et al.

Titian, I note you say you are normal. That's nice.

I posted this on the thread about plummeting insect numbers:

To save the planet we are supposed to eat a vegan diet.

Would producing enough vegan food to feed the world's population be possible without using insecticides/pesticides?

My understanding of veganism was blown completely blown out of the water recently.

I read an interview with someone who had written a book about bringing veganism to your garden. No pesticides and do not kill slugs, snails etc. All very good.

But when the author was asked what he did with the slugs and snails he picked off his crops, he said he put them on the grass because they would be seen and eaten by birds as that was part of the natural ecosystem.

And there he lost me. Because if it is alright to take snails and slugs off a plant and put them somewhere where they are likely to be eaten, (which is not part of the natural ecosystem, because slugs and snails do not parade round lawns advertising their availability.)

This seems to me to be a bit like feeding Christians to the lions in the Colosseum and using his arguments, if that is OK, humans are natural omnivores and eating meat is apart of the natural ecosystem

How do you know someone is a strict vegetarian?
Don’t worry.... they’ll tell you.

I declared myself vegetarian 4 years ago. After two Christmases where my poor omnivore family were catering for twelve on a dodgy stove and trying to do me roast potatoes and gravy separately with vegetable oil, I'm afraid I gave up and just ate what I could from their menu.

I'm interested in calf at foot dairies which are growing in number - calves are kept with their mothers and the dairies are small. Of course they will all go back into the food chain eventually but ... this is all complex. Especially with S American forests (once cut down for beef) are now being cut down for soya. It would be interesting, if they had enough money for research, for vegans to work out how they would design the world with the numbers we have now.

I recently heard about someone's colleague who is vegan but eats fish. That's an oxymoron, surely?

We fairly often have a vegan or vegetarian meal (and both my daughters in law are vegetarian) but there's no way I'd ever call myself vegan or vegetarian. In fact, if those diets cause one to be as grumpy as the OP, then maybe one is better off on an omnivore diet!

One of my nephews is vegetarian and he defines it as not eating dead flesh. That covers fish as well as meat. He does eat cheese, eggs and dairy so it is not a problem to cater for him.

I agree with TerriBull:a vegetarian who eats meat is a contradiction in terms.Grammaretto I don't envy you having your vegetarian guests for two weeks when you are not a vegetarian family. Do they eat quorn ?It is very versatile and can be used alongside your own meat dishes.The quorn roast is pretty tasteless but the mince and pieces are fine and can be used with your favourite sauces eg bolognaise , stroganoff etc.

Indeed, the answer is 'yes'! Partly because many people mis-use the term (understandably) and partly because some really don't understand!
Many years ago, when it was less common, my impression was that it was in some ways easier, because you got a booklet from the Vegetarian Society (very useful website: www.vegsoc.org/) and it listed a lot of things. Now, the more flexible approach means we come across a lot of differences - so easiest to ask the person themselves.
Greyduster - am amused by your post. I am unfortunately allergic to some fish - and I recognise the attitude. People say to me 'But have you actually eaten sardines?' (yes, that's how I know). 'I didn't used to like them either but now I do' (I have always liked them, I've just developed an allergy) etc.etc!!

spl. an not a for evangelical

My step daughter is vegetarian and has been for years, she's often perplexed when people ask her whether she eats fish surely the definition of a vegetarian is someone who doesn't eat either meat or fish. However, she is vegetarian as opposed to vegan. She's extremely adaptable catering for her has never been a problem for me. I completely respect her dietary preferences. On the other hand one of my sons shared a flat with a evangelical vegan, who did convert my son for a while and like many who adopted the diet he said he felt much better for it. Nevertheless he lapsed back to being an omnivore I think he found the strictures of following that diet too restrictive for his lifestyle. However, the main complaint about the "friend" was that he took control of the fridge he ruled what could and couldn't go in it, which was completely out of order, given I own the flat and the damn fridge in it. My son and the friend eventually went their separate ways and as a consequence of sharing a living space their relationship took a downturn. The friend turned out to be the worst kind of born again vegan who actually approached people in restaurants and pubs if they happened to be eating meat and then delivered them a lecture of the evils of what they were ingesting. This seems to be a growing trend from what I read these days

I do appreciate the frustration of folk with either self imposed or medical limitations for diet. However as long as items are labelled at point of sale then a level of personal responsibility is needed a) to communicate those restrictions and b) to read the labels or ask a question. It is unrealistic to expect everyone to fully understand every individuals dietary requirements.