Settle an argument: Is fish meat?
 

(I don't know how to do polls.)

Earlier tonight a friend asked me if I wanted to go out to the bay to this all-you-can eat seafood buffet but I declined on the basis that I don't eat meat. She responding by saying fish wasn't meat. So I asked her what it was and she replied "Fish". Really, I don't understand this argument at all. How isn't fish meat? The way I see it, anything which could be considered 'flesh' is meat. I really don't understand how people can rationalize not eating, say, chicken or beef while eating fish.

So what do you think? Meat or not?

Fish is meat, according to my vegetarian boyfriend. Seafood is meat.

Eggs and milk and cheese are not meat. He does eat those.

It's a historical thing. Fish was considered separate from "flesh" (i.e. other meats) and was sometimes permitted during Lent. There are other similar distinctions. The distinction here is a social/cultural one. Our scientific minds cannot stand it when people carry forward these things into contemporary thought. There is a lot of this; we just don't realize it.

Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas. "Article 8. Whether it is fitting that those who fast should be bidden to abstain from flesh meat, eggs, and milk foods?"

In the institution of fasting, the Church takes account of the more common occurrences. Now, generally speaking, eating flesh meat affords more pleasure than eating fish, although this is not always the case. Hence the Church forbade those who fast to eat flesh meat, rather than to eat fish.

I think fish is meat because it is the flesh of an animal.

Fish is meat, the sky is blue, and water is wet. Also, your friend might be an idiot.

No, man. Fish is fish, the sky is the sky, and water is water. :rolleyes:

The concept of not eating fish angers and confuses me.

I'd agree with that.

Is your friend Catholic?

And I guess the answer to your question depends on the reasons you don't eat meat.
A lot of people who avoid meat for dietary reasons do OK with fish.
A lot of people who don't eat meat for PETAesque "farming is cruel" reasons are ok with eating fish if it is caught in the wild (note: a lot of =/= all, I don't want to hear from the people who disagree with this...save your breath)
A lot of people who don't/didn't eat meat on Fridays/during lent because the Church told them not to eat fish because the Church said it was OK.

This reminds me of an anecdote in Richard Feynman's autobiography where a group of Muslims asked him if electricity was fire. Turns out, there are special spark-free switches that orthodox members of certain sects can install to ensure that no 'fire' is accidently created when it is forbidden.

Yeahh. My mom and sister abstain from eating meat but instead chose to eat fucking fish and shrimp and other seafood every year during this time. Boggles my mind how they think. And they have the nerve to lecture me about eating meat...

hopefully he has studied up on how some cheeses are made =) It's not meat but it takes a dead baby cow to create an awful lot of those cheeses.

^_^

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rennet

Damn, I'd rather eat fish & bloody red meat than that cheese!! That just sounds so gross, calves stomachs, coagulated milk......:oogle:

&.......yes, fish is meat, the flesh of an animal, although its definitely better for you than red meat.

Dave... rennet is one of two ingredients that make up almost any cheese.

Rennet and Milk

There are variations on this but these two are the main ingredients.


As for Fish... it depends on the person. My wife will eat Cheese, Seafood and Milk but will not eat anything with Feathers or Hoofs. She has her reasons.

funny thing... its the majority of cheeses that are made with rennet. Which I why I think its funny when a vegetarian will eat cheese.

Fish is meat, but I know a couple vegetarians who will eat it. I once made my friend stop eating eggs for a while because I proved to him that they were meat. The moral is that you should eat whatever you want to eat. There are many reasons why people choose to be vegetarian, and if a particular food never occurs to you as off-limits, then you should re-think it based on your reasoning for being vegetarian, not because its classified arbitrarily as such.

I consider meat to be the muscle-flesh of an animal (as opposed to other "fleshy" parts, like skin or liver, which are not muscle). the part of a fish that is eaten is the muscle(s), so yes, fish IS meat.


as for the horsepuckey about the "dangers" of red meat...considering that human beings have subsisted on red meat (among other things) for many millenia...I think that the "dangers" of red meat are WAY overblown. the biggest problem with red meat, at least here in the USA, is in how its grown and processed commercially...ie the steroids/chemicals that go into it. I get my red meat from my father-in-law who raises a couple dozen heads of cattle each year and butchers them himself. not only is it MUCH cheaper than store bought, but much healthier and tastier. I also like me some venison (deer, elk, moose, bear...etc) whenever I can get it.

and I gotta tell you, there is no finer meat on this planet than the tenderloin of a healthy deer, filleted and pan-fried with butter and garlic...

This false categorization amuses me. My wife is a committed carnivore, but doesn't eat fish. She also doesn't eat asparagus. So fish must be asparagus.

People eat what they eat. They also have opinions about what others should eat, and they make up all sorts of wacky things to justify themselves and invalidate others. Human nature, friends.

Also: there is vegetarian cheese, made with a non-animal-based starter. In my experience, it's so-so.

Culinarily speaking, fish is fish, beef and pork are meat and chicken is chicken. All three are prepared differently with different sauces and flavorings and paired with different wines and sides. The three are completely separate. As a host, I would never pair a cabernet with a fish unless it accompanied a beef entree.

Speaking strictly about tastes, textures and the other eating sensations, these three all have their own separate catagories and are treated differently.

The man does have the habit of truthspeaking. He's spot on yet again.

My wife attended a Bat-Mitzvah last week. It was a Conservative Jewish ceremony, so you can't mix milk and meat in the reception (kosher rules). They chose the milk side of that equation, and fish was also served. So, there's one case where fish are not meat.

If you beat your fish, it dies...

If you beat your meat, it cries...

therefore fish =/= meat

For certain religious observations, fish is not considered "meat".

Other than that, there's really no basis on which to not call it meat. It's the flesh of an animal that you can eat.

Personally, I count anything made from muscle fibres as "meat".

Fish - check
Beef - check
Chicken - Check
Octopus - Check
Bananas - Not Check.

As for cheese - in the UK vegetable rennet is common, and there are many "true" vegetarian cheeses.

If it had a heartbeat before you ate it...

It's made of meat.

A person's diet is a philosophy.

The human body is (generally) capable of eating a wide range of plants and animals.

...

Soylent green is meat.

I consider fish non-meat because of the health difference between it and all other meats (saturated fat, for one).

If I were to get a semantic argument, sure.. I'd concede that the dictionary definition of "meat" does include fish.

But when I reference "meat", I really mean non-fish meat.

Jinn, do you also consider poultry a non-meat because it is lower in saturated fat? And does that man coconuts meat?

I got it. Semantics make the meat.

My sister won't eat anything from the sea, on the grounds that fish swim in their own poop. Also she thinks (accurately) that Lobster = Cockroaches.

Carnivore otherwise.

you had to go and do that didn't you.............*bastard*




oh yeah...........fish is meat.


go toss a live in your local lake/river and pull one out........throw it on the fire......and it is heaven baby.

fresh meat.........like 2 mins after it was KILLED..............good stuff.

Meat is animal tissue used as food. End of story. Now, if for health reasons you don't want to eat red meat and call yourself a vegetarian because its an easy shorthand...I'll look the other way. But if you're calling yourself a vegetarian for any other reason, and you're eating fish, or crabs, or oysters etc...you have some explaining to do.

I am Catholic, and fish is meat. And I will eat what I want when I want it.

Trust me, he knows all about rennet. There are a lot of cheeses made with rennet alternatives. We eat cheese that gets its enzymes from other sources--not a calf's stomach.

http://www.tillamookcheese.com/FAQS/...s.aspx#Answer5

Fish is meat, and meat is fish. All tetrapods (land-dwelling vertebrates) are, from an evolutionary standpoint, types of fish. From a taste/nutrition point of view, I can understand making a distinction between fish and meat. But if your reason for avoiding meat is anything other than taste or nutrition, you'd be a hypocrite to eat fish.

i know! it's so tasty!

Must...not...make...fun...of...vegetarians.......

After all, it wouldn't be fair to tire them out that way ;)

I kid I kid....

I'd say that fish qualifies as meat. I'd even consider escargot to be meat.

The urge is difficult to resist isnt it!

vegetarian: old Indian word that means "bad hunter"

:p

If you beat my fish i'll make you cry

Therefore you=meat :thumbsup:

Besides: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article....&in_page_id=34

There was an extra bit where they use an anesthetic on the stalk and then dropped acid, the little guys just sat there confused but didn't groom it.

Come on, it's just as fun to tease you carnivores.... ;)

Eggs not meat? Its an embryo, very very soon to be meat.

Seems like a real vegi would have issues with that.

I happen to love all eggs and meats though :)

**

Fish is meat, voted yes.