Is a vegetarian diet that hard a concept to understand?

A lot of cheese is made without rennet. Hard cheeses tend to still use rennet because it is difficult to get the set otherwise, but we always manage a nice cheese board that caters for strict vegetarians. The shop will always check and tell you.
And I think there is a difference between proper food outlets, that should research and have good information, and private individuals. I would not invite vegetarians if I wasn't prepared to cater properly for them - but in my mind there is a huge difference between saying you've cooked the potatoes in goose fat because you like it (rude!) and not quite realising about isinglass in wine.
I too have catered for a lot of dietary restriction in friends and family, and it is just sensible these days to recognise that the work 'vegetarian' is used loosely. Our Jewish & Muslim guests usually say 'treat us as vegetarian' because it is the easiest way avoid getting tangled up in minutiae!

Surely Titian means “vegan”?
Otherwise many of her comments make no sense at all.

MawBroon If you read Titians second post she is very definite that she means vegetarian !!!

So the answer to the OP’s question is ‘Yes, it is quite a ‘hard concept to understand’.

What is ‘easy’ to understand is the wish that no animal is killed just so you can eat it. That is perfectly understandable.

What is harder is how far an individual takes that as their own philosophy. If it goes beyond the ‘I don’t eat animals of any kind’ then it is up to that person to make it quite clear to a host what they can and cannot eat.

As far as recipes go and criticising those put up in good faith as vegetarian because they are meat, fish, etc free, then all that is needed is someone to simply avoid those that do not meet their own requirements, surely?

I do know what she said, but I still think her rigid interpretation is “vegan” Nobody with such a self righteous attitude would be on my guest list and I do number vegetarians and vegans among my friends!
Why is it seen as so virtuous all of a sudden ? No offence to those who prefer not to eat meat products, but there is growing up a whole aura of sanctity about veganism, as if it is the only way to save the planet, bring universal happiness and possibly break the Brexit deadlock at the same time.

When my DD was at uni she spent six months staying with a family near Tours. The University was supposed to have found a family who could accommodate her vegitarianism. This family, while lovely in all other respects, didn’t ‘get’ that she couldn’t eat meat. The father said to her “but the meat is very good - I shoot it myself!” The kitchen was frequently full of dead hares, rabbits, game birds and the like. They didn’t really eat much in the way of vegetables either, so she mostly ate omelettes, bread, cheese, fruit and salad. She said it was the longest six months of her life!

I am with you Maw and yes I am afraid I find it hard to get my head round the strict vegetarianism. I have friends who are vegetarians and they all eat cheese and some eat fish. Titian you would not be welcome at my table, not because you are vegetarian but because of your intractable attitude.

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.

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

spl. an not a for evangelical

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!!

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.

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 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!

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.

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

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

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?

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

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

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?

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.

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

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?