Veggiepescaveganism.

"I'm a vegetarian." "Do you eat fish?" "No, I'm a vegetarian."

I'd like to indulge myself a little here, and share with you all one of my pet hates. I've been a vegetarian ever since I was born, and for my whole life I've felt the need to explain myself or even apologize to others because of this one major life choice; the choice to not eat meat.

I may not be a hardcore radical activist "throwing red paint at people in fur coats" vegetarian, but I still feel very strongly about this particular subject. Which is why it does annoy me quite a lot that even in this day and age, with an estimated 400 million vegetarians in the world and 3.6 million in the UK alone (apparently), and people like Joanna Lumley and Ellen Degeneres on our television screens talking about their beliefs and promoting a healthy meat-free lifestyle, some people are still so ignorant about vegetarianism.

I don't want to rant and rave about my particular beliefs here, although I could preach about animal rights and the shocking ways in which they are bred and killed for their meat until the cows come home (yes, I had to do it). For now, I just want to alert everyone to the fact that there are several different terms for people who don't eat meat: those who don't eat meat of any kind are vegetarians; those who only eat fish are pescatarians; those who don't eat meat or any products that come from animals (such as dairy) are vegans.

Okay, cool. Rant over... For now. x