Do You Know Fish Have Faces?

An explanation of one person’s choice to be vegetarian.

I know that many people don’t understand vegetarians.

Understanding the ‘what’ is easy.

My easy explanation, after thirty-one years of not eating animals, is:

Nothing with a face

Sometimes people ask me, “As a vegetarian, do you eat chicken?”

Beaks must be confusing, so I say politely, “Nothing with a face.”

The next question is, invariably, “Do you eat fish?”

I repeat with patience, “Nothing with a face.”

Vegetarian. noun : a person who does not eat meat or fish, and sometimes other animal products, especially for moral, religious, or health reasons.

(Google’s English dictionary provided by Oxford Languages.)

It is the ‘why’ that can be confusing.

The reasoning behind vegetarianism, or veganism, is not as clear cut as either moral, religious, or health, where issues overlap. Moral reasons can include the cruelty and death inflicted on living beings, and the use of antibiotics and hormones in those animals. The latter is also an obvious health issue for the humans who consume the livestock.

The overuse, degradation and depletion of environmental resources used to farm animals for food is both a moral and, ultimately, a health issue for the planet.

Religious reasons to abstain from eating animals are often based, as in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, on tenets of kindness and non-violence to all living beings. Religious motivation for vegetarianism consequently overlaps strongly with the broader moral conviction against eating animals.

A definitive reason for not eating living beings.

The intricate web of the why's that explains an individual’s desire to give up eating animal products is complex, however, some people, like myself, just stick to one all-encompassing rationale for making the vegetarian choice.

Every living creature contains that same spark of being that I have. By definition, they possess life. However you think of it, as a spark, power or energy, spirit, soul or whatever, it is undeniably there. Until it’s not.

Some creatures can manifest that spark in a more sophisticated, relatable way. Sometimes, as with our domesticated animals, it’s the way they imprint themselves on our lives, the relationships we develop with them. And sometimes it’s the look in a creature’s eyes, their behaviours, when they make the random, miraculous animal to human connection.

You don’t need to watch endless YouTube clips of humans and animals relating, because when you have seen or experienced it once, you understand.

There is more to life than the fur, or skin, or feathers we inhabit. Animals and humans share the spark of life and in that way, although we have little in common, we have everything in common.

I’ve seen close up when that spark is extinguished, in animals and humans, and it is a distinct, observable event, both tragic and divine. I just don’t feel I want to be a contributing factor in that.

We all have a choice how to be in this life. For the moment, my answer of Nothing with a face, may seem flippant, or even ridiculous, but it sits happily with me, and I can live with that.

In the tradition of Coffee Times, I am asking you to read and acknowledge this funny and moving story by srstowers.

And then there is this wonderful 6-Part tribute to Bob, the Snake, from Liberty Forrest, Author.