A friend of mines daughter is coming home from college for the weekend and she is bring her roommate with her. My friend said that she had stocked up on fruit and vegetables and cottage cheese because her daughters roommate is a vegetarian.

Since this is the first time that the roommate is visiting, I asked my friend if the roommate eats dairy. She didn’t know. She assumed that she just didn’t eat meat.

I told her that there are all kinds of vegetarians. Vegans don’t eat any animal products including honey. Ovo vegetarians eat eggs but no meat or dairy. Lacto vegetarians eat dairy but no meat or eggs. Ovo lacto vegetarians eat eggs and dairy but no meat. Pescetarians eat fish but no other meat. Fruitarians eat only fruit and nuts and any vegetables that can be harvested without damaging the plant. Semi vegetarians eat some meat but on a limited bases. Su vegetarians do not eat any animal products plus onions, garlic, leaks, shallots and scallions. (these are primarily Buddhist so I guess they are afraid of harming others with their breath.) Raw vegetarians only eat raw fruit and vegetables. And, macrobiotic vegetarians only eat beans, grains and fish.

At this point, her head started spinning and she said that the roommate will just have to make the best of what they are serving.