The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism While it is true that man cannot live without air and water, the thing that nourishes the body is food. Hence the saying, food is life. Food can be divided into three categories: vegetarian, flesh and mixed. Flesh foods include fowl and fish. Milk is an animal product and cannot by any means be included in a strictly vegetarian diet. It serves the purpose of meat to a very large extent. In medical language it is classified as animal food. On the other hand, eggs are regarded by the layman as a flesh food. In reality, they are not. Nowadays sterile eggs are also produced. The hen is not allowed to see the cock ad yet it lays eggs. A sterile egg never develops into a chick. Therefore he who can take milk should have no objection to taking sterile eggs.