So ponies are omnivores now? (Minor gag spoilers)

[PrymeStriker 408]

You'd still need an intestine to fill the non- meat in.

Vegetarian hot dogs can and do use plant-based ingredients as a substitute for intestines, unlike traditional homemade sausages.

[Mand'alor Dash 2,224]

As with most headcanons, I tend to turn to FO:E on this.

 

Ponies can eat meat, and some probably do, but most see it as a cultural taboo, and would rather not do so in most situations. Milk and eggs obviously don't count, though.

[Derpular 90]

A lot of people here don't seem to understand that there's a difference between vegetarians and vegans. Vegetarians simply don't eat meat- they can still eat eggs, milk, etc., as these things are not meat. Vegans do not eat any animal products whatsoever, meaning they don't eat eggs or milk or even honey (I think.)

[Clover Heart 978]

It's been explicitly stated that the ponies' diet is vegetarian. Pinkie Pie specifically mentions this in her song "You Got to Share, You Got to Care," in the episode "Over a Barrel."
Both our diets, I should mention
Are completely vegetarian
We all eat hay and oats
Why be at each other's throat?
I'll take a specific mention over speculation any day.

Fishing: People don't just fish for food. Some people fish purely for sport. Did we see Rarity's dad bringing home fish to be cleaned? If not, I'd say he was probably fishing for sport. Rarity's dad aside, fish oil is used for a number of different purposes and people keep larger fish as pets sometimes. These may be other reasons Equestrians would fish other than for food.

Pigs: I know it was stated by Faust herself that the pigs' primary purpose was for finding truffles, but I have an additional theory. It's been implied in a few episodes that wild animals in Equestria need caring for. In "Bridle Gossip," Fluttershy says, horrified, that in the Everfree Forest "The animals care for themselves!" Also, in "Winter Wrap-Up," the animals need waking. I'm sure there are other instances of this as well. Amongst those animals are carnivores, like bears and birds of prey. Even dogs, which aren't exclusively carnivorous primarily need meat for their nutritional needs. If the animals don't care for themselves, we can assume that they don't generally feed themselves. So it's possible that pigs are raised as feed for the carnivorous animals. I know that the official reason is because of the truffles, but I still think this is interesting to think about.

Ham sandwich: This was probably merely an oversight by the animation team. It doesn't mean that they're carnivorous, and I think an animation error is much more likely.

Edited March 25, 2013 by Clover Heart

[Treble Bolt 1,122]

Maybe they catch fish for the fun of it.  I mean who doesn't?  Other than eggs and that sandwich, I haven't noticed anything else that's
"meat",  if you put fish into the equation, well, Rarity's dad may catch fish, and Fluttershy feeds fish to those animals, but she also feeds worms to birds (and spits afterwards, indicating disgust).  She doesn't do that for the fish.....

[Circadian 1,273]

NO. Whoa, Pinkie said that they're vegetarian. I'm vegetarian, and I only eat eggs because they haven't been fertilized.

 

 

Hmmm ... yeah. Not sure if I'm okay with the ponies eating meat. But of course, if Bronies ever go to Equestria reincarnated or something, we can at least eat SOME meat, right?

 

Nope. Considering most of the animals in that universe are essentially sentient, that would be tantamount to murder. About the only thing that would be considered socially acceptable to eat is fish.

 

 

And the ham sandwich seen near Applejack in A Bird In The Hoof:

 

According to the writers, apparently that was a slice of beet.

Edited March 25, 2013 by Circadian