Vegetarianism to strict? Become a flexitarian

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Vegetarianism to strict? Become a flexitarian

by Kelly Leahy (Subscribe to Kelly Leahy's posts)
Nov 15th 2008 @ 9:33AM

Filed under: Food, Health

I cannot tell you how sick I am of people identifying who they are by what they eat. This could be because I was one of them for my high school and college years. The only time that it is fitting for you to tell me your dietary needs is if I am having you over for dinner. Otherwise, I don't care. Furthermore, what really annoys me are "vegetarians" who eat meat. If you are going to make a point of telling me that you are a vegetarian and then offer me a tuna sandwich, you have just lost A LOT of points with me. However, if you are one of these vegetarians who eats meat every once in while because ~~it tastes good~~ you need the nutrients, here's a new label for you: flexitarian.

The definition of flexitarian is a person who's diet consists of mostly vegetable based dishes with an occasional side of meat. It may be a vegetarian who slips once or twice a week or a ravenous meat eater who goes veggie for a few meals. In other words, it's simply good eating.

Rather than subscribing to the latest food trend, why not go old school? Take a cue from our grazing anscestors or simply consult ye ol' food pyramid. Don't bother with the new fangled version with it's rainbow of stripes but rather the one that we all learned about in grade school with the food groups clearly illustrated.

Flexitarianism ... bah. What's next? A name for people who bathe only in the morning? Those who take over the counter cold remedies and those that don't? Oy.

Comments [5]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-16-2008 @ 11:38AM

Chris_Belgium said...

Kelly,
Why so hard on that new "flexitarian" trend? You may find it silly but I really do believe it's a step in the right direction. People are told that raising cattle is one of the main causes of GHG emissions and deforestation and are asked to eat less meat; more and more people actually do so but, like myself, just do not *want* to become entirely vegetarian and there can be many reasons. Personnally, I try and have a maximum of 4 meals that include meat a week. Although I enjoy most of the vegetarian meals I have, I feel like I need to leave some room for some meat-based meals I *really* enjoy. Nothing wrong with that or am I wrong?
Like it or not, I feel pretty good about being a so-called "flexitarian", feels like the right way to go for me and I hope more and more people will go that same way because every little step is one in the right direction.

11-16-2008 @ 11:44AM

kelly.leahy said...

Chris, It's not that I think that cutting down on meat is a bad thing, it's a very good thing. But it's also what nutritionists have been telling people for ages. To coin a trendy label for it, "flexitarian," sounds false and opportunistic.

Additionally, at the beginning of the article that I was reading, the subject of the piece identified as vegetarian but ate meat twice a week. Huh?

Good for you for changing your diet and thanks for the comment!

11-16-2008 @ 7:38PM

jenna said...

I've identified as flexitarian for about 4 or 5 months now. I love the taste of meat, but i do not condone buying meat and supporting the horrible environmental impacts of CAFOs (don't know what the impacts are? read Pollan's "the omnivore's dilemma"). However, I refuse to get preachy about my vegetarianism, and i don't want to be difficult to cook for, and i certainly don't want to waste any meat that's already been bought, so here's my philosophy: I don't eat meat on my own, but I will eat it at a friend's gathering so that s/he doesn't have to go out of their way to make a separate dish for me, and if i'm eating with someone and they don't want to finish whatever meat they're eating and they're going to throw it away, i will eat that so that it doesn't get thrown in the trash. This usually comes out to me eating meat about once a month, and i don't feel guilty about it.

11-17-2008 @ 9:42AM

Trevorb said...

Why not just call them "responsible omnivores?" that's way less pretentious and lame sounding.

11-17-2008 @ 11:30AM

kelly.leahy said...

Trevor, that makes sense but technically they are still *just* "omnivores" as there is nothing under flexitarianism that says that the meat has to be tucked in at night.

After reading the comments, I guess that people just like identifiers and since we spend so much time and money on food, why not create new sub categories?

Preyitarian - one who only eats meat that one catches and kills.

Gobblitarian - one who only eats meat during the holidays.

McAterian - one who tells their friends that they are vegetarians but sneak the occasional Big Mac.

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