While I applaud anyone trying to move toward a more plant-based diet, there is simply no such thing as a "vegetarian who occasionally eats meat." Flexitarian is not and should not be a word. There's already a word for people who eat plants and animals: omnivore.
Note:
Vegetarians: don't eat meat
Vegans: don't consume any animal-derived products (for food, clothing, etc).
I happen to be a vegetarian who not only eschews meat, but I also do not internally consume products that contain meat derivatives (stock, gelatin, fish oil, etc). Regardless, I don't have a special name for myself. I'm just a vegetarian.
10 comments:
Leslie - While I respect your opinion. A Flexitarian is not an omnivore. An omnivore is someone that eats anything without any regard for when, how much or why. A flexitarian is consciously trying to reduce the amount of meat they are eating and replacing the meat with vegetables. I think it is a clear difference. Also the book The Flexitarian Diet is really really great. It is packed with great nutrition advice backed up by science and the recipes and shopping lists in the book are extremely helpful for people looking to move toward a more plant based diet. If you get a chance check out the author (Dawn Jackson Blatner) too. She is great. She teaches healthy cooking classes so she knows what she is talking about, she is an R.D., is the lifetimetv.com dietitian amongst many other credits. I would highly recommend the book.
Perhaps a flexitarian is a KIND of omnivore? Because I'll agree to respect your opinions, ThirstyApe, if you'll agree not to assume when or why I eat what I eat.
Signed,
Former vegetarian, now omnivore again, who doesn't eat a lot of meat personally, and mother of a vegetarian who doesn't eat any meat products but does wear leather shoes. But I bet she won't once she thinks about that for a minute.
Being a former Chicago gal I have taken Dawn's classes and know her. The ADA did come up with the word/person flexitarian a while ago. While as a vegetarian in some ways I think it good for those people who eat some meat products to have their own word, because I had friends who say they were vegetarians when the ate chicken and fish. So then they would say they were a pescovegeterian or something else made up. But, I really think you are either a veg head or a meat eater no matter how much animal you eat. Why I applaud those who decrease the amount of meat you eat - you are still eating it!
Okay, that's my 2 cents.
Happy Thanksgiving.
And, save the turkeys!
I suppose I'm someone to whom the term could probably be applied, but I'm not sure I like it either.
I'll probably stick with meat-minimalist.
Jon, I love "meat-minimalist!"
Good thing to think about, Lesley!
Jon, I think that's a fine term. As long as there's no "-tarian" attached to it. My opinion is born of my frustration with people constantly asking me if I eat fish or chicken when I tell them I'm a vegetarian. So like I said, I'm really glad people are reducing the meat in their diets, but if they're still eating it, I don't think they should add to the confusion by calling themselves any special word. Particularly since just a generation or two ago, it was fairly common to eat very little meat in your diet (because it was expensive--as it should be!).
I hear ya. I have never understood how chicken & fish managed to work their way into anything remotely connected to the term vegetarian.
i love that this is being spoken about! After reading everyone's comments above me, I like thirsty ape's viewpoint the best. I'm not one to get hung up on extreme ideals, morals, or labels, but I think "flexitarian" is fitting for me personally. I eat eggs, I seldom consume animal flesh and I almost never buy it (unless there's no other option when i am hungry). I occasionally eat ice cream or yogurt but i always drink soy milk. Of my large family and my friends in the Midwest most of them (99%)eat meat at about every meal. I would not put myself in the same category as them. If i am eating with them, and they prepared the meal, I may eat some of the "meat" they made and I may not, I am flexible. I used to be more strict about this when i lived in the west coast and did call myself a vegetarian for a time, but now I am not (it's not as easy in cattle, hunting country of small town Iowa. Maybe similar to the generations that Lesley spoke about but oppositely in the fact that vegetarian options are expensive here and not widely available), I am more "flexible" with what i consume. I appreciate "meat-minimalist" but think that it could lead to confusion especially with emphasizing meat as the first word, it could be taken as "i don't eat much but when i do it's meat" what about the opposite, "veg e-maximizer" or something like that. Regardless of the label, I do think giving people positive reinforcement for making a conscience effort to avoid meat is better than shunning them for being in the middle. Let them call themselves flexitarian, it's better than making them feel unwelcome and turning them away from a positive thing. when your in the middle you hear if from both sides. There are extreme meat eaters and extreme vegans so it's only natural to have people in the middle.
I like the Urban Dictionary's definition of a peskatarian:
Someone who is too lazy to be a vegetarian, and will only eat fish. Refraining from the consumption of mammals.
I'm a meat-minimalist too. Sometimes my body just craves more than a pill supplement for iron or protein. And looking at the online descriptions of what a flexitarian is, I get the impression it's the metrosexual of meat/non-meat diets.
Why do people have to have a name to feel special? Why can't we just have our own eating habits and not be lumped into categories?
I don't call myself a vegetarian. I simply say that I have a meat-free apartment. I don't eat or cook meat at my home but if I go to a restaurant where they don't meat-free dishes or to someone's house then I will not inconvenience them or make them feel awkward for not having a dietary thing just for me. I eat out rarely so I would bet that I eat meat once or twice a month.
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