First there was the vegetarian. Then, the vegan. Now, the flexitarian? Flexitarians are people who eat meat once in a while but try to avoid it when they can. Ok, so i get that it seems silly to even have a word for this- either don't eat meat or do...no one really cares. But, I have to admit that I myself am a flexitarian. Oh, I've tried to practice complete vegetarianism. It went a little something like this:
day one:
Breakfast - going well....no meat in cereal necccessary.
Lunch- good thing I like veggie wraps!
Dinner- at a barbeque. damn. ....pass me a burger.
Just for fun I found some other interesting labels for people who aren't full-fledged vegetarians:
Pescetarianism are people who classify as vegetarians but also eat fish.
Pollotarianism are people who classify as vegetarians but also eat poultry. Poultry is chicken. Chicken is meat. Umm, so aren't pollotarians the opposite of vegetarians? just sayin.
Back to flexitarianism, I am a flexitarian because I don't want to be one of those annoying people who goes to your house and requires a completely different menu than everyone else, but I think the healthier option is to consume as little red meat as possible. Annnd, I admit, I like being able to label myself as different from the general meat eating public.
Lots of people are trying to eat less red meat for health reasons and also for environmental reasons. Red meat contains high amounts of saturated fats and has been correlated to increased risks of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Regular consumption of red meat is linked to arthritis. It takes 78 calories of fossil fuel to produce just 1 calorie of beef protein. Cattle used for meat use up a ton of our planet's water resources. Check out this article for more reasons why being a vegetarian helps the planet.
So I say jump on the flexitarian band wagon and don't look back.
This article gives some great tips on making the switch to vegetarianism.
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