Wednesday, March 17, 2004

This article about flexitarians, "vegetarians" who actually eat meat and meat eaters who mostly eat vegetarian, was heartening in that it pointed to a decrease in meat consumption. People eating less meat and being open to vegetarian protein sources is always going to make me happy. But I'm not too thrilled about people calling themselves vegetarians when they're willing to cheat. I prefer the way most of my friends deal with it--if they're not willing to give up the meat, they don't call themselves vegetarians, and just decrease their meat-intake without all the labeling. Why does this matter? Because for a vegetarian like me, who basically cannot make exceptions, the idea that vegetarians can pick and choose the times they eat vegetarian is not helpful. I have a hard enough time convincing people of my need to be vegetarian without flexitarians muddying up the waters. But it probably won't be much of an issue. I also don't like the idea of, say, Vegetarian Times eventually including meaty recipes. I go to magazines like that so I don't have to read recipes with meat in them. But overall I'm glad people are eating less meat, period.