Flexitarian??

Is there such a thing??? I have heard that if you are a flexitarian then you eat meat and fish but not RED meat. I also heard that you mainly enjoy veggies, fruits, and whole grains, and that you are flexible.

Well this summarizes my daily meal plans and I would like to know what the "correct term" (if there is one) is for a person who eats meat but not red meat??

I think 'flexitarian' actually refers to someone who either a) eats a single serving of meat with less than half their meals, or b) eats vegeatrian at home and will not buy meat, but will eat meat when given by someone else (say someone has a dinner party or bbq etc...) 


If you eat fish and birds, then I think its called pesco-pollotanarian, or more commonly a semi-vegetarian.

"Omnivore".

i agree with cellophane_star :)

Who cares what your "title" is. Eat what your body tells you to eat and is healthy for YOU. 

I never heard that label before, but I guess it describes me.  I was vegan for quite a while years ago, then developed health problems that caused nutritional deficiencies (veganism would have been fine if I hadn't developed unrelated illness.)  Some of the problem was caused by the medications I had to take.  At any rate, it had to be addressed and corrected.

Under the direction of nutritionists I began eating small amounts of fish and poultry with occassional red meat to boost my iron and B vitamin levels.  Now I am mostly lacto/ovo vegetarian, with at least two pure vegan days a week and two days a week eating some fish or meat at at least one meal.

I feel healthier eating mostly whole grains and vegetables.  We all have to make the decisions that are best for us as individuals. 

Original Post by cellophane_star:

"Omnivore".

 I agree...if you eat meat you are an omnivore.

I am an omnivore! Finally, a label that fits... ; )

Original Post by cowgirrlup:

Original Post by cellophane_star:

"Omnivore".

I agree...if you eat meat you are an omnivore.

well the word flexitarian is in the dictionary so im afraid we are going to have to respect people's wishes to call themselves that. and really though, i thought that it would be good when people try to consume less meat than the 'normal' omnivore diet. if that's how they need to describe the way they eat then that's what they need to do. (maybe they need to do that so their family/friends dont serve them mounds of meat all the time). i still dont know what it is to anyone if someone wants to be called a flexitarian, its not like they are going around saying im vegetarian but then eat meat on special occasions confusing people.

As a so-called flexitarian (though I at meat 3 times a year and not for special occasions) I find the name kind of...marketing friendly? Vegetarian Lite, anyone?

well its been a good few years since i've studied any kind of sociolinguistics (& most of it was in the memory bank, then dumped when it wasn't needed), but its how words develop. someone comes up with a word to describe something, in this case a compound word to help communicate what their diet consists of, then you get a bunch more people to agree on it & if enough do, then viola. ok that may be the simplistic version but its just a word. you can go into about exactly how many words do you need to describe something but i think that's another debate. for the purposes here, since we all talk about the way we eat, exercise & whatever i can't see any reason why someone shouldn't be able to use that word & for us to respect that.

I was under the impression that vegetarian and vegan is the same thing if you really want to be anal about it. You need to say lacto vegetarian if you eat cheese or drink milk. Or Ovo vegetarian if you eat eggs. Pesce vegetarian means you eat fish.

I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian, and honestly I only would say that out loud to my doctor. I don't feel the need to announce my dietary choices to the whole world. If I'm asked I will say I'm a vegetarian, but I don't like making a fuss about it because I think most omnivores really don't appreciate being preached too.  I became a vegetarian because I was absolutely disgusted by commercial farming practices, along with all the health benefits of being a vegetarian. I find that most people don't want to know exactly where their food comes from, so let them be.

On wikipedia "flexitarian" is basically the catch-all word for people who choose to not eat some meats and eat others or who have their own special set of rules.  I eat fish and poultry and call myself a flexitarian but that's only when I must explain it to other people.  I just eat what I want.  Pure vegetarians probably do find this "marketing friendly" and that's so true.  I don't think I'm a vegetarian, it's just complicated to explain.  No flexitarians have the exact same set of rules probably, because they are flexible.

Original Post by snoekem516:
Pure vegetarians probably do find this "marketing friendly" and that's so true. I don't think I'm a vegetarian, it's just complicated to explain.

i guess im just so used to new terms/definitions/meanings coming up all the time. my fiance & i are really into electronic music, talk about new terms coming up over & over again. jeez, instead of just dj's now, you have 'controllerists' & genres within genres, 'liquid funk' in the drum & bass genre??? liquid funk just doesn't sound like a good description to me, but hey? i mean it does get overkill, but in one way its the beauty of language in another it does get confusing and seem somewhat pointless some times. and those terms are constantly being more fleshed out. and when i studied jazz, trying to remember all the types, from 'mainstream jazz' to 'cool jazz' to 'crossover jazz', etc??? i mean the term 'jazz fusion' was used as a catch all phrase for awhile, but that didn't last long, we needed more definitions to describe it.

but anyway i digress, but the long winded point im trying to make is, it happens in language. the word vegan was only just 'fleshed out' last century. we may start to see flexitarian start to take on a more firm definition or like other new words maybe just fade away in the background.