Vegetarian, Flexitarian, Pescatarian...

It seems there is a growing trend toward vegetarianism now, and that's great! It really is. In that trend there are also people sitting on the fence, calling themselves vegetarian and still eating meat once in a while. For those people (flexitarians) allow me to provide some definitions to keep you from stepping on the toes of vegetarians.

• A vegetarian does not eat ANY meat, including fish. No food with a face! Vegetarians may or may not eat eggs (ovo) or dairy (lacto). Those that do are called ovo-lacto vegetarians, or if they only do one of those they might call themselves ovo-vegetarian or lacto-vegetarian.
• A vegan does not consume any animal products, including buying clothing made from animal products or any other household goods.
• An omnivore is someone who will eat meat, like most of society.
• A pescatarian is someone who eats fish, but no other meat or poultry products.
• A flexitarian (a modern word here) is an omnivore that has greatly cut back on his/her consumption of meat, but still eats it once in a while, so while they may mostly eat vegetarian they are still omnivores due to that once-in-a-while.
  

Sure sure you can go on about how you don't live in labels or whatever, great for you. But in this particular, non-religious case, its important to understand what category you are in so that you don't confuse others.

This is my attempt to help keep this new flexitarian movement from further confusing people about vegetarianism. I've been asked (so many times) "But you still eat fish right?? Won't you at least eat some turkey at Christmas??" to which I say No, vegetarian is vegetarian, not eats-it-at-Christmas!

I've met some people (that fall into the flexitarian category) that aren't bad people, but seem to want the label of vegetarian attached to them for vanity. This kind of thing is only going to confuse people about what vegetarian is (Veggies have been trying for a long time to get more options on restaurant menus, don't kill that for us please!!). They may not be aware of the vanity, but it is the nature of calling yourself something you aren't.

Vegan and vegetarian lifestyles are also often tied into a passion for animal equality and protection of animals or at least trying to advocate humane farming methods (I'm the third part there, humane farming methods). Calling yourself vegetarian and then eating meat anyway is going to be like a slap in the face to people like this. It's like blowing smoke in a non-smokers face. Most veggies won't care if they see you eating meat when they know you're not vegetarian (or if they do care, they're likely to be polite and try to ignore it). It's the lie (that you might not even have realized you told) that is the problem.

So please think carefully about what category you fall into, becoming vegetarian and no longer eating meat means exactly that, no longer eating meat. Period. If you don't honestly live that lifestyle, please identify with the proper category! Vegetarian is not a fashion label or a starbucks cup; it is not meant to boost your ego by making you look good in front of others.