Comments on: Why I am a Flexitarian

By: Matthew Ciuccio

Matthew Ciuccio — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:01:43 +0000

Terrific article, thanks a lot. Flexitarian is a wonderful word, and a terrific idea.

By: originalDave

originalDave — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:27:50 +0000

If you insist I call myself a omnivore then you are simply a herbivore. Semantics goes both ways. …a rose by any other name…

By: vegan2

vegan2 — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:17:27 +0000

No one has said that meat should not be eaten. It is a personal choice. My issue is one of semantics. If one eats meat they are an omnivore. Calling oneself a “flexitarian” is culinary green washing.

By: john

john — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 04:13:26 +0000

yes i am a flexitarian!
i dont like eating red meat but it seems like my body desires it at certain times .expecially hard to eat out without being a flexitarian.

By: wayne.lacosse

wayne.lacosse — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 04:10:10 +0000

In the warmer months of the year i feel little need for meat.
In the winter months meat is what I crave.
It is quite simple, isn’t it?
Think of our ancestors’ early days… in the warmer months plant foods are all around, and we eat them. Then the snow falls and all the plant foods are either dead or dormant. What is left to fill our growling stomachs?
The word starts with “M”.
It hardly matters that nowadays we have superdupermarkets with everything a person with enough money can obtain
to satisfy anything his/her appetite suggests. There is still a seasonal desire in action… this time of year I want sausage, in as many incarnations as possible. And ANY time of year I want cheese.
I do have a number of vegetarian cookbooks but that is only in order to make the best use of my summer garden. Vegetables are great, I love them and eat them as much as I can, but brother… don’t you DARE say I shouldn’t/can’t eat “M”.

By: vegan2

vegan2 — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:37:39 +0000

Vegetarians and vegans have not chosen the lifestyle for the label. It is a choice to live in a more responsible and respectable manner and there is, at times, small sacrifices of convenience. It is these small sacrifices (not being able to eat Eggs Benedict with your friends at Sunday brunch or eat the paella at a dinner party) which give weight to conviction. Even though I applaud any effort to reduce meat consumption, if you eat meat, you are a meat eater regardless of the amount you eat.

By: Cian

Cian — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:35:55 +0000

I don’t see the point of the label “flexitarianism”. If you agree that animal agriculture is very bad for the environment and human health, surely thats reason enough to go vegan? You didnt mention in the article but do you have any issue at all with animals suffering and being killed unnecessarily for food?

By definition, and also by means of the history and ideas of the entire movement, a “vegetarian” who eats fish or meat, is not a “vegetarian”. Its somewhat like someone labelling themselves an “anarcho-capitalist” and claiming that they are a valid part of the anarchist tradition. Flexitarianism is just another word for an omnivore with a guilty conscience.

By: Vegan

Vegan — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:49:49 +0000

Ah, but in your desire not to label yourself, now you have. Why not just order what you want, and if asked if you are vegetarian simply say, “No, I am not.” No need to feel the need to expound nor explain.