Are You a Flexitarian?

I am, and until a few weeks ago, I didn’t even know it. This has nothing to do with being an easy going, flexible personality. It is also not related to being a Rastafarian, Unitarian, or Rotarian, although any of those folks could indeed be a Flexitarian. Flexitarianism is instead a title given to people who describe themselves as eating mainly vegetarian food, but who make occasional exceptions for “social, pragmatic, or nutritional reasons”. In other words, “a vegetarian who occasionally eats meat”. Oh well, I guess we all need a label these days.

My first reaction to finding out I was a flexitarian was a hearty chuckle. Usually, a description of my diet has been rather complicated, now it should be a bit easier.

So, you have an easy answer when someone says: “You look so healthy, what do you eat?” Instead of giving the due biological credit to your ancestors, you can simply say I am a flexitarian. Of course the blank stares will probably necessitate describing your diet in more detail anyway. Or, in response to the inevitable “what is a flexitarian?” question, you can just say it is a vegetarian that occasionally eats meat. Funny, I would have expected that would disqualify you as a vegetarian!