Versatile Vegetarian

The Herald-Dispatch | Health

National Post (Canada)

While I object to the categorization of flexitarians as versatile vegetarians (it's a bad use of the word versatile, if nothing else), I don't really have a problem with the word flexitarian itself.

I think most people generally have an idea what it means (according to the Herald-Dispatch article, "The term refers to people who get most -- about 80 percent -- of their nutrients, from a plant-based diet"), and it fits a growing category of people that vegetarians should embrace rather than condemn.

No matter how much we want them to, not everyone is going to go vegetarian. But so much good would still come about if the vast majority of the American public improved their eating habits from the standard American diet (SAD) by consuming a flexitarian diet instead. In fact, the flexitarian expansion is really only building on what is already there, according to the National Post article:

Charles Stahler, co-director of the Vegetarian Resource Group, based out of Baltimore, estimates that while true vegetarians make up around 3% of the American population, flexitarians may account for up to 40%. And there's been more research that suggests some 75% of the vegetarian products consumed annually in North America are by meat eaters.

Companies are seeing this as a market that is largely untapped, and their investment dollars could well grow the category, bringing more avowed carnivores into the flexitarian fold. And these articles provide a non-threatening look at a lifestyle that busy people might be more inclined to consider, which could well lead some of them to a fully vegetarian diet some day, though perhaps not (from the Herald-Dispatch):

"If I could make the decision now to become a vegetarian, I could see myself becoming a flexitarian," (Paige) Markum said.

Still, I see this being particularly helpful to people who aren't yet comfortable going totally vegetarian or vegan around family or peer groups, people who traditionally find it rude to turn down meals prepared for them, or people who can't find anything else appropriate on the menu when dining out, but who want to eat vegetarian or vegan at all other times.

It's also an easy way for meat-eaters to experiment with vegan and vegetarian dining without feeling like they are making a radical conversion. Despite the fact that flexitarians may propose a sort of walking contradiction in the minds of some, a market that provides more vegetarian products to vegetarians and flexitarian consumers alike is a better marketplace for all.

Tags: flexitarian