Flexitarian VS Omnivore
Monday September 19, 2005
Reader Response - I was just looking over the poll choices for whether you are a carnivore, vegetarian, vegan or flexitarian (Poll: Are You A Flexitarian?). Isn’t a flexitarian an omnivore? And at least from what I remember from biology I think we all are omnivores…. Just a thought... Christopher F. Answer - Yes, Christopher you bring up a good point. Omnivores eat both meat and plants. My husband who is a biology major and taught life science for 34 years confirmed this for me. Flexitarian, I think, is more of a "catchy" term for wanna-be-vegetarians.
Flexitarians will occasionally give in to cravings for a hamburger or piece of chicken being added to their diets. Flexitarians make conscious efforts to maintain a healthy lifestyle by choosing primarily veggies with a meat option only now and again. I imagine that true flexitarians would only choose to eat meat once a month or less often.
I should probably classify myself as a "flexitarian-wanna-be" because I generally have meat once, and sometimes twice a week. Whereas, I was raised by a couple of omnivores who served up meat as the main course at every family supper. My dad was a butcher by trade, and my mom was a homemaker who made sure we ate all the veggies on our plates before we were allowed to have dessert.
More Reader Responses
Hi there, I think flexitarians are like bisexuals who really are gay, they want to sound cooler but actually they´re just repressed and not disciplined enough. Vegetarianism is not about lifestyle, it’s an ethical choice based on our solidarity with animals. So-called flexitarians obviously ignore the plight of animals in favour of a selfish, trivial pleasure.