Semi-vegetarianism

A semi-vegetarian or flexitarian diet is one that is plant-based with the occasional inclusion of meat products. In 2003, the American Dialect Society voted flexitarian as the year's most useful word.

Difference between similar terms and diets

Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat. In addition to the term flexitarian, which was listed in the mainstream Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary in 2012, a neologism for semi-vegetarianism is reducetarianism. Reducetarianism is simply the practice of eating less meat - red meat, poultry, and seafood. While semi-vegetarians and flexitarians primarily eat plants with the occasional inclusion of meat, reducetarians gradually reduce meat consumption with respect to their own diet.

Common reasons for adopting a flexitarian diet may be ethical issues relating to animal welfare (including health) or animal rights, the environment (see environmental vegetarianism) or reduction of resource consumption (see economic vegetarianism), which are also arguments in favor of adopting a fully vegetarian diet. While flexitarians may view the meat or animal products as occasional indulgences, staunch vegetarians may resent the term or view it as cheating or as a moral lapse. On the other hand, many proponents of veganism embrace flexitarianism/reducetarianism as a way to get a broader section of the general public to act on arguments for veganism, with the consequence that more animal suffering and environmental devastation will be prevented than if the public viewed meat-reduction as all-or-nothing.

A ranking by U.S. News & World Report, involving a panel of experts, evaluated 32 popular diets based on overarching factors including health, weight loss, and ease of following; on the 2014 list, the flexitarian diet came in sixth place, ahead of both the vegan and vegetarian diets. Specific flexitarian diets include:

• Pollotarian: someone who eats chicken or other poultry, but not meat from mammals, often for environmental, health or food justice reasons
• Pescetarian: someone who eats fish and/or other seafood, but not poultry or meat from mammals.
• The macrobiotic diet is plant-based, and may or may not include the occasional addition of fish or other seafood.
• Pollo-pescetarian: someone who eats poultry, seafood, and no other meat. This word is a combination of "pollotarian" and "pescetarian", it is also written as "pesce-pollotarian".
• Pollo-porco-pescetarian (white meat): someone who eats poultry, seafood, pork, rabbit, and no other meat (no beef, lamb or goat meat which are considered red meats). This diet has its origins in the Byzantine tradition and is especially popular in Cyprus, where beef is rarely eaten while lamb or goat are only eaten on special occasions such as during religious celebrations and weddings. In modern times pollo-porco-pescetarians choose this diet because it is low in cholesterol and low in fat. It is the well known heart-healthy Mediterranean diet where in a typical week one would eat vegetables for 4 days, 1 day fish or sea food, 1 day chicken, pigeons, turkey, game birds, rabbit or pork (rotated every week). This diet would allow for red meat once or twice a year. Dairy or eggs are generally allowed. People that subscribe to this diet would typically rotate between vegan, vegetarian, pescetarian and pollo-porco-pescetarian diets for periods ranging from a week up to 40 days depending on the time of the year.

See also

• Entomophagy (consumption of insects, which is another environmental approach for obtaining food)
• Ethical eating
• Ethics of eating meat
• Food and drink prohibitions
• Sustainable diet

Further reading

• Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, LDN (2009). The Flexitarian Diet: The Mostly Vegetarian Way to Lose Weight, Be Healthier, Prevent Disease, and Add Years to Your Life. McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 978-0-07-154957-8
• Cultural Encyclopedia of Vegetarianism by Margaret Puskar-Pasewicz.ABC-CLIO(2010). ISBN 978-0-313-37556-9

External links

• Why flexitarian?
• Can You Be a Vegetarian and Still Eat Meat?
• Sausage, bacon and roast dinners, Staples of the British Diet, are on the Wane as 'Flexitarians' forgo Meat by Susie Mesure, The Independent, July 12, 2009