Why Being Flexitarian Is The Way To Go

Vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan or flexitarian?

While it may come as a surprise for people who have known me for a while, I am not actually 100% vegetarian. In fact, I would consider myself a flexitarian. Well, kinda.

Despite not eating meat in my daily life and only consuming animal products in the form of cheeses, the occasional Sunday brunch eggs benedict or my mom’s cooking (let’s be honest, being vegetarian doesn’t mean anything to her) I had never taken any label relative to my diet until recently.

Indeed, the only reason I started describing myself to others as pescatarian, vegetarian or flexitarian, depending on the context and the expected understandability of my audience, is because my former romantic partner became vegetarian soon after meeting me, which encouraged me to actually use that label.

While I believe in personal choices, I also realize that one’s diet preferences after each and every single one of us in the long run. Not only economically or in encouraging certain availability of products, but also environmentally. Thus, my main motivation for eating what I eat daily is actually affected by how many people eat like me or not.

Therefore, when my partner started using the vegetarian label actively as they did, it got me thinking. Perhaps attaching an identity to my eating habits could actually spark important discussions in my surroundings about the reasons behind my diet. To be fair, it kind of worked too.

However, my big issue with those labels is the idea that you must be 100% perfect to be considered “part of the group.” It sort of feels like the cliché clique of cool kids in American movies, right? If I say I am vegetarian but I eat a beef burger on a drunken night once a year, would I still be considered a vegetarian in the eyes of others? Well, for one thing, I don’t really care about what others think my label should be. So yeah, I’m still a vegetarian.

My whole perception of alternative diets is more based on harm reduction than the desire for perfection. I deal with enough anxiety in my life as is, I try not to add more worry to my consicence. Also, my experience with EDNOS has taught me that, at least in my case, restrictions only cause binges or unhealthy ruminating and guilt-ridden thoughts.

My point is that being 80% vegetarian is still better than being a daily meat eater. Reducing any amount of animal products or non-environmentally-friendly commodities used in your household is better than negating the whole issue of climate change. Only through constant bettering of ourselves can we reach our common goals and avoid moral panic.

Simply imagine the world if everyone in developed countries reduced their consumption of animal products by 50% and chose greener alternatives 25% of the time. Wouldn’t that be better than one person being the perfect vegetarian or vegan? Probably.

This is the reasoning that led me to, over time, being less obsessed with the fear of someone judging me for having a taste of my friend’s ribs when I had waaay too much wine a couple of years ago, or the bite of tartare I pick out of my lover’s plate at a restaurant, simply to taste the special dish I never had before.

I don’t feel bad about eating my mom’s cooking anymore. There is no guilt about accidentally forgetting to specify oat milk when I occasionally order a café latte at the bagel place near my apartment. It’s still better than if I never got the alternative.

Eating cake on your birthday, smoking one cigarette after a concert, or skipping the gym once a month won’t bring your health to a catastrophic downfall. What actually matters is what you put in or do to your body on the daily.

Therefore, I now describe myself as a polite vegetarian. Take it or leave it, but unless you’re me or you’re cooking me food, it shouldn’t matter. If it still bothers you, perhaps you need more hobbies or should refocus your efforts toward the ones who don’t even try to contribute to our common efforts.

TLDR; let me eat my mom’s tourtière during the Holidays and take a look at your own plate.