Life with Bees

"Flexitarianism'' is apparently the new way forward for veggie lovers, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Australians are taking different approaches to vegetarianism, including not counting fish and chicken as meat. Karen Fornito hates meat, which tastes ''like blood'' to her, and won't usually eat it unless it's disguised in a pizza or a spag bol. But she will eat fish and chicken if it's well cooked and doesn't call herself a vegetarian to avoid confusing her friends. Meanwhile Americans are preparing fewer meat meals, even though they're cooking at home more to save money in the credit crunch. These ''recession flexitarians" are semi-vegos who occasionally indulge in meat and you can join their ranks by cutting meat from your menu every couple of days. Gourmet.com recommends measures such as adopting a "meatless Monday" ala Paul McCartney or a "vegan-before-dinnertime" diet, where breakfast and lunch are meat and dairy-free. [Gourmet.com]

"Flexitarianism" isn't new - the term was coined back in the early 2000s and has been used to describe people who are mostly vego but also eat meat. But the problem with this approach is that it reinforces the idea that the world must be divided into red-blooded/thoughtless meat eaters and saintly/annoying vegetarians. Naming and defining "flexitarianism" as a deliberate merging of the two camps (a deliberate grey area, if you will) simply validates both meat-eating and vegetarianism and promotes the idea that these are the only two food options available to humanity.

We are omnivores - we will eat most things. Calling someone "flexitarian'' because they decide to eat both meat and vegetables is as silly as insisting that people should eat only meat or vegetables. Growing up in Asia, my family ate a diet that was 75% vegetables and 25% meat, for the simple reason that meat was expensive and we could only buy it every couple of days. When we did have meat, it was mostly chicken pieces, beef or goat mince. It was often used as part of a stew or curry dish that also included vegetables and was always served with extra dishes of veg. As a result, I'm conditioned to eat tiny amounts of meat and a sea of greens. TK grew up in a Western household on a diet that was pretty much the reverse of mine - for him, a well-crafted and lovingly prepared meat dish is essential every day. Neither of us would ever give up eating meat or veg - although there are sometimes arguments along the lines of "where the hell are the vegetables??" or "bring out the bloody meat!"

So if we eat both meat and vegetables, perhaps we are just doing what comes naturally. We don't need to be flexitarian or pescavegan or vegoflexes. And if we eat meat but reserve the right to be vego when it suits us and vice versa - well, maybe then we're just fussy.

Eat cake instead.