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This Vegan Wants You to Be a Flexitarian
A do-what-you-can approach, from someone who’s gone all-in.
I’ve been vegan 18 years, most of my life. But like most of us, I was born and raised as an omnivore. My journey toward veganism began with a whole year where I quit eating most animals, but sometimes ate chicken and crustaceans. I wasn’t a vegetarian, but I was close. There wasn’t a word for it back then, but we’ve got one now: flexitarian.
Flexitarians eat mostly meatless meals, but aren’t 100 percent vegan or vegetarian. The connotation is that vegans are strict, and flexitarians are, well, flexible.
Flexitarianism is not new. Way back in 2003, flexitarian was voted the Most Useful Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society, though it didn’t make it into Webster’s until 2012. Meanwhile, Medium’s spellcheck still doesn’t believe it’s a word.
Michael Pollan’s mom Corky Pollan wrote a piece for Heated about her flexitarian life and the family’s new flexitarian cookbook.
And today, my own mom, who I’ve tried to convert to veganism for almost 20 years now, told me, “I saw the word flexitarian in something you wrote. I think that’s what I am.”
My mom’s not vegan. Maybe she will be someday. Maybe not. But she’s right: she’s come a long way. She…
