¿Flexi Que?

One of the reasons I established this blog was to educate people on the vegan and/or vegetarian lifestyle from a latino’s perspective. As you know being Latino and Vegetarian for some strange reason may sound like an oxymoron but in reality there are many of us and this blog has allowed me to connect with many of them.

Some of them like Sandra Ordoñez (@collaboracion), Deborah Charnes, Pamela Hernandez (@thrivefit) and Lucy (@lucymfel – New Vegetarian, please applaud her) have shared some great content, posts, recipes, and experiences with you, our readers. We have also other collaborators that are not vegetarian like @analovebug, Ivan Cao Berg @icaoberg, Sara @sarachicad but have given us some great content that can be very valuable to those that are looking for other options to eat and those others who would like to be vegetarian.

A few week’s ago another blog, which I will not name took the title of one of my articles (¿Vege Que?) and created a whole week around the title. Not only did they feed off a great idea, no attribution was given. The part that bothered me the most was that the title was highly misleading. Other than having lack of creativity, the person made some offensive remarks towards vegetarians that were latino. Overall they where selling the term of Flexitarian. Which made me think ¿Flexi-Que?

Everyone Can be a Flexitarian

Everyone can or probably be a flexitarian since it determines you don’t eat meat or choose not to eat meat every once in a while. A good example of Flexitarian’s are Catholics during lent that decide not to eat meat on Friday’s so I guess that automatically sets them in that category.

What is a Flexitarian?

In my opinion and poking a bit of fun at the term, a flexitarian is a Meat-Eating vegetarian. So I guess that can be a real oxymoron. It is not possible to eat meat and be vegetarian so why choose a title? I guess in a world where people are trying consistently not to be left out or divide themselves, a term like flexitarian makes them feel better about themselves and better people over their other meat eating friends.

Are there clear requirements of being Flexitarian?

I guess since the term really does not define how much meat is adequate. How do you measure how much meat intake disqualifies you from being flexitarian? I guess eating less meat does help the environment and many animals but if every once in a while you eat one, then I guess you should just stick with the term omnivore or meat eater.

Part time Vegetarian is Similar to Being Married Part-Time

I guess that those who end up eating meat when they are fully aware of the consequences should have a title, but not with a positive tone. I respect whoever eats meat if they are fully conscious of what they are doing. Are couples who are married only half committed when they recite their vows? If this is the case, then marriage is clearly not an option. The commitment to being vegetarian is a pact between oneself and mother nature. Flexitarian does have a certain level of hypocrisy and lack of commitment. Look at the following comments:

• “It gives you the health benefits of a vegetarian diet without having to follow the strict rules.”
• “We know that people live longer and live healthier when they eat vegetarian, but it’s just too darn hard to do it 100 percent of the time.”

The first comment clearly admits that the person feels like they do not need to follow the rules. No problem, but don’t call your self a part-time vegetarian. If you can’t commit to being vegetarian, eat less meat but please don’t use the title.

Why I dislike the Term Flexitarian?

Flexitarian’s make my life more complicated. In the latino culture there are many myths on being vegetarian and vegan. People who don’t understand the lifestyle think that I can choose when I decide to eat meat products. Having someone calling themselves a flexitarian in the latino culture only creates more confusion.

You either vegetarian or your not. Your either vegan or your not.

I would like to be vegan but I am working on getting there. But until then I don’t think it would be appropriate to call myself a part time vegan full time vegetarian.

What are your thoughts on the term Flexitarian?

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Photo credit by Stefan Baudy