Flexitarianism

It would never be my intention to intentionally start a rift between my leaf loving herbivores and meat craving carnivores/omnivores-- but since I personally know some vegetarians out there with occasional fits of bloodlust who indulge on the odd turkey leg like a famished pirate in the middle of the night - there's another title you should be ascribing to yourself; flexitarian.   A flexitarian would be a vegetarian that is willing to be flexible, preferring to be meatless, yet is flexible to eating meat on occasion.

The term flexitarian isn't a new one, it's been garnering a lot more attention lately with people who either don't want to piss everyone off during Thanksgiving and dinner parties, or whose meatless diet is a preference rather than a necessity.

 A flexitarian diet is for "[...] people who want to be vegetarians most of the time but "don't want to sit at a barbecue in their neighborhood with an empty bun," says Blatner, a nutrition blogger for dietchallenge.usatoday.com and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

Call them what you will; pseudo-vegetarians, slacker-dieters, vegetarian moderates, or simply omnivores--the point is -- they have their own label now, which seems a bit odd to name it, but that's only because I'm not the one selling a book, now am I?

To read a Q&A; on flexitarianism, see USA Today's article,  "Flexitarians can have their meat and not eat it, too"

If you find flexitarianism too lax on it's requirements, you can always try either polar extreme; becoming a meatatarian, or if you are prone to obsessive/compulsive tendencies, you might try your hand at Jain-vegetarianism:

• For Jains lacto-vegetarianism (generally known simply as vegetarianism in India) is mandatory. Food which contains even small particles of the bodies of dead animals or eggs is absolutely unacceptable.
• Jains go out of their way so as not to hurt even small insects and other tiny animals, because they are convinced that harm caused by carelessness is as reprehensible as harm caused by deliberate action. Hence they take great pains to make sure that no minuscule animals are injured by the preparation of their meals and in the process of eating and drinking.
• Traditionally Jains have been prohibited from drinking unfiltered water. In the past, when wells or baolis were used for the water source, the cloth used for filtering used to reversed and some filtered water was poured over it to return the organisms to the original body of water. This practice termed as 'jivani' or 'bilchhavani', is no longer possible because of the use of pipes for water supply.
• Jains make considerable efforts not to injure plants in everyday life as far as possible. They admit that plants must be destroyed for the sake of food, but they only accept such violence inasmuch as it is indispensable for human survival, and there are special instructions for preventing unnecessary violence against plants.  Some Jains don’t eat plants and plant parts that grow underground, such as potatoes, onions, roots and tubers, because tiny life forms are injured when the plant is pulled up and because the bulb is seen as a living being, as it is able to sprout.
• Honey is forbidden, as its collection would amount to violence against the bees.
• Food items that have started to decay are prohibited.
• Traditionally cooking or eating at night was discouraged because insects are attracted to the lamps or fire at night. Strict Jains take the vow (called anastamita or anthau) of not eating after sunset.

On a side note, I've come to the realization that despite one's best efforts, it's impossible to live a life that's morally uncompromising to someone. More on that later.