The latest food/diet buzzword - 'reducetarian'

Laurend224 wrote: »

Just waiting for the 'Hey, anybody lose weight on the Freegan diet?' posts to show up.

LOL

Then don't eat feed lot beef. Beef is bad, but chicken is far worse.

Well, I think part of the point is that meat that is raised more sustainably/ethically tends to be a lot more expensive. So if you eat less meat, you can afford to buy stuff that is better environmentally.

tempehforever wrote: »

This is a really stupid term that makes me want to KILL SOMETHING

Like a chicken? This just made me giggle

tempehforever wrote: »

Personally, I feel like if you're not going to go full-fledged vegan, what's the point of still eating animal products like eggs and cheese but not eating meat? You're still contributing to the production of animal products for consumption, if that's what you have an ethical issue with.

I can think of a lot of reasons. I have been vegetarian for 2 years and only vegan for several months out of it. Reasons I can think of right away for someone to still eat animal products but not meat include but are not limited to:
- Wanting to do something to make a difference: saying there's no point in cutting out meat if you don't cut out dairy too is like saying there's no point in putting $5 in your savings if you can't put $500, or saying why run a mile if you can't run a marathon? Everyone has to start somewhere and doing something is better than nothing.
- Vegan is hard. There is "hidden" dairy and eggs in so much stuff. So someone might want to be vegan and not know how to or think it's too hard, but vegetarian is easy.
- Access to ethically farmed eggs and dairy. I know for an absolute fact that the eggs I eat are not coming from chickens who have miserable lives and are mistreated, cause I picked them up from the nest a few hours or days before I ate them. Our chickens are healthy and well cared for, and as much as one could claim a chicken is happy, ours are. The eggs are demonstrably more nutritious than store bought eggs too. There are lots of sources for animal products that don't cause the animals as much suffering as factory farming, and don't take the life of the animal the way meat does.
- Just plain not liking meat, but liking animal products.

Never heard of that one before. I eat a little meat a couple of times a week - I prefer nuts, and beans - but I don't label myself as anything...

There's a lot of meat I don't like, so I quite often eat vegetarian meals.

It's called being a picky eater

tempehforever wrote: »

This is a really stupid term that makes me want to KILL SOMETHING, but it is a concept that I whole-heartedly agree with.

Reducing meat intake saves money and is more environmentally sustainable than eating large amounts of meat. Personally, I feel like if you're not going to go full-fledged vegan, what's the point of still eating animal products like eggs and cheese but not eating meat? You're still contributing to the production of animal products for consumption, if that's what you have an ethical issue with. Rather than go vegetarian, I'd rather reduce my meat intake in general, and thus be able to spend more money on quality, more sustainable meat, etc. Plus, it leaves more room in one's diet for lots of vegetables.

I eat meat, but not every day, and only sometimes as the main part of a meal. This isn't on even on purpose--I just can't understand how people afford to eat huge portions of meat every day. Plus, it's a pain to store safely and worry about thawing, freezing, keeping insulated when on the go...

I tooootally agree with you on these points. I have thrown out meat that I didn't make soon enough too many times and it makes me furious and led to me cutting back on meat. Money out the window!

But I certainly have never called myself a reducitarian or whatever it was.

ndj1979 wrote: »

I am still waiting for the explanation as to how the "beef industry is bad for the environment"...???

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=beef+industry+impact+on+environment&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart&sa=X&ei=2q2uVJ7UIMTksASR8YKQCA&ved=0CBsQgQMwAA

Edited to Add a very simplified general explanation, courtesy of our lovely wikipedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_meat_production

Like I said before, I don't feel super passionately about this issue, but it is an established fact.

Inkratlet wrote: »

There's a lot of meat I don't like, so I quite often eat vegetarian meals.

It's called being a picky eater

Congrats, you are now known as a pickytarian. And we have a new buzzword!

jmauerhan wrote: »

tempehforever wrote: »

This is a really stupid term that makes me want to KILL SOMETHING

Like a chicken? This just made me giggle

tempehforever wrote: »

Personally, I feel like if you're not going to go full-fledged vegan, what's the point of still eating animal products like eggs and cheese but not eating meat? You're still contributing to the production of animal products for consumption, if that's what you have an ethical issue with.

I can think of a lot of reasons. I have been vegetarian for 2 years and only vegan for several months out of it. Reasons I can think of right away for someone to still eat animal products but not meat include but are not limited to:
- Wanting to do something to make a difference: saying there's no point in cutting out meat if you don't cut out dairy too is like saying there's no point in putting $5 in your savings if you can't put $500, or saying why run a mile if you can't run a marathon? Everyone has to start somewhere and doing something is better than nothing.
- Vegan is hard. There is "hidden" dairy and eggs in so much stuff. So someone might want to be vegan and not know how to or think it's too hard, but vegetarian is easy.
- Access to ethically farmed eggs and dairy. I know for an absolute fact that the eggs I eat are not coming from chickens who have miserable lives and are mistreated, cause I picked them up from the nest a few hours or days before I ate them. Our chickens are healthy and well cared for, and as much as one could claim a chicken is happy, ours are. The eggs are demonstrably more nutritious than store bought eggs too. There are lots of sources for animal products that don't cause the animals as much suffering as factory farming, and don't take the life of the animal the way meat does.
- Just plain not liking meat, but liking animal products.

Oh, well I agree with a lot of these, such as just not liking meat (also: way jealous of your chickens!). I'd point out, though, that many of us try to find ethically raised meat as well (I buy whole chickens from the same farmer I get my eggs from). If you find killing animals no matter what unethical, of course, that's different!

I'm someone who falls in the "something is better than nothing" camp. Which is why I feel like if I'm going to eat animal products, I might as well reduce the amount I consume OVERALL, rather than simply eliminating some completely, but keeping others. I don't think it is always unethical to eat animals, though, so meat vs. eggs is kind of an arbitrary distinction for me.