Anybody that shuns animal flesh for any reason (apart from kashrut or halal), please show us where you line up. An anonymous poll. Pick one that most closely matches where you’re at with it.
By “loose vegan” I mean basically vegan but don’t mind a dab of honey or don’t bother about what their shoes are made of, maybe go for the rare ice cream cone, you know.
Buddhist-type vegetarianism, in places like Thailand, China, Taiwan tends to be vegan and also excludes onions and garlic.
Vaishnava dietary regimen is basically lacto only, but they also frown on onions and garlic.
Jainas are lacto and against onions and garlic too and basically only eat produce grown above-ground that can be taken without destroying the plant.
I’m complicated. I am also diabetic so I work with a nutritionist every year tweaking what I eat.
I don’t insist on meat at every meal, and am happy with tofu and some other options like quorn and seitan - but I class myself as carnivore.
I am equally likely to order a meat lovers pizza as a white pizza with artichoke hearts, onions and olives [or broccoli.] I try to do 2 main meals a week that are vegetarian, 1 main meal that is fish, 1 that is seafood [shrimp, crab, lobster. I am allergic to bivalves] and my lunches are vegetarian with an occasional egg tossed on top if I am out of garbonzo beans or tofu. My breakfasts are almost entirely oatmeal. I might do bacon once or twice a month at best.
I chose lacto-ovo vegetarian, which I’ve generally been for 15 years, except for one thing: I have a weak spot for gummy bears, and my favorite brand is Haribo’s, which are made with gelatine. Sometimes I just can’t resist them, and those are the only times I eat anything that comes from a dead animal. So technically, I’m a lacto-ovo-gummy vegetarian.
I became lacto-ovo-vegetarian in 2008 and my husband (then-boyfriend) became one a few months later. I lose weight easily so I can’t restrict my diet any more, plus I’m too cheap and lazy to be vegan. I take a vegetarian-specific multivitamin that contains iron.
I learned to read labels after finding out that marshmallows and some yogurts contain gelatin. Even some fruit juices contain gelatin or fish oil. I watch for what I call “sneaky meat” as best I can but if the cheese is delicious and I don’t know if it contains rennet or not then I’ll remain blissfully ignorant. But as soon as I find out it contains rennet I can’t bring myself to eat it - no more Egg McMuffins or those gross Tim Horton’s breakfast sammiches anymore.
Flexitarian here. I suppose if you really want to get fussy I’m a lacto-ovo flexitarian. Or, conversely, I’m an omnivore that like a lot of meatless meals.
I don’t rule out meat, I like meat, I enjoy meat, but I know eating excessive meat is unhealthy. So I eat a LOT of meatless meals, and have a lot of meatless days. Even when I do eat meat, it’s often in stir-fry where it’s almost more of a condiment than a major component of what I’m cooking.
My DD15 and I are not vegetarians, but my wife is a quasi vegetarian. Her reasons are because her antirejection medications from her transplants changed her palette. She doesnt like the taste any longer. She can only taste highly cured meats like bacon, salami, pepperoni etc.
Since the change, it is just easier for me to cook for her likes most of the time. I still eat meat, but I usually only make meat meals on weekends when I have the time to make multiple preparations.
Of the things mentioned in-thread, flexitarian is probably the most accurate description. This is for both health and cost reasons for me - the last few years I’ve developed some new allergies and sensitivities that are problematic. One of them in particular are the nitrates used in curing meats. This means no bacon, no salami, etc. Bacon in particular has become so common lots of places that when I eat out, it’s easier to eat vegetarian rather than ask all the questions unless I really want something listed.
At home, it’s mostly because it’s easier to eat other proteins - I can marinate and bake some tofu on sunday and use it in a variety of meals all week.
I’m pretty much an omnivore, but I respect a low/no meat diet for health reasons. I do typically eat meat fairly often, but try not to eat too much, and rarely ever red meat. Mostly chicken or fish if I can help it. I’m closest to a chicketarian/pescatarian, but I do enjoy a burger or a steak every once in a rare while.
I’m only a vegetarian in the sense that I eat fruits and vegetables - with meat of some sort - just about every day (I do avoid processed meats, which are widely linked to health problems, but then so are processed vegetarian foods, I also don’t like pork that much but eat a lot of beef). IMHO, only reason not to eat meat is if you are really that concerned about animals (of course, I see that some people are even afraid to hurt plants, and why would honey be off-limits).
lacto-ovo and pretty strict about it. I check labels in grocery stores and don’t eat gelatin or any of that.
I relax on the “hidden” ingredients if I’m in a restaurant or someone has made food for me. I’m not going to grill servers on rennet and gelatin or refuse something somebody put thought and work into because they didn’t know worcestershire sauce has anchovies in it.
Interesting to hear about gelatin and rennet. I’ve never thought of those as off-limits to lacto-ovo vegetarians.
I’m in SurrenderDorothy’s camp. Never use gelatin myself, but the thought of it being in a restaurant dish doesn’t keep me up at night. And I’ve never tasted a rennet-free cheese worth a damn.
Oyster sauce, on the other hand, can fuck right off. Chinese restaurants with your “vegetarian” menus, I’m looking at you.
so I work with a nutritionist every year tweaking what I eat.