So The Reluctant Vegetarian posted this week about The Flexitarian Diet. Given that I've been on this new eating system for just over four months now, I found it interesting.
The premise is that you become "mostly" vegetarian. Me? I'm "mostly" vegan - or as I regularly refer to it, "veganesque". I eat fish once or twice a week (though I think this volume is actually falling as I better and better learn the art of vegetarian cooking). I also don't go pure vegan in that I don't avoid products that have egg/dairy/etc. as minor ingredients in 'em.
Why not go full-force? First off, I'm just not super strict with myself, as I'm a pretty relaxed sort who's just trying to be better, not trying to be perfect. Secondly, I do a fair amount of client entertaining, which involves a lot of taking people for lunch and dinner. It's already next to impossible to find decent non-meaty meals in restaurants to begin with - particularly when you eliminate the cheese, creamy dressings, etc. I am simply not able to fully cut my need to eat out a few times a week given the job construct. I am okay with this. Overall, cutting out that stuff has been good for my health and has also reduced my footprint. It doesn't need to be exactly per some magical script. It's good and I'm happy about that.
So I'm not physically flexible, but indeed dietarily so! Har.
(In other news, I noted in that article that vegetarians are allegedly 15% lower on average in weight than non-veggies. How is it that I have yet to become 15% lighter care of my meatless/cheeseless agenda? Ridiculous!)
So how flexitarian are you?
For the love of pete. I am seriously frustrated by the idea that we are all so very free to say whatever our wee hearts desire, but when someone does and it's offensive to another, the big public apology comes out.
First off: I enjoy Heather Mallick. I think she's a smart cookie and her writing generally appeals to me greatly. I may not always fully agree with her, but I really dig her style. She's opinionated, she's strong, and she doesn't mince words. These are among the most admirable characteristics that I can imagine a person having.
So did you see this? It's in response to Mallick's September 5 column, posted on CBC's site.
Well, the CBC has now issued this apology for allowing it to be posted, despite originally standing behind Mallick and supporting its editorial policy, which accepts that its writers will hold varying positions and diversity in opinion.
Blagh. This kind of thing just frustrates the living daylights out of me. How on earth do we, as a culture, think it's okay to check our values at the door when we are publicly challenged? How do we not politicize basic freedoms upon which we claim our foundation lays? What the living hell are we teaching ourselves and our growing generations of thinkers and leaders about integrity and standing up for what we believe when we lose the former due to an incapacity to undertake the latter?
Again: blagh.
I am really excited. Leslie is back to blogging. Finally, my favourite source of foodie inspiration has returned. As such, I spent the last hour stalking her blogroll and their blogroll's, etc., while eating her quinoa salad, which I suspect my non-measuring self slightly over-flavoured as it was really strong tasting. That said, it's the first time I've gotten Dave to eat quinoa, so it remains a success. Hah.
In any case, I am so making this.