I know a lot of people who mostly eat vegetarian, but aren't strict enough about it to claim vegetarianism. A little chicken here, some bacon there, but maybe 90% veggie. I'd call that vegetarian-inclined. I've also known people (mostly younger guys) who mostly eat meat, bread, cheese and condiments.

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"Vegetarianism in America", published by Vegetarian Times... ok.. THERE'S an unbiased study, for sure.

I'm not really sure what the study is trying to claim, anyhow. It says that 0.5% of the population is vegan, and the rest follow a vegetarian based-diet. The study might as well say, "Most Americans eat meat as part of their daily diet."

I DO like some of the responses on the Accidental Hedonist's site regarding how some militant vegetarians see others who don't have their views: "you're getting into the ethical side where anyone who ever eats meat might as well burn kittens alive"

THAT'S comedy...

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Being vegetarian is a choice to eliminate meat from your diet. Vegetarian-inclined means what exactly? That you like meat, but try to eat mostly vegetables? That's not inclined to anything. If it's someone who would LIKE to be a vegetarian but just can't give up bacon or steak, then maybe there's an argument to be made.

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Sorry. It's just dumb.

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It's pretty simple and obvious to me, but then I identify as "vegetarian-inclined" -- though I don't usually call it that because I'm really not in the habit of either proselytizing or defending my diet. It just means eating very little meat in comparison to the average person. What's silly or confusing about that?

To make it a little more concrete: my wife and I typically have about one serving of meat about every week or two, usually chicken, and usually cut up in dishes that just don't work very well without the taste and texture. We pretty much never eat a steak or any other whole cut of meat, not because of ethical issues, but because we just don't like it that much. (This applies to most of the bizarre "meat substitute" products, which I see as being more for people who really like meat and would eat more of it, but have ethical objections.)

I don't see any great difference between "very little meat" and "no meat", especially seeing as how we don't really give a damn whether people eat animals or not. We still find 80% of the typical American cookbook more or less useless. We still find ourselves trying to explain that, no, actually, a steak dinner doesn't sound great tonight. We still have to make up our protein requirements from other sources.

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Well, for a totally unbiased point-of-view (ha!), I write the AlmostVegetarian.com blog and I can tell you that I call myself an "almost" vegetarian because, while I am seriously leaning toward vegetarianism, I am not there yet.

You see, with the vast majority of our meals involving absolutely no meat, I am certainly not an omnivore. But with meat playing a small part (such as when we get a meat and vegetable stew from the take out place around the corner and I only eat the vegetables which were cooked in the same pot as the meat), neither am I a vegetarian.

Which is why I call myself "almost" vegetarian.

See?

Almost Vegetarian is not an ideal label. But it is the most accurate one I could come up with.

Cheers!

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I've never called myself "vegetarian-inclined," but I do make a conscious effort to eat very little meat, for environmental and health reasons. I'm not ethically opposed to killing animals for food, but I try to make good choices when I shop. When I discovered that it was easy (and affordable) to eat meat only once a week or so and not feel that I was making any huge sacrifice, that became the plan. I've debated whether I should "take a stand" and become a strict vegetarian, but determined that the small difference in eliminating the last ~10% of my meat consumption would not outweigh the large sacrifice of giving up certain restaurants, inconveniencing omnivore friends who have me over to dinner, and denying myself the pleasure of a few favorite dishes.

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Whether you are an "almost vegetarian," or "not exactly a carnivore," I wonder at the nearly obsessive need to label ourselves. Is it truly so important what others think of us?

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As an lacto-ovo vegetarian, I have three points:

1. I don't eat meat (and rarely eat eggs or dairy products) because I am choosing to not support the meat-raising industry in general. Soup cooked in chicken broth or asian food in oyster sauce is not OK. I have to ask questions at restaurants and check food labels carefully. This is not a casual, only when convenient thing. People may also be vegetarian for health or religious reasons which are also usually not to be taken casually.

2. While I'm not one for labels, I can't help but get irked when my diet comes up in conversation and I mention that I don't eat meat. Then the other person says, "Oh, I'm a vegetarian too. Well, except I eat fish. And chicken." Well, then you're not really a vegetarian.

3. Having a diet that is "vegetarian-inclined" seems to really mean that you're just eating healthy, since the "normal" diet has way more meat in it than it should.

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I am a proud Meatatarian.
Vegetables are a side dish.

Seriously people, get a grip. We are built to be omnivores. Just look at your teeth- Fronts and K-9s for tearing meat and molars for grinding vegetables.

Everything in moderation is a good motto to live by, but nobody in this country gets that. If you're not extreme, then you're not doing it "right".

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I'm with Dale. We're too obsessed with such labels, like they're some kind of badge of honor (or shame).

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I think a lot of people nowadays (myself included) eat a lot less meat than perhaps their parents' generation would have. I certainly wouldn't call myself a vegetarian, or "vegetarian-inclined" for that matter, but quite often I don't eat meat for several days at a time without really noticing.

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I don't hurt kittens or duckies but I do eat some meat. I never even imagined the term "vegetarian-inclined" until this article popped up in my RSS feed.

My wife is a vegan. I am not. Simple distinction. Short sentences. Any questions?

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I always thought that "vegetarian-inclined" was referred to as "flexitarian."

All of the labeling can be a bit annoying, but if someone calling themselves a "pollo-pesce-vegetarian" or a "flexitarian" saves me five minutes of explaining that as a vegetarian I don't eat chicken or seafood, then I'm all for it.

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I'm mostly vegetarian, except I like ribs. And burgers. And steak. And bacon. And Jerk Chicken. And Roast Beef. And Veal Parm. And Spaghetti and meat balls. And Foie Gras! And Fish and Chips. And sometimes I like vendor dogs. And lobster. And just about every kind of sushi I've ever had.

But other than that, I eat mostly vegetables. And Oreo cookies.

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Oh good, the "meatitarian" (aka "manifest dentistry") guy has already been here. He forgot the "tasty tasty murder" and "I haz giant bakon cheezburger while reading this" tropes though, so those guys should be by in a minute. Haw haw haw, them meat jokes is just a laff riot.

What makes me nuts about "almost vegetarian" or "pescetarians" or whatever they're calling themselves is that then the waiter thinks that the vegetarian special is the salmon. Fish = NOT a vegetable.

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This is when you know that your country is doing very well (I know that we try to say we aren't), when we can all (I'm just as guilty) jump online to debate a silly label. Greg is correct, all you need to do is look at what evolution (wow, it is really crazy that a very conservative, Christian can believe in evolution!! Please, don't let your heads explode) has given you.

Now, if you are like the person that is doing this b/c they don't believe in how the meat industry works, well, that is a bit different (still, no labels please). Working (which doesn't really, in my not very humble opinion, protesting, writing on blogs, etc) to improve the industry would be much more helpful. I mean, you could simply (I say simply relatively speaking) beef up - no pun intended - your education and knowledge so that you can go to work in an executive capacity for one of the larger companies and change how they do business that way. I mean, if you take a large, top three industry and change how it operates, you will effectively set a series of changes in motion for all the other companies. Of course, it is easier to just watch what you eat and such then go to all that trouble.

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My thoughts exactly, John. Whenever a post has the word "vegetarian" or "vegan" in the title, at least one person has to leave a "I LOVE TO KILL DUCKIES AND EAT 'EM NOM NOM" post. Carivore trolls? I dunno what they get out of it.

For me, the term "vegetarian" is easy shorthand for "something besides red meat & poultry", essentially, in most restaurants. All too often, a crappy "vegetarian" dish is on the menu for the token veggies - - some sort of steamed vegetable platter. Oh well.

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How about "balanced omnivore"?

The typical western diet focuses on meat as the centerpiece with things like grains and vegetables relegated to side dishes or packaging.

Personally, I loves me some meat. I have no political, ethical, or any other sort of objection to it. It's tasty.

BUT...I eat a mostly whole grain, fresh vegetable, not-so-much meat type of food because it's healthy. I do eat a small amount of lean meat and low-fat/low-salt dairy products on a daily basis as part of my overall "balanced omnivore" diet.

That said, I can see how I could come off as "vegetarian-inclined" when comparing my "balanced omnivore" diet to what is (perhaps unfortunately?) more common for people to eat.

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I guess you would call me "vegetarian-inclined" but not for the usual reasons. I keep kosher in my house, but kosher meat is very expensive. This means that we don't eat much meat. A ground turkey dish here, a chicken dish there. If we make a meat dish 4 times a month at home, that's a lot.

When it comes to eating out, a different religious rule comes into play. Like some religious Jews, I wait 8 hours between eating meat and dairy. So if I were to eat a hamburger right now (2pm), I wouldn't be able to eat that diary chocolate cake until 10pm. You can understand how that would limit my diet. Plus, I sometimes don't know if a piece of meat was prepared along with dairy. (Was it cooked in butter, for example.)

The safe alternative for me is to just order non-meat items. However, some apparently non-meat items contain hidden meat. (Soups, for example, can have beef or chicken bases.) When I ask whether a dish has any meat in it, I could say "I'm a religious Jew, but not so religious that I wouldn't eat here and these are the rules that I must follow...." If I did that, however, people's eyes would glaze over and they would have no clue what I was talking about. So I just say "I'm vegetarian." It is accurate enough for my needs and people understand what it means.

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