UNITED STATES, October 5, 2008: A growing number of experts and common folk in the U.S. are becoming fans of flexitarianism — being a vegetarian of convenience. They say that cutting back on meat, rather than abstaining completely, may be a practical compromise that benefits our bodies and our environment.
“It gives you the health benefits of a vegetarian diet without having to follow the strict rules,” Newsweek magazine quoted Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian and author of The Flexitarian Diet: The Mostly Vegetarian Way to Lose Weight, Be Healthier, Prevent Disease, and Add Years to Your Life, as saying.
And while only 2 to 3% of Americans are traditional vegetarians, who shun anything that ever had a face, according to the Vegetarian Resource Group, vegetarian foods have become increasingly popular among non-vegetarians. “If you look around at grocery stores, you have soy milk right next to regular milk, you have veggie burgers in the frozen section, and tubs of tofu sitting there in the produce section,” says Blatner.