What’s Hot in Food & Cooking – Reducetarian and Flexitarian

by | Nov 1, 2022 | Food, Regular Feature

Many of us grew up hearing about the three Rs – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle when referring to waste management and caring for the world. A hot new trend in the food world is Reducetarianism. Just when you thought you understood all the different isms of eating, another one comes along.

Reducetarianism

Reducetarianism is not just a diet though, it is a whole lifestyle approach to foods and eating. In a nutshell, Reducetarianism is the practice of eating less meat, poultry and fish, as well as consuming less dairy and eggs. It isn’t an all-or-nothing lifestyle like veganism but it is a conscious choice to have less of an impact on the environment by not being dependent on mass produced food. One aspect that many of the people who embrace this way of eating also adopt is the practice of leaving less of a footprint on the environment by using reusable products and creating less waste. So a typical reducetarian weekly diet may include a small amount of meat, fish, poultry or dairy, but most of the meals would be plant based and made with local in-season produce.

Flexitarianism

Another trendy new diet is Flexitarianism. Someone who follows this diet mostly lives their life as a vegetarian but will occasionally eat meat, poultry or fish. Generally both of these diets put an emphasis on sustainability and humane farming and animal husbandry techniques. While a reducetarian diet focuses more on consciously lowering the amount of animal-based foods one consumes daily/weekly, a flexitarian diet allows an individual to be a bit more relaxed about what they are eating while still maintaining a mostly plant-based diet. They are similar and often the names are interchanged but the true adherents to either diet see a distinct difference.

For more information about either of these lifestyle / diet choices visit the following websites: 

https://www.reducetarian.org

https://www.flexitarianfoundation.org/en/about-us/

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