Semi-vegetarianism

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Semi-vegetarianism is a term used to describe the practice of excluding some meat (particularly red meat) from the diet while still consuming limited amounts of poultry, fish, and/or seafood^[1][2]. In many references, a semi-vegetarian is also a flexitarian or "almost vegetarian". The term semi-vegetarian is sometimes also referred to as a diet that excludes "red meat".

Contents 1 Motivations 2 Types 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Motivations

There are several reasons why one might follow a semi-vegetarian diet.

• Health reasons: To help reduce saturated fat or cholesterol in the diet, or for other health reasons.
• Aesthetic reasons: Some people find the smell, taste, or even sight of some types of meat objectionable.
• Ethical/philosophical reasons: Some people believe in avoiding certain animal foods but not others due to a belief in a hierarchy or evolutionary scale that places some animals higher than others. Those at the top of this scale are considered "higher-order" animals, deserving of better treatment. The following is an example of such a scale:
  1. Mammalian meat - cow, pig, deer, etc
  2. Poultry - chicken, turkey, duck, etc
  3. Fish - tuna, salmon, tilapia, etc
  4. Seafood (other than fish) - clams, oysters, crab, lobster, scallops, etc
• Environmental reasons: Larger livestock, such as cows or pigs, use more resources per pound of meat and create more waste than other meat sources.

[edit] Types

• Pollotarianism - Mammalian meat is excluded, but chicken or other poultry is not.
• Pescetarianism - Mammalian meat and non-aquatic meat is excluded, but fish and seafood are not.
• Pesce-pollotarianism - Mammalian meat is excluded, but poultry, fish, and seafood are not. Rarely used.

[edit] See also

• Vegetarianism
• Flexitarianism

[edit] References