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According to the UK food-industry mag The Grocer, British consumers are uncomfortable with the term vegetarian, and Guardian blogger Anna Pickard ponders why consumers prefer products that are “meat-free.”
But why is ‘vegetarian’ a difficult word for people to ally themselves to? Is it the memory of unappetising vegetarian options glimpsed over tables? The grim one-person teas you made for yourself during years of over-zealous Morrissey-led teenage temporary vegetarianism while the rest of the family were tucking into shepherd’s pie? (I’m speaking for myself here, four years of meatlessness for little other reason than The Smiths told me it was the thing to do).
Perhaps the issue is that people don’t want to label themselves, but joking aside, some vegetarians are proud to be defined by their dietary preferences. In a blog called Resistance Is Fertile, a barbed post equates people who believe in women’s rights but don’t define themselves as feminists with people who push meatless food but make it very clear that they are not vegetarians. Here, the blogger sarcastically takes down Mark Bittman:
You know what else I love? When that same someone goes on a food radio show plugging their book called ‘How To Cook Everything Vegetarian’ (a most insulting, solipsistic title, if you ask me) and says right off the bat that tempeh sucks and they wish they didn’t have to have the word ‘vegetarian’ in the title of their book.
Does anyone else think it’s a little strange that a guy who is capitalizing on a meat-free cookbook has a beef (sorry about the bad pun) with the word vegetarian? Here’s how Bittman (sort of) explains himself in the radio interview linked above: “I think of it as a meatless cookbook and that doesn’t really imply so much deprivation as just a different way of looking at things, or looking at the same things from a different point of view.”
Personally, I’ve got all of Bittman’s books and I’ve had much success with his recipes, but I don’t understand why there’s a stigma against describing food as vegetarian. Am I alone here? Does anyone think his book would be more appealing if it were titled How to Cook Everything Meat-Free?
YES
A dirty word.
Why not crop the lawn?
A waste of life but YOUR choice.
Best.
dick
I own a vegetarian restaurant in, perhaps, the most meat & potatoes oriented small, midwestern city in existence. If I were to mention the name of this city (I'd prefer not to), you would say to yourself, "Good lord, there's a vegetarian restaurant THERE? How on earth does it survive?" Well, first of all, we can't rely on vegetarians to support us. So naturally, I've given this issue some...+READ
I own a vegetarian restaurant in, perhaps, the most meat & potatoes oriented small, midwestern city in existence. If I were to mention the name of this city (I'd prefer not to), you would say to yourself, "Good lord, there's a vegetarian restaurant THERE? How on earth does it survive?" Well, first of all, we can't rely on vegetarians to support us. So naturally, I've given this issue some thought.
The biggest problem for us is that the word 'vegetarian' calls to mind a whole set of aesthetic and political imagery that does not in itself have anything to do with being or cooking meat free. Many people hearing the term, make their minds up about us before they step through the door (if they ever do). In a way, I forgive them. I've been to quite a few vegetarian restaurants that turn me off, where it's all about nut loafs, tempeh, that smell of patchouli oil, a thousand spider plants hanging in windows that have not been washed since the late 70s.
We're not that kind of place. Sure, we're liberal, politically involved, ecologically conscious, a 'green' business, etc. We are a gen x establishment (I think some of this is generational). We don't try to substitute for meat with tofu, we just try to come up with stuff that doesn't have any meat in it. We do use organic pea shoot sprouts, they're really good, but we would not touch alfalfa with a ten foot pole. But mostly, we're about comfort and indulgence, and while we are probably a healthier restaurant than 98 percent of what's out there, that's not our focus, we're about being good. Vegetarianism implies abstention and sacrifice. You don't miss meat at our restaurant.
So, we've largely dropped the word.-COLLAPSE
The term vegetarian, I believe, has lost practically all meaning.
It can be used as a club to beat meat eaters over the head or to be a holier-than-thou badge.
Some vegetarians are so militant, they give the word "vegetarian" a bad name. If you choose to not eat meat, don't give me grief for choosing otherwise or refuse to associate with those who do. I once read a debate about whether a...+READ
The term vegetarian, I believe, has lost practically all meaning.
It can be used as a club to beat meat eaters over the head or to be a holier-than-thou badge.
Some vegetarians are so militant, they give the word "vegetarian" a bad name. If you choose to not eat meat, don't give me grief for choosing otherwise or refuse to associate with those who do. I once read a debate about whether a true vegan should even kiss someone who eats meat. Ha. Your loss (once upon a time).
Some of those militants also would consider my wife, a vegetarian for more than a decade, not to be a true believer because she is lacto-ovo (and wears the occasional leather shoes and belt). On the other hand her family is so freaked out even now that they keep hope alive that I (an omnivoire) would "teach her how to eat." I tell them she's teaching me how to eat because the diet in my redneck of the woods is too meat-centric and does not include enough fresh veggies and fruits.
On the other hand, the word "vegetarian" also used by some to describe a club with a practically all-inclusive membership. My wife and I also laugh at the regularity in which we're in a restaurant, my wife tells the server she's a vegetarian and the first question is: "Do you eat fish?" If you eat meat, you aren't a vegetarian. Period. You may be a person who pursues a healthy lifestyle, but don't use the V word to describe yourself.
How we eat, what we eat, where our food comes from is becoming increasingly political. And like matters of race, it's becoming increasingly impossible to discuss vegetarianism in any rational way.
I was glad to get a copy of Bittman's new cookbook. It is truly the "Joy of Cooking" for meatless meals. It helps me in my cooking for my blended (dietwise) family and in my effort to produce healthier meals for my family.
But I don't blame him for being frustrated that people spend so much time debating the term "vegetarian" that they don't focus on his underlying message of providing a healthier way of eating that's also enjoyable, or on the brilliance with which he gathered an organized a great resource for all eaters.
I don't have a problem with the term vegetarian, but I do have a problem with how it's used. Then again, our society tends to go too far in using labels as stereotypes and weapons anyway.
Viva la vegetables!-COLLAPSE
I thought the same thing, hollyeve! Vegetarian doesn't use any of the suffixes of deprivation, but meat-free or meatless do. Unfortunately the term "vegetarian" continues to be associated for many people with e.g. underseasoned tofu, alfalfa sprouts, brown rice, etc. - "meat-free" doesn't carry that stigma for those who are choosing meatless foods for reasons other than their vegetarianism.
And,...+READ
I thought the same thing, hollyeve! Vegetarian doesn't use any of the suffixes of deprivation, but meat-free or meatless do. Unfortunately the term "vegetarian" continues to be associated for many people with e.g. underseasoned tofu, alfalfa sprouts, brown rice, etc. - "meat-free" doesn't carry that stigma for those who are choosing meatless foods for reasons other than their vegetarianism.
And, im_nomad, while those who criticize vegetarian-identifiers for not being veg enough are rude and silly (and in my opinion just add to the stigma against vegetarians/vegans as being self-righteous), when those who aren't vegetarian identify as such, it does make the term less useful for those of us who are. Many who eat fish, or who simply eschew red meat but eat poultry are calling themselves "vegetarians", which leads to a dilution of the term's meaning - and can lead to errors like someone calling a soup "vegetarian" when it contains e.g. chicken stock or fish. (In the past few years, I have lots of people assume I eat fish when I tell them I'm vegetarian, and that never used to happen.)-COLLAPSE
Funny that Bittman thinks the word "vegetarian" implies deprivation, when in actuality, the word "meatless" states that something (meat) is missing.
it can be a double edged sword....call yourself a vegetarian, and the meat and potatoes crowd think you're a alfalfa tofu eating individual who is prone to crying or launching into "heartless bastard" speeches every time you cut into a steak.
....and on the flipside....call yourself a vegetarian and you better be prepared to defend yourself and what you choose to eat in front of the vegans and...+READ
it can be a double edged sword....call yourself a vegetarian, and the meat and potatoes crowd think you're a alfalfa tofu eating individual who is prone to crying or launching into "heartless bastard" speeches every time you cut into a steak.
....and on the flipside....call yourself a vegetarian and you better be prepared to defend yourself and what you choose to eat in front of the vegans and "real" vegetarians (I have in fact been told that I am not a "real" vegetarian..as if i am not entitled to the label)
That being said, "meat free" could mean SO many things, does this mean a "meat free" person only avoids the flesh of the animal? Is broth ok? Other animal derivatives that still require the animal to be killed?-COLLAPSE
I think the problem is that the term "vegetarian" is usually used to describe the person, not the food, and has come to be associated with a whole constellation of political and philosophical beliefs. On the other hand, "meat-free" describes the food or the recipe, not the person.
When you define a cookbook as "vegetarian" you're implying that only people that label themselves vegetarian would...+READ
I think the problem is that the term "vegetarian" is usually used to describe the person, not the food, and has come to be associated with a whole constellation of political and philosophical beliefs. On the other hand, "meat-free" describes the food or the recipe, not the person.
When you define a cookbook as "vegetarian" you're implying that only people that label themselves vegetarian would be interested in the contents, when in fact, any person can prepare and enjoy meat-free dishes -- for a variety of reasons or for no particular reason. Do people really need to subscribe to a whole philosophy to be interested in dishes based on something other than meat?
This artificial concept of meat-free cooking being only for people who consider themselves vegetarians is the very issue that Deborah Madison was addressing when she titled her work "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone."-COLLAPSE
Yes, there is a stigma around "vegetarianism"...unfortunately.
Brits supposedly have more of an issue with it? I say, "hogwash!" On a recent trip to the UK, there were so many hip veggie restaurants and a bounty of non-meat options at their simple "fast food" joints. More than we would ever find here in the States - even in the vegetarian mecca that is California.
But, why does...+READ
Yes, there is a stigma around "vegetarianism"...unfortunately.
Brits supposedly have more of an issue with it? I say, "hogwash!" On a recent trip to the UK, there were so many hip veggie restaurants and a bounty of non-meat options at their simple "fast food" joints. More than we would ever find here in the States - even in the vegetarian mecca that is California.
But, why does vegetarianism still have to connotate grungy old hippes with long hair? Who knows but maybe it'll change as young Hollywood continues to adopt it and promote it.-COLLAPSE