I’ve noticed that all four of us girls each follow a different diet. Pauline is a vegetarian, Natascha is a pescetarian, I am a flexitarian and Nicole eats meat. But what is behind each of these diets and why do we eat the way we do? I checked.
-Josefine
Pauline- Vegetarian
According to the dictionary (#1), a vegetarian is “a person who exclusively eats a plant-based diet and abstains from meat and fish, as well as other seafood.” But why does Pauline follow a vegetarian diet?
“I am vegetarian because I am concerned about the way animals are treated. I’m aware that I’m unfortunately supporting the industry with my dairy consumption as well, so I’m trying to reduce eating all kinds of animal products.”
In general, it should be said that there are many types of vegetarian diets. Some abstain only from meat and fish, others additionally from eggs and dairy products. Those who completely renounce products of animal origin are called vegan.
Natascha- Pescetarian
“I’m probably still a pescetarian because I just haven’t researched the fish industry enough. Long-term, I don’t think I will feel okay about eating fish.”
Pescetarians (Pesce = Italian translation of fish) are basically vegetarians, but eat fish or seafood from time to time (#2). For Natascha, pescetarianism is currently only an intermediate step towards vegetarianism; in the long term, she would like to eat fewer animal products in general, mainly for the sake of the animals’ life and well-being, even if the positive side effects for the environment and health cannot be denied. Others consciously eat fish, but not meat, because many nutrients are contained and thus a balanced diet can be ensured. Another form of pescetarianism rejects conventional aquaculture (=mass livestock farming) and only consumes fish if it has been kept under good conditions.
Update: in the time between writing and publishing this blog post, Natascha quit eating seafood as well.
Josefine- Flexitarian
Flexitarians are, as the name suggests, flexible vegetarians (#3). They eat a vegetarian diet and rarely eat meat. Thus, most flexitarians pay attention to high-quality meat, based on good conditions for the animal.
“Factory farming and excessive meat consumption is a disaster for our environment. I want to consume meat and fish consciously and pay attention to good treatment of the animal (and I don’t mean organic, that’s by far not enough!).”
The diet I follow allows, among other things, game, because the animals had a species-appropriate life and were not tortured unnecessarily. In addition, I eat meat when the expiration date has expired and would otherwise be thrown away – because that’s not helping anyone.
Nicole- Meat Eater
I also asked Nicole to tell me why she eats meat. The answer:
“I just like it.”
All meat fans will now cheer, and I get why. Moderate consumption of meat provides protein and many nutrients that are important for a balanced diet. And as Nicole says: meat simply tastes and smells good and can be prepared in so many different ways.
All of us girls have chosen a different type of diet. What do you like the most? And where do you see difficulties? Leave us a comment 🙂
#1 https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Vegetarierin
