Blog post
Tell me what you eat
Who am I? A greater existential question phrased in so few words is barely imaginable. We asked consumers the question: who are you? Are you a meat-eater or a 'meat reducer'? This was the first question in a survey about meat consumption and reduced meat consumption. We asked many more questions besides this one, and received many interesting answers.
The LEI publication 'Meat as (yet) a matter-of-course: consumers about eating meat and reducing meat' looks at the results of this extensive survey.The majority (82.5%) of those surveyed consider themselves to be meat eaters and characterise themselves as such. A minority (13%) of those surveyed consider themselves to be meat reducers or 'flexitarians' (part-time vegetarians). Despite the fact that more and more people are consciously reducing their meat consumption, and the words 'flexitarian' and 'part-time vegetarian' have become much more commonplace, people apparently don't really identify with the concept.
Light flexitarianism
However, things are not necessarily as they seem. One thing that has become clear in this study is that meat eaters are to a great extent displaying flexitarian consumer behaviour. Less than a quarter of those who identify themselves as meat eaters eat meat as part of the main meal of the day every day. While identification with flexitarianism may be limited, more than three-quarters (76.9%) of the respondents calling themselves meat eaters eat a meat-free main meal at least once a week. These people are actually 'light flexitarians' without actually being aware of the fact.
Even more striking is the fact that almost 20% of the self-proclaimed meat-eaters actually only eat meat during dinner three days of the week or fewer. Essentially, these people can be classed as fervent flexitarians; they just don't know it, or they don't want to know it because they don't personally identify with the terms meat reducer or flexitarian.
Feuerbach vs. Brillat-Savarin
Among meat eaters there is therefore a discrepancy between how people see themselves and their actual meat consumption. In other words, there is a contrast between ‘you are what you eat’, to paraphrase Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872), and 'tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are,’ to quote Jean Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826).
This difference is much less pronounced among those who call themselves meat reducers. However, a small proportion of the flexitarians (fewer than 15%) eat meat during dinner on five or more days a week. The majority eats no meat on at least half of the days of the week. The distinction between how people typify themselves (I am what I eat) and how they are labelled by the researchers (tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are) is clearly smaller here.
The flexitarian middle way
The flexitarian middle way between carnivorism and vegetarianism is these days an important lifestyle path meandering through the dietary landscape. When mapping out this path, it is more informative not to leave the classification to the consumers themselves. For as long as the mass 'coming out' of people as meat reducers or flexitarians fails to materialise, I still need to make the polite request of respondents: 'tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.'