I was listening to Vegcast and learned a new word: Flexitarian. According to Wikipedia:

Flexitarianism is the practice of being flexible about the degree one practices vegetarianism or veganism. A flexitarian might make only vegetarian dishes at home, but eat dishes including meat at the home of family or friends. In 2003, the American Dialect Society voted flexitarian as the year's most useful word, and defined it as "a vegetarian who occasionally eats meat."

These folks might also be partially responsible for society's confusion about what vegetarians will and will not eat.

Flexitarians of the world, embrace this label (or at least please stop calling yourself "vegetarians with exceptions").

It just hit me: Perhaps the confusion about whether or not vegetarians eat fish is the fault of the Catholic church. After all it's Lent, and what does that mean for the faithful? On "no-meat Fridays" you eat fish.* Therefore fish is not meat. Therefore vegetarians eat fish. Q.E.D.

*(unless St. Patty's day happens to fall on a Friday, in which case you get a dispensation and should eat your non-meaty fish on some other day that week)

So if fish isn't meat, what is it?

Check this out: The cafeteria at Atlanta's Grady High School has a special vegetarian lunch line as a result of student advocacy. That in and of itself is awesome, but it gets even better: The vegetarian options are being embraced by the student body as a whole.

Originally designed for the 30 students in (Miriam) Archibong's Vegetarian Club, meat-eaters also jumped in line and the cafeteria now serves vegetarian entrees to up to 400 of the school's 1,200 students each day.

Way to go Miriam, and way to go Grady High! Read the article.

Given all the buzz around Yahoo! Answers and my lack of a decent vegan "egg" nog recipe, I figured what the heck. Posting my question might be a good idea; then again, it might not. We shall see....

I really like egg nog and 'tis the season to be consuming it. Since traditional egg nog is vegetarian, I can have it. But is there a good vegan "egg" nog out there?

UPDATE: Today I bought White Wave's Silk "Nog" hoping that would be in the ballpark. It was not. The color was close, and the smell was close, but the taste was only vaguely suggestive of proper egg nog, and it was really, really watery. Upon closer inspection of the carton, I realized that this product was not meant to be proper nog, but rather nog-flavored soy milk. Viewed in that light, it's not bad: A nice alternative to the vanilla which I usually buy.

Determined not to give up so easily and figuring some thickening might do the trick, I ran out for some silken tofu. Alas, in order to get the same thickness as traditional nog, I needed equal amounts of silk nog and tofu which, of course, completely obliterated the original flavor. Thus the quest continues....

Did you know that there was an actual founder of veganism? I didn't. Granted, I hadn't really given it much thought.... The founder of veganism was Donald Watson, and he passed away last month at the age of 95.

The Adopt A Turkey program encourages you to "feed a turkey, rather than eat a turkey, by adopting one." You can actually adopt a turkey -- no doubt a violation of at least 10 current Condo Association rules and inspiration for the creation of at least 10 more -- or you can sponsor one for $20. I, of course, went the latter route and am sponsoring Whisper (shown right). Given the number of turkeys consumed in this country every Thanksgiving Day (AKA Turkey Day), I suspect my action is the functional equivalent of removing a single drop of water from the ocean to ward off the effects of global warming. But I decided to support this group nonetheless because I like their message.

This morning I was listening to the 4th show of Vegcast which included an interview with Dr. Michael Greger. During that interview, one of the things Dr. Greger tossed out for the listener's consideration was that honey hurts the vegan movement. And for many vegans, it seems that veganism is indeed a movement and not merely a personal decision -- a difference from non-vegan vegetarianism that I would argue is far greater than what members from each group will or will not eat.

Dr. Greger recounts:

It's happened to me over and over. Someone will ask me why I'm vegan -- it could be a new friend, co-worker, distant family, or a complete stranger. I know I then have but a tiny window of opportunity to indelibly convey their first impression of veganism. I'm either going to open that window for that person, breezing in fresh ideas and sunlight, or slam it shut as the blinds fall. So I talk to them of mercy. Of the cats and dogs with whom they've shared their lives. Of birds with a half piece of paper's worth of space in which to live and die. Of animals sometimes literally suffering to death. I used to eat meat too, I tell them. Lots of meat. And I never knew either.

Slowly but surely the horror dawns on them. You start to see them struggling internally. How can they pet their dog with one hand and stab a piece of pig with the other? They love animals, but they eat animals. Then, just when their conscience seems to be winning out, they learn that we don't eat honey. And you can see the conflict drain away with an almost visible sigh. They finally think they understand what this whole "vegan" thing is all about. You're not vegan because you're trying to be kind or compassionate -- you're just crazy! They smile. They point. You almost had me going for a second, they chuckle. Whew, that was a close one. They almost had to seriously think about the issues. They may have just been considering boycotting eggs, arguably the most concentrated form of animal cruelty, and then the thought hits them that you're standing up for insect rights. Maybe they imagine us putting out little thimble-sized bowls of food for the cockroaches every night.

He's got a point. True vegans don't eat honey. And, yes, the fact that vegans take their cause to that extreme does make me chuckle -- as did Dr. Greger's well-told tale. But, realistically, I don't think that the issue of honey from the insect-rights perspective is what keeps people from becoming vegan. Or from boycotting eggs. Nor do I think it fills the would-be vegan (or egg-boycotter) with relief that they don't have to think about issues after all. C'mon.... It's certainly not what keeps me from going vegan. And I DO think about the issues of consuming animal products. But to be perfectly honest, the reason I'm not a vegan is because it's massively inconvenient.

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From Fast Food Nation:

One of the most widely used color additives -- whose presence is often hidden by the phrase "color added" -- violates a number of religious dietary restrictions, may cause allergic reactions in susceptible people, and comes from an unusual source. Cochineal extract (also known as carmine or carminic acid) is made from the desiccated bodies of female Dactlyopius coccus Costa, a small insect harvested mainly in Peru and the Canary Islands. The bug feeds on red cactus berries and color from the berries accumulated in the females and their unhatched larvae. The insects are collected, dried, and ground into pigment. It takes about 70,000 of them to produce one pound of carmine, which is used to make processed foods look pink, red, or purple. Dannon strawberry yogurt gets its color from carmine, as do many frozen fruit bars, candies, fruit fillings, and Ocean Spray pink-grapefruit juice drink.

It's a drag when even supposedly vegetarian food ain't vegetarian....