Flexitarian: A New Way To Eat
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- You've heard of vegetarian and pescatarian, but have you heard of flexitarian?
A senior official with the Humane Society of the Unites States spoke at the University of Pennsylvania last week on the topic and her new book: "Meatless: Transform the Way you Eat and Live One Meal at a Time"
Kristie Middleton is Senior Food Policy Director at the Humane Society. She explains what a flexitarian is.
"A way of eating where you emphasize meatless meals, but may eat meat every once in a while. It's growing in popularity with more and more people who are realizing the health benefits, environmental benefits, and the benefits for eating more plant-based foods," said Middleton.
She says the number of Americans identifying as vegetarians or vegans has remained steady for about 20 years, but...
"The number of people who are interested in eating less meat has dramatically increased, with some estimates of about 47% of us," Middleton said.
She says research from the Meat industry says 70% of Americans are eating one meatless meal a week.