Day 79 -- What Am I?

When it comes to labels, I'm not fond of them -- unless they're on my little bottles of spices.  But I've noticed that I've used the label "vegan" a number of times lately.  It's strange how, of all the things we can be defined as, one of those things is what we choose to eat!  Food is food.  I don't feel threatened by people who eat chocolate, even though I'm not a huge fan.  But when I tell some people that I'm eating vegan, they look at me like I just told them I eat baby kittens.  Which is funny because kittens would not fit into a vegan diet!

So, I started to think about how many different labels come along with eating vegetarian and vegan and I found all of these.  And then, my sister and I decided to add a few more of our own.  I'm not sure where I'm going to land in the end.  Right now, I'm a Honey Boo-Boo vegan.  But in a year, I might be an Ovo-Lacto vegetarian.  Or a flexitarian.  Who knows?  A least I have this list of labels to choose from.

Ovo vegetarian -  includes eggs but not dairy products.
Lacto vegetarian - includes dairy products but not eggs.
Ovo-lacto vegetarian (or lacto-ovo vegetarian) - includes animal/dairy products such as eggs, milk, and honey.
Vegan  -  excludes all animal flesh and products, such as milk, honey, and eggs, as well as items refined or manufactured through any such product, such as bone-char refined white sugar or animal-tested baking soda.
Raw vegan - includes only fresh and uncooked fruit, nuts, seeds, and vegetables. Vegetables can only be cooked up to a certain temperature.
Fruitarian - permits only fruit, nuts, seeds, and other plant matter that can be gathered without harming the plant.
Sattvic (also known as yogic)-- includea dairy (not eggs) and honey, but excludes anything from the onion or leek family, red lentils, durian fruit, mushrooms, blue cheeses, fermented foods or sauces, alcoholic drinks and often also excludes coffee, black or green tea, chocolate, nutmeg or any other type of stimulant such as excess sharp spices.
Buddhist vegetarian-- Different Buddhist traditions have differing teachings on diet, which may also vary for ordained monks and nuns compared to others. Many interpret the precept 'not to kill' to require abstinence from meat, but not all. In Taiwan, su vegetarianism excludes not only all animal products but also vegetables in the allium family (which have the characteristic aroma of onion and garlic): onion, garlic, scallions, leeks, chives, or shallots.
Jain vegetarian -- includes dairy but excludes eggs and honey, as well as root vegetables.
Macrobiotic -- mostly of whole grains and beans.

And for those white meat eaters
Pollotarian -- Eat chicken or other poultry, but not meat from mammals, often for environmental, health or food justice reasons
Pescetarians -- eat fish or other seafood, but not poultry or red meat from mammals.
Pesce-pollotarians -- Eat fish and poultry, but not red meat from mammals.

And for those vegans and vegetarians who sometimes stray:
Flexitarian - a semi-vegetarian or someone who eats veggies and occasionally eats meat

And then, for those who eat everything?  They really don't have an -arian label.  Ominvore I suppose fits the bill.  But then, there are these new labels that are sure to come into fashion.  Thanks, L. and N. for the help!

Honey Boo-Boo Vegan -- a vegan who rebelliously eats honey
White trashatarian -- all dishes must include one of the following:  marshmallow fluff, Velveeta or condensed soup
College Studentarian -- exisits on ramen noddles, popcorn and Spaghetti-Ohs
Seven-Elevenarian - eats everything from 7-11 and only after 8 pm while watching TV
Bachelortarian -- Breakfast: Coffee and donuts, Dinner: Sandwich/Frozen Pizza and six-pack
Breatharian -- based on the belief that food is not necessary for human subsistence (this is actually real!  Look it up!)