Mafist (noun)

Let me talk to you about mafism. Today I discovered that I am a mafist. This wasn't like my coming-out story when I discovered I wasn't straight. However, similar to that it took me a few years to figure out as well. What I mean is, that today I discovered there is a word for someone like me who doesn't eat mammals - a mafist.

Mafist noun

Ma·​fist | \ ˈma-fist \

A person who does not eat red meat or mammals.

Before today, I'd only heard of another funnier-sounding word: pesco-pollo-tarians. I prefer mafist. Short and simple. However, it's not a very common word. I couldn't even find it in the dictionary, but I promise you I didn't invent the word myself. I think it's about time to add it to the dictionary though, since mafism is such a good alternative to vegetarianism and pescetarianism, and eating less meat could just be the thing to save our planet.

So, what is it exactly?

I guess you could say mafism comes pretty close to flexitarianism and pescetarianism. The difference is that it's just very specific. A mafist simply chooses a diet that doesn't include mammal meat. This means a diet that doesn't include any red meats, but so-called white meats such as chicken and fish are allowed. It doesn't exclude cheeses and milk and other products produced by mammals, like veganism does. However, I choose not to eat gelatin and other products that have non-dairy animal products in them. This is actually harder than you think, as most cheeses have a non-vegetarian rennet. Animal rennet is derived from the stomach of a calf, lamb or goat while their diets are still limited to milk. They don't obtain it from a living calf, but they obtain the rennet when the animal is slaughtered for their meat. Since I don't eat mammal meat, I wish to avoid animal rennet.

I think the most frequently asked question I get is why. Why don't you eat mammals? Or why do you choose to eat chicken? To be honest, I don't have a very clear answer. I did not make this decision overnight. My journey to eat more consciously and healthily started after (or during) reading David Servan-Schreiber's book Anticancer. I read the book in 2007 and changing my diet was my New Year's resolution of 2008. I recommend the book to everyone. In the book, the author describes how he learned that Japanese men are much less likely to develop cancer and the main reason for this is their diet. Our Western diet is so packed with omega-6 fats and sugars that we've created the perfect soil for cancers to grow. The author discovers different foods that are beneficial to our immune system and thus beneficial in fighting cancers and that is what inspired me. By the way, this is me summarising the whole book in a few sentences. Just read it yourself.

After reading the book, I chose to eat organic foods only, especially when it comes to animal products. The main reason is that their meat has more omega-3 fats, which is healthier, because the animal has been fed fresh grass. Animal welfare is also important, of course, and I found that organic beef tastes much better than non-organic beef. I was hooked and so since that day my diet was limited to organic animal products. This has not always been easy. If I were to eat with friends I would ask for a vegetarian option or I would bring my own meat. If I were to eat in a restaurant I could only go to places where they would serve organic meat. Over the years I have found my way of coping with this diet and in many cases it meant I just had to choose a vegetarian option. At the same time, in the Netherlands, where I lived, the trend of organic and vegetarian food and with it the range grew. Especially the vegetarian options got better and cheaper. I started to eat more and more meat substitutes and the need to eat red meat diminished over time. My diet still included a lot of fish, because fish contains a lot of very healthy fats, and chicken because it has a lot of protein and isn't fat at all. On that note, there was a time when my liver wasn't working which meant I couldn't eat sugars or fats, and my diet was reduced to rice, chicken, and low-fat yogurt. And still today, I occasionally have chicken or fish. It's something I haven't been able to give up yet.

To be fair, I could probably become a pescatarian or maybe even a vegetarian. It's just that I don't have to. Just like you don't have to defend why you choose to follow your diet. What I do believe is that we can all be a little bit more aware of what we eat. I don't care if that means you choose to still eat meat or not, as long as you do it consciously. Does it really matter if there is meat in your lunch? When you eat a sausage roll, do you actually taste the sausage? All I'm asking of you is to consider if the meal that you will prepare later really needs to contain meat. Why not change it and replace it with meat-free mince, a vegetarian sausage or a plant-based burger? I know how this sounds. I really do. Vegan propaganda. You want to decide what to eat and not listen to what a lettuce eating fruitcake like me thinks about that. However, just consider it as it can literally save our planet. I promise to share some tasty recipes next time.