I love meat: the smell of bacon on a Sunday morning, a plump chicken breast, even – whisper it – foie gras. And nothing can beat a near-raw slab of steak – no matter how well Yotam has cooked that broccoli. There’s little point claiming to me that a vegetarian, let alone a vegan diet, can be as tasty as the bloodthirsty variety. Yet there are good reasons why a survey has found that 40% are cutting down on their meat consumption – becoming, like me, “flexitarian”.

You’ll likely have read many of these arguments before on these very pages. Apparently if we just became vegan (or vegetarian) then world hunger would be solved; Britain could feed itself – without resorting to that nasty, foreign muck so despised these days; the fear of antibiotic resistance would be a thing of the past; the NHS would be saved; and of course, global warming would be consigned to the history books.

Seems like quite a compelling moral argument for ditching the meat – and that’s without even mention the suffering of the animals who are killed and packaged before being cooked in some delicious butter and served up on a plate in front of your gaping maw.

And yet. Meat. It’s yummy. Tofu is never going to match a fish finger sandwich to salve that wicked hangover. So the flexitarian craze should be embraced – although I suspect it’s going to need a better name.

I’m sure I’m not alone in finding the lectures from vegetarian campaigners alienating. Their cause may be worthy, and the ask may not seem that big to those used to a diet of kale and cashews – but the fact is that for millions of us it’s hard. I don’t want to give up meat, I’m probably not going to – so stop trying to make me feel bad. Piling on the guilt, while at the same time setting a bar that seems always to be rising, does not seem likely to solve the world’s problems. For once you’ve dropped the meat, the fish is sure to follow, and then there’s eggs, butter, yoghurt – before long it feels like the only way to sustain yourself virtuously is to scavenge nuts and berries from the wilderness, which isn’t that easy in central London.

But not eating meat a few days a week – that feels achievable. It’s realistic – and as all campaigners should recognise, setting a realistic goal is more likely to achieve success. So why not build a movement around cutting down, rather than elimination. Moderation rather than pious abstinence. It’s a more appealing message, that’s likely to achieve much in terms of all the issues vegetarianism claims to counter. And of course, once someone’s reduced their meat intake the chances of them stopping entirely is surely likely to increase.

‘Vegetarian food can be delicious – anyone who says otherwise is just being pigheaded.’ Photograph: Alamy

Just look at the approach of Meat Free Monday. Set up in 2009 by the McCartneys – committed veggies – it sets a realistic goal to appeal to the omnivore majority and raise awareness of the issues associated with meat eating. It points out that cutting down meat consumption to just three times a week has been found to cut deaths from heart disease by 31,000, from cancer by 9,000, from strokes by 5,000, saving the NHS £1.2billion a year. And you can still eat some yummy animal every other day.

It’s something even I can do – and with enough forethought it doesn’t feel like a chore. Vegetarian food can be delicious – anyone who says otherwise is just being pigheaded – whether it be a simple salad with some good olive oil, comfortingly unhealthy mac and cheese or a chocolate chip cookie the size of your head, there’s the variety to match whatever your mood.

And from a purely selfish point of view, bingeing on greens during the week helps the waistline, which might as a bonus save the NHS, but more importantly makes my jeans feel a hell of a lot more comfortable.

Of course, there is another reason why western Europeans are said to have cut down on meat by 10% between 1990 and 2009 – and it has little to do with the environment, or a sudden new-found respect for the sanctity of a chicken’s life. The economic crash meant everyone has felt the pinch since 2007 – and for many that pinch has been more like a punch to the gut. Expensive luxuries have had to be dropped – including meat. It’s noticeable on a veggie day how much cheaper a meal is. Some chicken breast from the supermarket is about £3 – for that a whole vegetarian meal for a family is more than achievable, just look at the miracles that Jack Monroe was able to perform on a meagre budget.

Those that argue vociferously for us to cut out the meat altogether might want to question why a recession achieved more in terms of meat reduction than a lifetime of dinner party lectures – and instead recognise the good that could be done if we were all just gently encouraged to take even irregular breaks from meat. I-veg-gular eating anyone?

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