My MIL is a lifelong vegetarian who eats bacon, because “bacon is a condiment.”
I’ve never asked, but generally it’s something you put on your main food items to add flavor. She does require that it’s crumbled, and crispy. Bacon bits essentially, but she prefers the real ones to the fake ones. It’s not like she eats bacon every day.
I’ve got friends who are flexitarians, they’ll eat meat every few months when going out with friends, this way they aren’t limiting the group if they want to try a specific restaurant.
I never quite understood why you have to go full vegan or not. I’m pretty much vegan, but when i’m on a bbq for example and they have three more chicken wings that get thrown away because no one wants them, i eat them, no problem. Same in a restaurant that doesn’t really have a vegan alternative. But i would never buy meat or meat products to cook at home, because i always prefer the alternative
You don’t, and cutting down on meat eating by any amount helps. “Meatless Mondays” and other similar memes are good ways to introduce vegetarian possibilities to people raised on meat-mandatory diets.
My ex was very strict vegetarian except for meat they purchased themselves from an ethical butcher they had vetted.