Home > Encyclopedia of Food & Culture > Vegetarianism

VEGETARIANISM. The dietary practice and philosophy of vegetarianism dates back to the views of Pythagoras in the fifth century B.C.E., as well as to religious practices associated with Hinduism, Janism, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism. Historically, support for a vegetarian lifestyle has been grounded in both health and ethical and moral arguments. However, in the United States and Canada health arguments have dominated, and ethical and moral arguments typically have taken a lesser role. While many people become vegetarians because of concern for the treatment of animals raised in factory-like conditions, North Americans more commonly become vegetarians because they believe that it will help them lose weight, have more energy, or ameliorate such health conditions as high blood pressure or heart disease.

While the percentage of North Americans practicing vegetarianism has remained rather consistent at about one percent of the total population (and about 5 to 6 percent in the United Kingdom), social acceptance of this lifestyle increased dramatically in the late twentieth century. In large part, recognition by medical and nutritional authorities that vegetarian diets can be healthful and even desirable when appropriately planned has led to the legitimacy of vegetarian diets and to fewer fears regarding nutritional deficiencies. While the increasing scientific and cultural acceptance of vegetarian diets has not led to a greater percentage of the population adhering to vegetarian diets, more people are experimenting with "semivegetarianism," adding more meatless meals to their weekly menus.

Varieties of Vegetarianism

A wide range of dietary practices falls under the rubric of "vegetarianism." People who practice the strictest version, veganism, do not use any animal products or byproducts. They do not eat meat, poultry, or seafood, nor do they wear leather or wool. They avoid foods that contain such animal by-products as whey and gelatin and do not use products that have been tested on animals.

Other vegetarians limit their avoidances to food. For example, ovo-lacto vegetarians consume eggs and dairy products but not meat, poultry, and seafood. Ovo vegetarians do not consume dairy products, and lacto vegetarians consume dairy products but not eggs. Semivegetarians occasionally consume some or all animal products and may or may not consider themselves vegetarians. Studies suggest that semivegetarians outnumber "true" vegetarians by about four to one.

These terms define the various types of vegetarians by what they do not consume. Consequently, many vegetarians are concerned that nonvegetarians view vegetarian diets as primarily prohibitive and restrictive. They emphasize that following a vegetarian diet often leads people to consume a wider variety of foods than many meat eaters do, as vegetarians often include a wider range of fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes in their diets.

A Brief Historical Perspective

Vegetarianism arrived in the United States in the early 1800s as primarily a religious practice associated with the Bible Christian Church of Philadelphia. The church's leader, William Metcalfe, advocated abstinence from meat as a form of spiritual temperance. In 1830 the Bible Christian Church hired Sylvester Graham, who had been studying medicine in Philadelphia, as a temperance lecturer. Graham soon branched out on his own, turning elements of a religious philosophy into a more secular set of practices in which he advocated abstinence from alcohol, sex, coffee, tea, spices, and of course meat.

Graham's philosophy was rooted in a deep distrust of the emerging industrial revolution of the 1830s and 1840s. He expressed concern that the marketplace was supplanting the role of "hearth and home" in developing moral character and stressed the importance of individual efforts to restore a moral balance in an increasingly chaotic social world. With Metcalfe and such vegetarian advocates as William Alcott and Russell Trall, Graham helped form the American Vegetarian Society in 1850. Many early suffragists and abolitionists, such as Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, and Horace Greeley, attended the early meetings of this organization.

The vegetarian legacy continued with the efforts of John Harvey Kellogg, who developed cornflakes in 1894. The Seventh Day Adventist Church hired Kellogg in the 1870s to run its Battle Creek Sanatorium, where popular treatments included exercise, hydropathy (water cure), and a vegetarian diet. The Seventh Day Adventist Church continued to endorse and promote vegetarian diets in the twenty-first century, although it did not require its members to adopt them.

Interestingly, although early vegetarianism was strongly associated with religion (first with the Bible Christian Church and then with Seventh Day Adventism), vegetarianism has been primarily a secular rather than a spiritual practice in North America. Even the early vegetarians were encouraged to adopt vegetarianism as a means to good health that would enhance their individual capacities, including their capacity to experience the Divine, and vegetarianism has rarely been promoted as a spiritual path in and of itself. Consequently, despite its historically religious underpinnings, the health aspect of vegetarianism has predominated in the United States and Canada.

Characteristics of Contemporary Vegetarians

While vegetarians probably exhibit more differences than similarities, researchers have discerned several patterns regarding their social backgrounds and statuses. Vegetarians tend to come from predominantly middle-class backgrounds, and a substantially smaller percentage comes from lower social classes. This can be explained by the fact that people who have less money view meat as desirable and associate it with upward social mobility. Therefore, when they have discretionary income, they are likely to use it to purchase meat products. In North America meat is often associated with success and social status. People are only likely to reject meat once they have the opportunity to consume as much as they want.

Gender is another patterned feature of vegetarians in North America. Studies have consistently found that about 70 percent of all vegetarians are female. Several explanations are possible. First, the foods embraced by vegetarian diets are those already symbolically linked with feminine attributes, that is, foods that are light, low-fat, and not bloody (as people often equate blood with strength). For many people meat and masculinity are inextricably linked; therefore it is easier for women than for men to escape cultural expectations. In addition, women tend to be more concerned with weight loss, and many pursue a vegetarian diet as the means to that end. Finally, some researchers hold that women are more likely than men to hold a compassionate attitude toward animals, leading them to have more concern about killing animals for food. All of these factors contribute to the reality that women are more likely than men to become vegetarians.

Studies have suggested that vegetarians may share a variety of other characteristics as well. For example, while vegetarians are less likely than the general population to follow a conventional religion, they are more likely to describe themselves as spiritual and to practice some form of yoga or meditation. They are more likely to describe themselves as "liberal" and less likely to adhere to traditional values that embrace upholding the existing social order. They are also less likely than the general population to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol. Yet it is important to point out that vegetarians are more different than similar in their social backgrounds, political beliefs, and health practices.

Reasons for Vegetarianism

People become vegetarians for a variety of reasons, including personal health, a concern for the treatment of farm animals and the environment, spiritual beliefs, and sometimes simply a physical disgust toward meat. Most commonly North Americans follow a gradual path toward vegetarianism that starts with a health motivation. They perceive that a vegetarian diet will give them more energy, will help them lose weight, or will assuage a health condition, such as heart disease or cancer. Other people become vegetarians out of a concern for the rights of animals or a belief that meat production causes devastating effects to the environment. Some grew up with or adopted a religion (for example, Hinduism, Jainism, Seventh Day Adventism) that encourages or requires a vegetarian diet. Still others are concerned with world hunger and take the view that many more people can be fed on a vegetarian diet than on a meat-based one.

People tend to first stop eating the foods they view as the most offensive or unhealthy. For most gradual vegetarians this is red meat. The typical path for a new vegetarian is to stop eating red meat first, then poultry, and then fish. Some move to further prohibitions by adopting a vegan lifestyle as they eliminate eggs, dairy products, and other animal by-products. As people progress along the vegetarian "path," they tend to adopt new reasons to support their lifestyle practices. Most commonly people begin with a health motivation and gradually become concerned with the humane treatment of animals and protecting the environment, and many develop a disgust response to meat products.

Scientific Controversy and Gradual Acceptance

After the mid-1800s, the medical establishment responded to advocates' claims that vegetarian diets are healthful and desirable. In the 1800s vegetarians were primarily labeled as "quacks" and were characterized in the popular press as weak, sallow, and emaciated. The notion that vegetarians are weak and lack energy persisted throughout the twentieth century.

In the 1970s dietitians and nutritional scientists focused much attention on vegetarian diets, and many considered them a medical problem. These nutritionists were particularly concerned that vegetarians did not consume adequate protein. During the 1970s and 1980s many articles in nutrition journals debated whether or not vegetarian diets were desirable and gave advice about how to deal with obstinate vegetarian clients. Over time, however, dietitians accepted the idea that vegetable protein derived primarily from grains and legumes is not of lesser quality than protein from meat and other animal-based foods. Eventually dietitians accepted their clients' vegetarian lifestyles and began to help them improve those diets instead of trying to convert them to meat eating.

By the early twenty-first century the American Dietetic Association and the U.S. Department of Agriculture both endorsed the healthfulness of vegetarian diets when they are appropriately planned (just as any diet should be). However, new controversies have arisen, particularly regarding the necessity and desirability of consuming milk and other dairy products. This controversy was spurred in the late 1990s in large part by the view of the renowned pediatrician Benjamin Spock that children should be fed a vegan diet after age two. This stance has generated much debate, as it challenges the deep-seated cultural notion that milk is necessary to build strong bones and to foster physical development.

The Vegetarian Movement

Most people adopt vegetarian diets at least in part as a result of interactions with other practicing vegetarians. People rarely become vegetarians in isolation. Through social interactions, people learn the reasons for adopting vegetarian diets and how to successfully follow them. For example, they learn how to cook vegetarian meals and where to buy foods that will ensure that their new diets are both nutritionally sound and personally satisfying. Consequently, vegetarianism is typically much more of a social experience than an individual experience.

Numerous vegetarian organizations facilitate this social learning. Although they are largely distinct from animal rights and environmental organizations, they sometimes share leadership and other resources. At the national level the American Vegan Society, the North American Vegetarian Society, and EarthSave hold conferences, distribute literature on vegetarian diets, and help form local vegetarian societies. In these local groups people interact, share potluck meals, listen to speakers, and sometimes distribute vegetarian literature to the public at local events.

Other national vegetarian organizations, such as FARM, Vegan Action, and Vegan Outreach, encourage vegetarians to take a more activist stance. The Vegetarian Resource Group distributes well-documented, scientifically oriented literature to the public and works with governmental and professional organizations to advance the movement's goals. All of these groups primarily promote vegetarianism through education and embrace the varied reasons for adopting vegetarian diets.

See also Kellogg, John Harvey; Organic Food; Pythagoras; Vegetables.

Donna Maurer