Running head: VEGETARIANISM

Vegetarianism:
History and Modern Lifestyle
William Sowders
University of Kentucky

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Abstract
This research paper covers the culture of vegetarians and all the key aspects that make it what it
is. The primary areas that will be cover are over the standing history of vegetarianism and the
typical life one may lead as a vegetarian. While analyzing these areas we will be touching upon
the origins of vegetarianism and its effects on societies. Also throughout the analyzes we will get
into the cultural beliefs and reasons for conforming to the lifestyle, the difficulties one may go
through in practice, the social norms and stereotypes that hover over vegetarians. In doing all of
this you will gain an understanding and knowledge of why this is a truly amazing culture.

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Additional changes I made:

I more clearly organized my points, and made it flow better in some areas.
Vegetarianism: History and Modern Lifestyle
Vegetarianism is a type of life style that one who wishes to stop eating meat lives by.
There are two types of people who live on a leafy plan based diet. The first are the vegetarians,
those who refrain from eating any form of meat, fish or poultry (Vegetarianism). The second
are vegans, vegans are vegetarians who abstain from eating or using all animal products
(Vegetarianism). Like I stated previously vegetarianism isnt like a normal culture that you
would have to be born into to be a part of. Its a way of life that anyone at any point in their life
can choose to live by, or leave when they see fit to do so. The difficulty of this life style really
depend on the environment you live in. During an interview I did with a Dr. Magdalena
Muchlinski, a declared vegan, she confirmed this after I asked, Was the transition hard? And
why? she told me, Now being vegan is kind of hard, but it really depend on where you live,
like I grew up in Oakland, San Francisco I lived in Austin, TX also in New York City. Those
areas were all very vegan friendly places. Lexington; however, awful place to be a vegan. (Dr.
M. Muchlinsky, personal communication, Oct 7, 2014). Though hearing this did surprise me it
really did make quite a bit of sense. The true nature and origins of vegetarianism are unknown to
many areas which would understandably make it hard for some others to accept their ways of
life. In my personal view I say, Dont knock it until youve tried it but many people find this
hard to do because it is a change they arent prepared for or one that they simply just dont want
to accept.
In the revolutionary time we live in of exercising daily, eating right and dieting to
maintain and better our health many of us have begun to take after the general vegetarian

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lifestyle for it many benefits. Though the vegetarian lifestyle is progressively becoming more
popular in this day and age the origins in which vegetarianism originated have become lost in
these modern times. Many believe that vegetarianism originated from Buddhism due to their
teaching of loving and cherishing all life but this is not the case. History does tell of how the
Buddha never ate meat however, the first vegetarians we know of for sure were the philosophers
of ancient Greece and Rome. They were the first to notice the ultimate cruelty connected with
killing animals only to feed humans. Pythagoras, Plutarch, Seneca every one of them became a
vegetarian because of ethical reasons. This notion was also visible in many various religions,
including Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and several Christian churches (Brown, 2014). These
philosophers are the earliest specific individuals we have been able to identify as being
vegetarians dating back to the year 580 BCE. Still, it has been found that Pythagoras's
ideas mirrored, in part, the traditions of much earlier civilizations including the Babylonians and
ancient Egyptians. A vegetarian ideology was practiced among religious groups in Egypt around
3,200BCE, with abstinence from flesh and the wearing of animal derived clothing based upon
karmic beliefs in reincarnation (World History). One great example of this can be seen in the
changes the Hindu society has made. In the Hindu caste society many higher caste members
began to convert to Jainism due to the treatment they were receiving for abstaining from eating
meat in the Hindu society. As these cases began to grow in number the higher caste Hindus
began to reform their views and started practicing vegetarianism themselves to prevent anyone
else from leaving (Vegetarianism in India). Vegetarianism regardless of what some may think,
isnt new to society. Vegetarianism has been around for a very long time; it is a movement that
has been known to be a great source of change in the world. Even today we can see its effects on
modern cultures around the world.

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As the practices of vegetarianism slowly progress through time and begin to develop and
change, the individual reasons to take up this lifestyle begin to change as well. The original
reason for the practice of vegetarianism was merely the ethics saying that killing animals was
wrong. Nowadays people become vegetarians for many reasons: religious restrictions, health
concerns, food safety, animal rights issues and because of environmental degradation (large scale
slaughter houses being environmentally unsustainable) (Baca, 2012). In my interviews with
practicing vegetarians one of the individuals was a vegan and the other was a vegetarian. I
learned from each of them their different reasons for carry out this type of lifestyle. I asked both
of them What drove you to make the choice to become a vegan/vegetarian? the first responded
with, So I was raised vegetarian. In 2005 I became vegan again, but it was for mostly
environmental reasons because the amount of fossil fuels, part of it is its humane I dont like
hurting things and I love animal; if everyone went vegan or vegetarian for one day a week we
would save so much energy. Number one reason is environmental. Also Im an anatomist and
you can either two way one is you could care less about what people are eating, but to me I look
at it and Im like youre eating muscle. I can name off every fiber theyre eating, its just
weird.(Dr. M. Muchlinsky, personal communication, Oct. 7, 2014). In the second interview,
which was a little less lengthy, he responded with, Simply to try a different life style. To make
my own assessments on it to see if there were actually any health benefits. (A. Dufy, personal
communication, Oct. 9, 2014). The reasons really do differ greatly from one individual to the
next. More often than not you will find people saying their reasons are environmental, humane
because they love animals, or for health purposes. There are no rules demanding that you have
this one a specific reason, it could be anything. One may be so passionate about their choice so

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much that it defines their life, or in my second interviewees case where it was just a simple
choice, basically like an experiment, to see what the health benefits are from it.
For the many different reasons there are to take up the vegetarian lifestyle there are just
as many reasons people give to not, and the most common being Its too hard. The difficulty of
carrying out the lifestyle of a vegetarian is only as hard or easy as you make it. Some people
enjoy planning and preparing elaborate meals, while others opt for quick and easy vegetarian
dishes (Vegetarianism). The main argument of those who find it wrong to be a vegetarian is
that you cant get all of the necessary nutrients you need for your body. In every debate on the
subject protein is always brought up mainly due to the fact that many people are under the
assumption that meat products are the only practical source of protein. Realistically though you
just need to be a little educated in vegetarian life to know what foods contain, protein very
simple to get, everything has protein, potatoes have protein. (Dr. M. Muchlinsky, personal
communication, Oct. 7, 2014). One way to acquire that information is by talking to someone
whos lived their entire life as a vegetarian, as I have, another is probably the more obvious
choice called, Using the internet. Vegetarians easily meet their protein needs by eating a varied
diet, as long as they consume enough calories to maintain their weight. It is not necessary to plan
combinations of foods. A mixture of proteins throughout the day will provide enough essential
amino acids (Vegetarianism). Meeting the nutrition needs of your body as a vegetarian isnt at
all as hard as some people may lead you to believe. As for vegans who abstain from eating or
using all animal products, milk, cheese, other dairy products, and eggs and so forth there are

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many substitutes to those products. The simplest way to find these substitutes is to use the

internet.
Figure 1: Substitution Chart
Figure 1 is one example of what someone carrying out a vegan lifestyle can refer to for
assistance. The options for what can be substituted are quite vast, and the information is easily
obtainable to make it easier for you.
The difficulty of carrying out the lifestyle of a vegetarian is only as hard or easy as you
make it (Vegetarianism). I thought Id restate this again because this also applies to the social
norms and rules of the culture. With the long history of vegetarian culture, and those it consists
of each having their own reasons to be a part of it, it is expected that there would be a widely
diverse range of social norms and rules to be present within the culture. Each person's definition
of vegetarian was used to construct a particular type of vegetarian identity to establish the norms
and rules they would set and enforce for themselves (Jennifer Jabs, Jeffery Sobal, Carol M.

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Devine, 1999, Vegetarian Norms and Rules section, p. 383). This is what separates them from
other cultures. My interviewee is a good example. He carried out a vegetarian lifestyle for only
three months, without having any issues with slipping in some meat every once in a while. His
personally set rules were somewhere along the lines of him just committing to the lifestyle until
he saw fit to change it again. A respondent to an interview for an article by the name of
Managing Vegetarianism: Identities, Norms, and Interactions by Jennifer Jabs, Jeffery Sobal, and
Carol M. Devine from 1999 described the behavioral norms inherent in her identity as a
vegetarian. She said, I guess it's modified vegetarian or modified vegan because I still use some
dairy products, although I would prefer not to. I keep relapsing or backsliding like an alcoholic
who keeps falling off the wagon. Id like to add the author of the articles analysis of this
statement as well I feel like it is need, She located her own place within the hierarchy of being
less or more completely vegetarian, using a metaphor of abstention. When she ate "given up" or
"forbidden" foods, she felt she was breaching the code or rules of what constituted more or less
acceptable vegetarian practices. This type of behavior is more commonly found in large
established groups of a particular culture. However, even though it is rare to find a large
populous of declared vegetarians that have established a group with a set rule base we still see
this kind of behavior among those who live vegetarian lifestyles.
Like any other culture, vegetarian culture also receives a large range of stereotypes. The
top five stereotypes people have been known to place on vegetarians are the following: vegans
are weird, vegans are hippies, all vegans become that way to save animals, vegans are scrawny
weaklings, and vegans are counterculture on everything, with lots of tattoos, piercings, and hemp
clothing (Bentley, 2010). I am now going to disprove all of these stereotypes in the reverse order.
First, most vegans, just like most people, arent counterculture on every single thing. Everyone

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chooses to be different in their own way. Vegans are just a minority that is beginning to spring
up in more and more cultures. Second, People who dont use their muscles are weaklings, vegans
can be and usually are strong, vital, and healthy. The vegan lifestyle, contrary to popular beliefs,
promotes strong health and being active. Some can even be bodybuilders! Third, individuals go
vegan for a variety of reason wanting to improve their health, wanting to eat a green diet,
wanting to eat a diet natural to humans, and, of course, wanting to be kind to animals. Also many
of the other reasons I conveyed earlier. Fourth, there are just as many suit-and-tie vegans as
hippy vegans, if not more, and all shades in between. Going to music festivals has given me
firsthand knowledge in this area. At camping music festivals you see and meet many people who
would fall under the hippie category. I honestly can say that out of the many that Ive met only
one or two hippies have been just vegetarian let alone vegan.

Figure 2: Hippie and a Business Man

Fifth and lastly, you probably know a vegan personally without realizing they are vegan.
Veganism isnt a cult or religion its just a lifestyle choice that happens to not include animal
products (Bentley, 2010). In most case studies and interviews done many vegetarians arent open
with the people around them for a number of reasons. The most common out of the many reasons
is that the subject just doesnt come up in conversations. In an article written about coming out
to strangers and how they respond to it one of the respondents, the same one whose school

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10

friends mooed at her, encapsulated this well when she replied that she had experienced, the
entire spectrum. All the way from trying to find flaws in what she does and saying that shes
anti-American because she does not support cow and dairy farmers, to wow, she is such a giving
person.(Lindquist, 2013, p11). People consistently criticize vegetarians based on faulty
information and rumors when it is highly possible that they know someone close to them whos a
vegetarian who is too afraid to come out in fear of being persecuted themselves. In my
personal opinion I think societys views on vegetarians are harsh and unnecessary.
Vegetarianism is a way of life. The difficulty of this lifestyle really depends on the
environment you live in due to the fact that idea of vegetarianism is still foreign to many people.
Vegetarianism isnt new to society, it has been causing the reoccurring reform of major ethnic
groups for a long time now. In this revolutionary time it is continuously becoming more and
more popular throughout the world. The reasons people have for becoming a vegetarian are
completely their own, and it is only as hard or easy as you make it because you alone set your
our rules. This is what makes the idea so appealing to people. Dont be caught with the
assumption that it is the perfect lifestyle this culture is still misunderstood among the vast
majority and this has led to the shunning of vegetarians over the years. The key element that can
allow this minority to become the majority is knowledge. Through the learning and
understanding of the culture people begin to accept it and embrace it more and more.

References

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11

Baca, A. (2012, May 11). Im a vegetarian, not a stereotype people should eat and let eat.
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Bentley, L. (n.d.). Top 10 Vegan Stereotype Myths. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
http://www.veganmainstream.com/2010/07/03/top-10-vegan-stereotype-myths/
Jabs, Jennifer , Sobal, Jeffery and Devine, Carol M.(2000) 'Managing vegetarianism: Identities,
norms and interactions', Ecology of Food and Nutrition, 39: 5, 375 394
Lindquist A. (2013). Beyond Hippies and Rabbit Food: The Social Eects of Vegetarianism and
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