Vegetarianism

Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, freshwater fish, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. A person who practices vegetarianism is known as a vegetarian. Vegetarianism may be adopted for various reasons. Many people object to eating meat out of respect for sentient animal life. Such ethical motivations have been codified under various religious beliefs as well as animal rights advocacy. Other motivations for vegetarianism are health-related, political, environmental, cultural, aesthetic, economic, taste-related, or relate to other personal preferences. A healthy vegetarian dietary pattern is one of three healthy eating patterns recommended in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025, alongside the Healthy U.S.-Style and Healthy Mediterranean-Style patterns.. A small number of towns and cities around the world are exclusively vegetarian or have outlawed meat, including Rishikesh in India, which banned meat, fish, and eggs in 1956. A larger number of towns and cities are vegetarian-friendly. In other locations, finding vegetarian food can pose some difficulties. There are many variations of the vegetarian diet: a lacto-vegetarian diet includes dairy products, an ovo-vegetarian diet includes eggs, and a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet includes both. All of them include honey. As the strictest of vegetarian diets, a vegan diet excludes all animal products, and can be accompanied by the abstention from animal-derived products, such as leather shoes and silk clothes. Vegetarian diets pose some difficulties. For vitamin B12, depending on the presence or absence of eggs and dairy products in the diet or other reliable B12 sources, vegetarians may incur a nutritional deficiency. Packaged and processed foods may contain minor quantities of animal ingredients. While some vegetarians scrutinize product labels for such ingredients, others do not object to consuming them, or are unaware of their presence.

Etymology The first written use of the term "vegetarian" originated in the early 19th century, when authors referred to a vegetable regimen diet. Historically, 'vegetable' could be used to refer to any type of edible vegetation. Modern dictionaries explain its origin as a compound of vegetable (adjective) and the suffix -arian (in the sense of agrarian). The term was popularized with the foundation of the Vegetarian Society in Manchester in 1847, although it has been in use since around 1839 to refer to what was previously called a vegetable regimen or diet. It was used in writing first attributed to actress, writer and abolitionist Fanny Kemble, in her Journal of a Residence on a Georgian plantation in 1838–1839. The earliest occurrences of the term seem to be related to Alcott House—a school on the north side of Ham Common, London—which was opened in July 1838 by James Pierrepont Greaves. From 1841, it was known as A Concordium, or Industry Harmony College, and the institution then began to publish its own pamphlet, The Healthian. It provides some of the earliest appearances of the term "vegetarian".

History

Prehistory and early origins In 2025, a study published in Science measured nitrogen isotope ratios in fossilized teeth and determined that Australopithecus was almost entirely vegetarian.

Indian subcontinent

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