Literature Review

All vegetarians abstain from eating meat; however, a more obscure aspect of vegetarianism is the associated lifestyle that many authors have attempted to explain with historical evidence, self-testimony, and observation. Vegetarians forgo meat for varied reasons including animal rights, health reasons, and environmental sustainability. Animal rights activists shun the exploitation of animals kept in captivity and slaughterhouses. People concerned with their health cut out meat to avoid the heart problems associated with heavy meat consumption. Although many critics claim that vegetarians have deficient diets, Dudley Giehl, in his book, Vegetarianism,  A Way of Life, claims "flesh foods contain no nutrients that cannot be obtained from non-flesh-food sources." Many people choose vegetarianism for its eco-friendly and sustainability aspects. Cattle raising requires large areas of land which, if used for crop production, would provide more food for the world. According to Jon Wynne-Tyson's Food For A Future, "About four-fifths of the world's agricultural land is used for feeding animals, and only about one-fifth for feeding man directly." A massive reduction of world-wide meat consumption would lead to less meat production, therefore, allowing for more land to be used as crop land. 

The vegetarian movement started long before the hippie-uprisings of the 1960s, but, however, vegetarianism, first called as "the Pythagorean diet" in the west, is a deep-rooted part of American history, stemming from the arrival of the first settlers. The "father of vegetarianism" is considered to be Sylvester Graham who believed that abstaining from meat could prevent the spread of disease. Although vegetarianism has existed throughout American history, there is much debate on whether or not it is a continuous movement or simply a trend. Donna Maurer's Vegetarianism: Movement or Moment not only asserts the longevity of vegetarianism as a sustained movement, but she also explores demography and socio-economic aspects of the movement. She found that white, middle class women are most likely to be vegetarians and that "people with higher socioeconomic status...may adopt vegetarian diets in part to differentiate themselves from other social groups." Through research and observation, author's attempt to explain vegetarianism while exploring vegetarian lifestyles.

Giehl, Dudley. Vegetarianism, A Way of Life. New York, New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc., 1979.

Iacobbo, Karen. Vegetarian America. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 2004.

Maurer, Donna. Vegetarianism: Movement or Moment. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University Press, 2002.

Wynne-Tyson, Jon. Food for A Future. New York, New York: Universe Books, 1979.