Was it possible to be a vegetarian or vegan prior to the industrial revolution ?!
Being a healthy vegetarian means you need a variety of fruits and veggies.... prior to the industrial revolution this wasn't really possible for most people. You would only have had access to a few different kinds of fruit and veggie and legumes, depending on where you live, and they would have been seasonal at that. If you didn't eat meat could you even survive in the old days ?
Can you give me an example of any vegetarian or group of vegetarians... that goes back prior to the industrial revolution ?
Answers: and still have a healthy complete nutrition diet ?
Being a healthy vegetarian means you need a variety of fruits and veggies.... prior to the industrial revolution this wasn't really possible for most people. You would only have had access to a few different kinds of fruit and veggie and legumes, depending on where you live, and they would have been seasonal at that. If you didn't eat meat could you even survive in the old days ?
Can you give me an example of any vegetarian or group of vegetarians... that goes back prior to the industrial revolution ?
Not only was it possible but it was a actually easier economically as meat was a luxury that most people could not afford. However, you have to consider the fact that many people ate meat sparignly by necessity not by choice. They would have chosen to eat meat but the cost was simply too high and not affordble to be eaten on a regular basis. Grains/cereals and root vegetables such as corn/wheat/rice and the potato were true staples. Animal sourced foods such as eggs, milk and cheese, however, were more available and also consumed much more frequently than meat.
PS It is logical to assume that the industrial revolution was also the advent of the factory farms (and assembly line food production) that made meat and other foods (canned preserved food, cereals, etc) affordable and available.
Read this. I cannot attest to the validity of the source but it may point you in the right direction.
i'm not sure where to look,but i think you could find your answer a lot in ancient indian religions.heck,even in the Bible people didn't eat meat until after the great flood...
yes, of course read the works of Henry Salt. he had written books on the matter of ending animal cruelty. In England there were many veggie societies before the IR.
Actually you will find that many Indians - East Indians, did not eat meat for centuries, but then in order to try to fit into the life of the British they became to eat meat!
Also the original religion of Buddhism, also spoke of not eating meat.
Infact it was easier to not eat meat before IR, because meat was very expensive, and veggies were grown with easy. of course you had to eat according to the local season.
Also, the biggest indication that man was a veggie, - it took a long time for a caveman to understand and build a tool for hunting, whereas gathering berries was done right away, be cuase they just had to use their hands.
As many people have already said, meat was a luxury for many people prior to the industrial revolution. Unless it was hunted or farmed by the individual family, meat was more expensive for the average budget and not nearly as readily available as it is today.
Also, it is speculated that B12 (the only nutrient you can't get on a strict vegan diet) was in the water supply (from bacteria and/or waste in the water) at this time, as there wasn't public water filtration.
So a vegetarian or vegan diet was very possible and reality for a lot of people at this time, but probably not the way that we think of vegetarian and vegan diets today.
Eating meat was relatively rare pre-factory farming. Its the commercialisation of farming that has made meat so cheap and become dominant in peoples diets.
It would have been very easy to live as a vegetarian as they were used to using seasonal foods. i can't see how I would have any problem meeting that challange by using local unprocessed foods.
As recently as the 1950's you would find the majority of families ate meat just once a week.
There are many examples of veggies pre-industrial revolution. did they call themseles "vegetarians" ? No, the word was invented in 1847. But there were definately groups that abstained from eating once-living creatures for religious or ethical reasons.
This page describes groups in history that were veggie:
http://www.ivu.org/history/museum.html
and this page lists famous veggies, you can figure out which ones were pre-industrial revolution
http://www.ivu.org/people/
Sir Issac Newton, Thomas Moore, Leonardo de Vinci, St Francis of Assisi to name but 4
This page also has a history of vegetarianism
http://www.vegsoc.org/members/history/in...
Brahminism, Buddhism, Jainism and Zoroastrianism are all ancient religions that advocated abstention from flesh foods,
So did Pythagoras, Seneca, Ovid, Diogenes, Plato, Plotinus and Socrates
These literary geniuses were veggie: Voltaire, Paley, Shelley, Bentham and Lamartine
John Wesley, co-founder of Methodism and John Howard, the prison reformer, were also vegetarians.
I want to clarify the "caveman argument". Ancient humans were always hunters and gatherers. But, studies have shown that they rarely ate meat. Rarely being once a week, once a month, etc. And when they did, every single part of the animal was used, and chances are strong that gods & the animal were thanked for the sacrifice. Cavemen DID NOT have meat every day, did not hunt "for fun" (as modern humans do), and did not waste anything.
Past that, buddhists have long been vegetarians.
As noted in an earlier post, scientists and philosophers have LONG been vegetarians.
Remember, the variety that we have today is not needed. Some rice, beans, and a few different veggies are about all we (humans) need to survive.
Asians have been eating Tofu for at least 2000 years - plenty of protein in that!
It was easier for some, near impossible for others, based simply on location in regards to climate.
Anyone could have been a vegetarian if they lived in the right climate. Vegetables would be available all year round and eggs and milk are always available regardless of the climate.
It would also have been easier to be vegan. Nowadays, the way animal parts have permeated almost every single product out there, it's impossible to avoid everything. But, back then, you would simply need to live in the same climate I described for the vegetarian but not eat eggs or drink milk.
Granted, back then, vegans and vegetarians knew nothing about actual nutrition and what the body needs to remain healthy. Especially vegans. They had no source of B12 because it's not available from plant sources. Of course, they had no idea what B12 was either. Vegetarians on the other hand, may have been healthier than today's vegetarians by default. They ate natural foods. The stores didn't have entire sections dedicated to both junk and processed foods.
You say "being a healthy vegetarian means you need a variety of fruits and veggies"
Guess what? To be a healthy omnivore you need a variety of fruits and veggies.