20th century: factory farms & civil rights
Since 1900, arguments for a vegetarian diet have greatly intensified and today's vegetarians now adopt their plant-based diet for a great variety of reasons. These arguments can be divided into three groups: Health & Medicine, Animal Rights, Environmental Concerns.
Health & Medicine
The most colourful vegetarian of the 20th century may be Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the director of Battle Creek Sanitarium and co-founder of the Kellogg cereals. Kellogg was a practicing hydrotherapist, believing in the power of water and vibration in reducing chronic illness. He also believed in intestinal autointoxication. His book Autointoxication or Intestinal Toxemia (1918), The Itinerary of a Breakfast (1919) and The Crippled Colon (1931) argued that bacteria could infect the body through the intestines and that since vegetables were less likely to carry bacteria than meat products, the most healthy diet was a plant-based one. (1)
More recently, many vegetarians and vegans have advocated for a plant-based diet on the basis of its role in reducing or eliminating the risks for cancer, stroke and heart disease. These vegetarians are influenced primarily by pioneer, Dr. Colin Campbell, whose pivotal 1973-1975 China Study linked meat and dairy consumption with "Western" disease. In a comprehensive study of 65 counties in China, Campbell and researchers found that meat-eating and dairy consumption was linked with greater occurrences of cancer, osteoporosis, stroke, diabetes, and heart disease. (2) |
Animal Rights
The introduction of intensive agricultural practices, often known as factory farms, brought a renewed focus on the plight of animals used for food, clothing or products. These practices have led to a significant growth in veganism: vegetarians that not only avoid all meat but also avoid all animal products or by-products, including milk, eggs, honey, leather, wool, cashmere, etc. These vegans also frequently do not support establishments that use animals for entertainment, such as stampedes or amusement parks like SeaWorld. In 1980, the world's largest animal rights organization was founded: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). With over 2 million members, PETA evokes a love/hate relationship for both meat-eaters and vegetarians alike. As Jonathan Safran Foer puts it, "The folks at PETA will do almost anything legal to advance their campaigns, no matter how bad they look (which is impressive) and no matter who is insulted (which is not so impressive." (p. 71) Known for their shock campaigns, such as their "Unhappy Meals" and "Meat is Murder" campaigns, PETA may be extreme even for the most vocal vegan but no other organization has managed to make as many changes for greater animal welfare. (3) Other organizations focus their efforts on undercover investigations into the factory. One of the most well-known groups, Mercy for Animals (MFA) was established in 1999. MFA investigators claim that the reveal of their identity on a farm often causes such an outcry, their lives are often put at risk and they live in constant threat from large agribusiness companies. |
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Some small groups of vegans have launched a movement towards eco-feminism and civil rights. These groups believed that consumption of meat perpetuates the dominant societal narratives that being a man required domination over others and that a female body could be controlled by others.
This view was largely popularized by Carol J. Adams, author of The Sexual Politics of Meat (1990). In the book, Adams argues of the connection between patriarchal attitudes and meat-eating. For Adams, advertisements such as the "It'll Blow Your Mind Away" Burger King advertisement, represent the belief that meat is associated with masculinity. A man is only fully-male when he is eating meat; if he is not eating meat, he must be queer. These attitudes can be seen in advertisements that ridicule eating tofu, while maintaining the necessity of meat for "building muscle" and "being a bro." (4) Most simply put, someone who regularly eats factory-farmed animal products cannot call himself an environmentalist without divorcing that word from its meaning. |
Environmental Concerns
The widespread awareness of climate change and global warming has launched a new movement in vegetarianism: those who choose to become a vegetarian on the basis of reducing their eco-footprint. One of the most prominent vegans for the environment is world-champion triathlete and formulator of Vega sports nutrition products, Brendan Brazier. In his book The Thrive Diet (2008), Brazier devotes an entire chapter to the environmental concerns of eating meat. (5)
These environmentalists point to the University of Chicago's study that eating farmed animals has a greater effect on climate change than driving a car. Not only do farmed animals need to be transported across the country, but the methane gas emitted by animal waste is responsible for 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions, 40% more than the entire transportation sector. (6)
The widespread awareness of climate change and global warming has launched a new movement in vegetarianism: those who choose to become a vegetarian on the basis of reducing their eco-footprint. One of the most prominent vegans for the environment is world-champion triathlete and formulator of Vega sports nutrition products, Brendan Brazier. In his book The Thrive Diet (2008), Brazier devotes an entire chapter to the environmental concerns of eating meat. (5)
These environmentalists point to the University of Chicago's study that eating farmed animals has a greater effect on climate change than driving a car. Not only do farmed animals need to be transported across the country, but the methane gas emitted by animal waste is responsible for 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions, 40% more than the entire transportation sector. (6)
The early twenty-first century has also seen a rise in documentaries, advocating for a plant-based diet. The most prominent documentaries are Forks Over Knives (2011), which features Colin Campbell, Meet Your Meat (2002), Earthlings (2005), voiced by Joaquin Phoenix, and Food Inc. (2008).
1.
“Vegetarianism” in The Cambridge World History of Food, ed. Kenneth F. Kiple and
Kriemhild Connèe Ornelas, Cambridge
Histories Online (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), chap. V17,
1553-1564, accessed November 10, 2014, http://universitypublishingonline.org/cambridge/histories/, 1559.
2. Colin and Thomas Campbell, The China Study (Dallas: BenBella Books, 2006).
3. Jonathan Safran Foer, Eating Animals (New York: Hachette Book Group, 2009), 70-72.
4. Carol J. Adams, The Sexual Politics of Meat (New York: Bloomsbury, 1990).
5. Brendan Brazier, The Thrive Diet (Toronto: Penguin Group, 2008).
6. Jonathan Safran Foer, Eating Animals (New York: Hachette Book Group, 2009), 58.
2. Colin and Thomas Campbell, The China Study (Dallas: BenBella Books, 2006).
3. Jonathan Safran Foer, Eating Animals (New York: Hachette Book Group, 2009), 70-72.
4. Carol J. Adams, The Sexual Politics of Meat (New York: Bloomsbury, 1990).
5. Brendan Brazier, The Thrive Diet (Toronto: Penguin Group, 2008).
6. Jonathan Safran Foer, Eating Animals (New York: Hachette Book Group, 2009), 58.