Around the World
Thinking advocating vegetarianism emerged in India and the eastern Mediterranean around 1000 BCE, respectively. In the Mediterranean region, the earliest recorded vegetarian was the sixth-century BC Greek philosopher Pythagoras, who advocated the elimination of meat, replacing it with beans and other vegetarian foods, and demanded this of his disciples. Since Plato, many non-Christian philosophers, such as Epicurus and Plutarch, have also advocated vegetarianism. Another Greek philosopher from the fifth century BC, Ampedocles, held the same view. They advocated a vegetarian diet because they believed in the reincarnation of the soul.
In China, ancient superstitions held that a vegetarian diet showed respect for the gods, not for the protection of animals, and that sacrifices following a vegetarian diet involved taking animals. In Mencius Li Lou, it is said, "Even though there are evil people, if they fast and bathe, then they can sacrifice to God."
In India, abstaining from killing and eating meat, it was believed that humans should not harm any sentient animal, especially their cattle. Since then, although Jainism declined, vegetarian habits spread widely, and many of the upper castes and even the lower castes embraced them. Not only that, but through the spread of Emperor Liang Wu Di's ban, vegetarianism also began to spread widely in China, and as far as most parts of the Chinese cultural circle, such as Japan and Southeast Asia. In ancient times, the Emperor of Japan had long forbidden his people to eat meat.
It is written in the Hebrew Bible that humans have not eaten meat since ancient times, but only since the flood of Noah's time. Early Jewish monastic groups and Christian leaders considered meat eating an atrocious and costly luxury. In the centuries following the fall of the Roman Empire, most devout monastic groups in Europe abstained from meat, such as the Cistercians. Although the vast majority of Christians today no longer practice vegetarianism, there are still some Cistercian sects that adhere to a similar prohibition against eating meat, fish, and eggs. For example, the Trappists, a seventeenth-century sect that split from the Cistercians in opposition to the Reform movement, whose adherents still practice vegetarianism today.
While there are many Muslims who disapprove of vegetarianism, certain Sufi mystics believe that those who seek to live a spiritual life should be vegetarian. the 16th-century Muslim emperor of India, Akbar, revered vegetarianism as a Sufi practice.
In Renaissance Europe, the growth of wealth and power made meat eating increasingly popular.
The main reason for the popularity of vegetarianism during the Renaissance (which had previously been considered to be the food of the lower classes) was the poor storage methods of the time, which made meat easily spoiled, putrid, and maggot-ridden, and these unfresh foods inevitably led to the poor taste of meat, which made the people lose their appetites, and the nutrients of the unfresh meat were basically lost. It also spread epidemics, which worsened the health of the masses. During this period, vegetarianism was very popular.
When Catherine de Medici, the Queen Mother of Malice, entered France, she promoted a number of new dietary measures, whose influence covered almost all of Europe, the French people gave up the brutal and reckless medieval way of life, and no longer use a large number of spices to cover up the flavor of the meat, but rather, in the new storage ways, using spices to accentuate the original flavor of meat, and re-embracing the vegetarian diet that had been squeezed out by the spice revolution.
But from the 17th century onwards, vegetarianism began to grow in Britain, with a growing number of religious groups rejecting meat. Thomas Tryon was a prominent advocate of vegetarianism in the seventeenth century, advocating the complete abandonment of feeding on the "flesh of fellow animals". Thomas was a major influence on the Christian laity. Also, Thomas's book, The Way to Health, impressed the young Benjamin Franklin.
In the 18th century, vegetarianism gradually gained interest for economic, ethical, and nutritional reasons. Dr. William Lambe, a nutritionist, advised his patients to be vegetarian for cancer treatment. By this time, almost all modern theses of vegetarianism had been discussed, including the waste of agricultural resources, etc. Prominent advocates of vegetarianism in the mid-18th century were Benjamin Franklin in the United States and Voltaire in France.
Promotion
The vegetarian movement was officially born in 1809 in Manchester, England. At the time, a number of members of the Bible Christian Church joined together to take a vow of abstinence from alcohol and meat, and in 1847, this monastic group broke away from the church and formed the Vegetarian Society. The Vegetarian Society then grew to over 2,000 members in the early 1980s, and in 1889 there were an estimated 52 vegetarian restaurants in England, 34 of which were in London. 1889 Gandhi became a member of the London Vegetarian Society. During the same period, the vegetarian movement took off in other Western countries. Vegetarian associations were formed in the United States in 1850, in Germany in 1867, and in France in 1899. 1908 saw the founding of the International Vegetarian Federation (IFVF) in Northern Ireland, the American Vegetarian Federation (AFVF) in 1949, and the Strictly Vegetarian Association of America (SVAA) in 1960, which have all been accepted by the IFVF as affiliates.
In recent decades, some related monographs have played a very important role in the development of the vegetarian movement. For example, Animal Liberation, published in 1975 (by Pete Singer, with a Chinese translation in China), discusses the power of animals and how they should be treated from an ethical point of view. The book reveals the cruel torture and slaughter of animals in farms and laboratories with a lot of information and photos. This book has caused many people to start waking up and turning to veganism. Other similar books include EatingFor Life, by Nat Altman (1973), Food Reform: Our Desperate Need, by Robin Hur (1973), The VegetarianAlternative, by The VegetarianAlternative,by Vic Sussman,1978),Vegetarianism:A Way of Life,by Dudley Giehl,1979),Vegetarian Sourcebook,by Keith Akers,1983), etc. These books have led to a better understanding of the benefits of vegetarianism, such as vegetarianism and health, environmental protection, conservation of resources, helping hungry people, and treating animals with kindness.
The influential bestseller Diet for a Small Planet, by Frances Moore Lappe (1971), has taught many people that meat consumption is a waste of other resources, such as land, food, water, and energy. Another bestseller was also very influential: Diet for a New America, by John Robbins, 1987. Other important books include Beyond Beef, by Jeremy Rifkin (1992), Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating, by Eric Marcus (1997), Slaughterhouse, by Gail A. Eisen, by Gail A. Eisen, by Gail A. Eisen, by Gail A. Eisen, by Gail A. Eisen, by Gail A. Eisen, by Gail A. Eisen, by Gail A. Eisen, and by Gail A. Eisen. by Gail A. Eisnitz,1997), and others.
Citizens of Earth
Earthlings (also known as Earthlings, Earth Dwellers, and Earth Gatherers) was first released in the United States in 2003, and has since spread rapidly, winning three awards: Best Documentary at the 2005 San Diego Film Festival, Best Documentary at the 2005 Boston International Film Festival, Best Documentary at the 2005 Boston International Film Festival, and Best Documentary at the 2005 Boston International Film Festival. The film has won three awards: Best Documentary at the 2005 San Diego Film Festival, Best Content Award for Independent Films at the 2005 Boston International Film Festival, and Best Documentary at the 2005 Arts Activist Film Festival. The film has caused a great deal of excitement in the field of humanitarianism, environmentalism and animal protection. The film systematically and comprehensively exposes how human beings today massively slaughter and abuse animals, including animal husbandry (including meat, fish, eggs and dairy products, etc.), clothing (including leather and fur, etc.), entertainment animals (including circuses, sports, zoos, etc.), companion animals, experimental animals, and so on. The movie allows the viewer to see what a huge slaughterhouse our planet has become and how far mankind has fallen into cruelty and ignorance without realizing it. For the animals, the earth is like hell. The movie ends by telling the audience that there are three life forces on this planet: nature, animals, and humans. We are all citizens of the earth, may we connect and care for each other.
According to surveys, the proportion of vegetarians in the UK has reached 7% of the population, while in the Netherlands, Germany and France it is 4.4%,1.25% and 0.9% respectively; and the proportion of vegetarians in certain regions of Italy has reached 10% to 18%, and surveys in the US in the 1990s also showed that 7% of the population claimed to be vegetarians. In India, where the prevalence of various religions advocating vegetarianism has made it the country with the largest percentage of vegetarian population in the world, the railroads in India operate a dual feeding system, with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food.
At the beginning of the 21st century, vegetarian restaurants have spread all over the world. A number of famous brands of five-star chain hotels have dedicated vegetarian services or special vegetarian restaurants within them. Most of the world's airlines offer a variety of styles of vegan catering, and travelers can order vegan food up to 24 hours before departure.