What is the history of vegetarianism?
Vegetarianism goes back thousands of years, if not longer. The term vegetarian was first used in 1847. Prior to that in the west, vegetarians were referred to as “Pythagoreans,” after the ancient Greek philosopher. The history of vegetarianism varies across the globe depending on cultural ideologies. Some cultures have a long-standing tradition of vegetarianism, while in others it is still considered an oddity. There are several books that offer some of the history, including A Heretic’s Feast by Colin Spencer and The Vegetarian Sourcebook by Keith Aikers. The International Vegetarian Union website has a nice overview of the history vegetarianism throughout the world at www.ivu.org/history.
