Economic vegetarianism
Template:Short description Template:More citations needed An economic vegetarian is a person who practices vegetarianism from either the philosophical viewpoint that the consumption of meat is too expensive or as part of a conscious simple living strategy. In the developing world impoverished people who might not be averse to eating meat are unable to because meat can be a luxury.<ref name="The Elephant Is Jogging: New Pressures for Agricultural Reform in India">Template:Cite web</ref>
Motivations
Economic vegetarians believe nutrition can be acquired just as, and even more, efficiently through plants than from meat at a reduced cost. They argue a vegetarian diet is rich in vitamins, dietary fiber, and complex carbohydrates, and carries with it fewer risks (such as heart disease, obesity, and bacterial infection) than consumption of by-products of animals. Consequently, they consider the production of meat economically unsound.<ref name="The Startling Effects of Going Vegetarian for Just One Day">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Eat Better and Improve Your Health For Less Money">Template:Cite web</ref>
Some vegetarians are motivated by a lifestyle of simple living or adopt vegetarianism through necessity. For example, in the United Kingdom necessity changed dietary habits during the period around World War II and the early 1950s, as animal products were strictly rationed and allotment or home-grown fruit and vegetables were readily available.Template:Sfn During World War I, Americans were encouraged to go one day of the week meatless in order to save meat rations for the troops, beginning the "Meatless Monday" revolution.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In developing countries people sometimes follow a mainly vegetarian diet because meat is scarce or expensive compared to alternative food sources. The same principle can also be a deciding factor in influencing the diet of low-income households in the Western world. The price of ground beef in the year 1985 was $1.28 per pound, and as of 2016 the price increased to $3.98 per pound, corresponding to a 39% increase in real terms over the last 31 years. The majority of the price increase has happened between 2004 and 2016, increasing by $1.72 over the 12-year period.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> These price increases make it hard for low-income households to continue to include meat as a part of their diet.
Many economic vegetarians also promote the idea that advanced agricultural techniques have made the production of meat outdated and inefficient. Some promote the idea of synthetic<ref name="guardiancouk">Artificial food? Food for thought by 2050 from guardian.co.uk</ref> and cloned meat.
Criticism
Template:Expand section Critics of vegetarianism point towards the fact that many plant based foods lack nutrients such as Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, and iron.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Without making adjustments to where and how to get these nutrients it can lead to poor health. Template:See also
See also
- Balanced diet
- Environmental vegetarianism
- Simple living
- Sustainable diet
- Sustainable living
- Vegetarianism
- Zoonosis