Tuesday Trivia: Vegetarianism! This thread has relaxed standards—we invite everyone to participate!

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1h5lu9x/tuesday_trivia_vegetarianism_this_thread_has/

created by AlanSnooring on 03/12/2024 at 12:01 UTC

65 upvotes, 8 top-level comments (showing 8)

Welcome to Tuesday Trivia!

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Comments

Comment by Crazy-Specialist-438 at 03/12/2024 at 13:32 UTC

19 upvotes, 1 direct replies

What are the historical roots of vegetarianism in India? Does it start with Jainism and get adapted later by Brahminism or did it exist in Brahminism before it did in Jainism and Buddhism?

Comment by deadletter at 03/12/2024 at 15:29 UTC

17 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I tried to write my undergrad thesis on vegetarian extremism during high Middle Ages monastic orders. I wasn’t a great scholar at the time so instead of writing a paper that said, “there is not strong evidence to indicate that dietary choices among monastic orders was linked or used as evidence of their disobedience of the papacy.” I had found some interesting pieces, namely one woman’s nunnery whose dissolution (I think this was during a 14th or 15th (?) century crackdown on wayward monastics) cited their extreme diet and refusal to depart from it as evidence of their particular disobedience, and at least one papal order directing monasteries to include meats in their diet.

So not a lot of widespread evidence but a couple of interesting notes. I can look for my primary sources later.

Comment by semantic_satiation at 03/12/2024 at 17:12 UTC

13 upvotes, 0 direct replies

My grandpa was really enthusiastic about seitan turkey this year and mentioned he used to eat wheat meat all the time as a young Jewish boy in Ohio. What's the history of fake meat among orthodox communities?

Comment by nagCopaleen at 03/12/2024 at 17:28 UTC*

13 upvotes, 1 direct replies

No trivia, but a question.

The latest generation of vegetarianism movements often categorize all animals together, or else divide them based on their perceived capacity for suffering. But even Jainism, with similar motivations, categorizes the edible world differently due to different cultural measures of that capacity (strict Jains avoiding tubers, for instance). When vegetarianism is motivated by different taboos, the dietary categories are completely different: Catholic fish/meat distinctions and kosher rules around cloven and uncloven hooves are well-known examples.

What are examples of lesser-known dietary categories in your field of study related to vegetarianism?

Comment by Djiti-djiti at 03/12/2024 at 16:40 UTC

6 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Dunno if we can request book recommendations in this thread, but I'd love to have some regarding historical vegetarianism.

Comment by Jetamors at 03/12/2024 at 19:02 UTC

6 upvotes, 1 direct replies

From what I understand, black Americans are somewhat more likely to be vegetarian than white Americans. Has anyone written on the history of black American vegetarianism?

Comment by ChugginDrano at 03/12/2024 at 17:20 UTC

5 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I saw a claim that veganism (or at least the word vegan) came into popular culture in the US from straightedge and hardcore bands. Specifically the band Earth Crisis, and if you've never heard of them... yeah, that's why I'm skeptical too. What caused "vegan" to become a household word from the 90's on?

Comment by ownworldman at 03/12/2024 at 19:00 UTC

5 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Were there any allusions to ethical vegetarianism in medieval/early modern Europe?