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VEGETaRIaNISM: MaNY RooTS,MaNY SHooTSOnly a small percentage of the population in the industrialized world describethemselves as vegetarians or vegans. Such lifestyles are more common inparts of the world where religions play a major role. In most faiths, followersare expected to abstain from meat in one way or another.Many reasonsto avoid meat:ethical, religious,health, ecological,romanticIn South Asia, vegetarianism has a long tradition.As part of various Indian religions, it was,and still is, widespread. In India itself, about aquarter of the population do not eat meat. In Buddhismand especially in Hinduism, belief in rebirthand adherence to non-violence lead people to rejectthe consumption of meat and the slaughter ofanimals. A broad spectrum of religions range instrictness, the highest of which is Jainism, wheremonks brush aside even the tiniest insects toavoid treading on them. Most Buddhist sectsallow milk and milk products, some permit theconsumption of fish, and others allow meat ifthe animal has been slaughtered by a non-Buddhist.Although vegetarianism is declining in theregion, it is still regarded as virtuous and exemplaryin many parts of South and East Asia.For religious reasons, Muslims and Jews donot eat pork. Historically this is probably due tothe risk of trichinosis, a human disease causedby parasitic worms found in the meat of infectedpigs. Some Christians observe fasting days, andeat fish instead of meat on Fridays. Some devoutCatholics and many deeply religious OrthodoxChristians also fast on Wednesdays. The Orthodoxchurches of East and Southeast Europe and NorthwestAfrica recognize several fasting periods duringthe year. The 35 million followers of the EthiopianTewahedo Orthodox Church observe a vegandiet during the month before Christmas, for the55 days leading up to Easter, 16 days in the summer,and on Wednesdays and Fridays that donot coincide with a feast day – a total of about sixmonths a year. A maximalist interpretation of therules stipulates fasting on 250 days a year. In Europe,religious orders and hermits practised asceticismto dull their worldly desires. However, sinceeggs and milk were permitted they were ovo-lactovegetarians.Inspired by philosophy rather than religion,vegetarianism began in the West in the Mediterraneanregion. The ancient Greek and Roman poetsHesiod, Plato and Ovid mention a vegetarian lifestyleas a feature of the earliest times. The Scythiansof the Eurasian steppes were said to subsistmainly on meat; some said they were cannibals.In the Roman Empire, it was Apollonius of Tyana,in Asia Minor, who spread the idea of renouncingmeat in the 1st century AD. This philosopher, oneof the first vegans, denounced animal sacrifices,and refused to wear leather or fur.Two centuries later, the scholar, Porphyry ofTyre, wrote a special paean to vegetarianism. Inhis essay De Abstinentia (On Abstinence), he rejectsthe consumption of meat: it is unjust to eata sentient animal, and the complex preparationand digestion would distract a frugal philosopherfrom his other tasks. Other great thinkersVegetarians: a growing minority in the west, a major force in IndiaPeople describing themselves as vegetarian or vegan, in percent of the populationUSa4 men7 women2 men and womenEU 2–10men and women, estimatesIndiavegetariansvegans31men and womenGALLUP, NVS, SNSMillions of vegetariansUSaEUIndia1510–5037556MEaT aTlaS