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The History of Greco-Roman Vegetarianism (2010)

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Re: The History of Greco-Roman Vegetarianism (2010)

#21

> only the wealthiest citizens could afford to eat large amounts of meat on a regular basis Same thing in modern day Germany. My dad told me that until the 1950s, most families in Bavaria could not afford meat, or only had it a few times a year. This must have changed when people became wealthier (and meat cheaper) from the 1960s. Still, it’s astounding that Bavarian food is mainly associated with heavy meat dishes l…

That was a large portion of the western world until the late 20th century. It was common for people to commonly eat offal (hearts, kidneys, livers etc.) in New Zealand until the around 80s because it was more affordable than meat. As a student, I rediscovered the traditional offal recipes and saved a lot of money by eating hearts and livers instead of steaks. I think that a lot of "traditional" foods are the foods th…

My pet hypothesis is that as people got wealthier, the special-occasions meals became more affordable more often. Since these are the foods people preferred, instead of the cheap stuff that they thought of as the food of poverty, these are the foods to which cultural significance got attached.

Few people look back fondly on the foods they ate daily because it was the only stuff available.

Re: The History of Greco-Roman Vegetarianism (2010)

#22
I find it interesting to read various vegetarian-related quotes. One begins to see how much a part of the history of human thought it really is. Here's a collection I found with a quick search: http://notable-quotes.com/v/vegetarianism_quotes.html

I was pleasantly surprised by some of the names I came across - Leo Tolstoy, for instance.

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