10 Facts About Vegetarianism | UVA Green Dining

10 FACTS About Vegitarianism

LEXICAL Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat and of excluding or limiting that of animal products.

There are many types of dietary vegetarians. For example, the lacto-ovo dietary vegetarian abstains from the consumption of meat and animal products except for dairy and eggs.

HEALTH RELATED A 2009 study conducted by the American Dietetic Association (ADA) concluded that vegetarian diets can be “nutritionally adequate”.

Researchers in 2018 performed a literature review on plant-based diets and concluded that “considerable evidence supports the cardiovascular benefits of healthful plant-based diets.”

SUSTANABLITIY RELATED In 2009, research investigating the linkage between diet and environmental impact found that “a plant-based diet provides a significant water conservation benefit.”

A 2016 research paper on the economic benefits and costs of vegetarianism that was published by the Cambridge University Press concluded that “it is much less costly to produce nutrients (i.e., calories and protein) from some plant-based sources compared to animal-based sources.”

DEMOGRAPHICS

According to a 2018 Gallup poll, about 5% of Americans identify as vegetarian.

People adopt a vegetarian diet for a variety of reasons. They may do so for their health, religious practice, ethical beliefs, and/or sustainability concerns, which may be social, economic, and/or environmental in nature.

HISTORICAL

The North American Vegetarian Society (NAVS) founded World Vegetarian Day in 1977 and the International Vegetarian Union endorsed the holiday in 1978.

Vegetarianism, or the idea of voluntary abstention from the consumption of meat or animal products, has been around for thousands of years in many parts of the world.

Citations

1. What is a Vegetarian | The Vegetarian Society. (2021).

Retrieved 25 September 2021, from https://vegsoc.org/infohub/definition/?pid=508

2. Get the Facts about Vegetarian Diets. (2021). Retrieved 25 September 2021, from https://www.webmd.com/food-

recipes/features/get-the-facts-about-vegetarian-diets

3. Craig, W. J., Mangels, A. R., & American Dietetic Association (2009). Position of the American Dietetic Association:

vegetarian diets. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 109(7), 1266–1282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2009.05.027

4. Satija, A., & Hu, F. B. (2018). Plant-based diets and

cardiovascular health. Trends in cardiovascular medicine, 28(7), 437–441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tcm.2018.02.004

5. Harold J Marlow, William K Hayes, Samuel Soret, Ronald L Carter, Ernest R Schwab, Joan Sabaté, Diet and the

environment: does what you eat matter?, The American

Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 89, Issue 5, May 2009,

Pages 1699S–1703S, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2009.26736Z

6. Lusk, J., & Norwood, F. (2009). Some Economic Benefits and

Costs of Vegetarianism. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 38(2), 109-124. doi:10.1017/S1068280500003142

7. Gallup, I. (2021). What Percentage of Americans Are Vegetarian?. Retrieved 25 September 2021, from

https://news.gallup.com/poll/267074/percentageamericans-vegetarian.aspx

8. Becoming a vegetarian - Harvard Health. (2021). Retrieved 25 September 2021, from

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/becominga-vegetarian

9. Home - World Vegetarian Day. (2021). Retrieved 25 September 2021, from https://worldvegetarianday.navs-online.org/

10. World History of Vegetarianism | The Vegetarian Society.

(2021). Retrieved 25 September 2021, from

https://vegsoc.org/about-us/world-history-ofvegetarianism/