An economic vegetarian is a person who practices vegetarianism from either the philosophical viewpoint that the consumption of meat is expensive, part of a conscious simple living strategy or just because of necessity. Vegetarianism is the practice of not eating meat, including beef, poultry, fish, or their by-products, with or without the use of dairy products or eggs. ... Simple living (similar but not identical to voluntary simplicity or voluntary poverty) is a lifestyle individuals may pursue for a variety of motivations, such as spirituality, health, or ecology. ...

Economic vegetarians believe that nutrition can be acquired more efficiently and at a lower price through vegetables, grains, etc., rather than from meat. They argue that 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 animal flesh. Consequently, they consider the production of meat economically unsound. Vitamins are organic chemicals that a given living organism requires in trace quantities for good health, but which the organism cannot synthesize, and therefore must obtain from its diet. ... Dietary fibers are the indigestible portion of plant foods that move food through the digestive system and absorb water. ... Carbohydrates (literally hydrates of carbon) are chemical compounds that act as the primary biological means of storing or consuming energy, other forms being fat and protein. ... There are different forms of heart disease: Coronary heart disease Ischaemic heart disease Cardiovascular disease Pulmonary heart disease The study of the heart (and diseases of the heart) is Cardiology. ... Infection is also the title of an episode of the television series Babylon 5; see Infection (Babylon 5). ...

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. Also in developing countries people sometimes follow a mainly vegetarian diet simply 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 students or low income households in the Western world. However since the price of meat has dropped in recent years due to intensive farming and increased competition, plus overall affluence has risen, the percentage of people in the West who are now vegetarian through forced necessity is now relatively low. Combatants Allies: • Poland, • UK & Commonwealth, • France/Free France, • Soviet Union, • USA, • China, ...and others• Axis: • Germany, • Italy, • Japan, • ...and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total: 50 million Full list Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total: 12 million Full list World War II... // Preface At the beginning of World War II the United Kingdom imported 55 million tons of foodstuffs per year, including more than 50% of its meat, 70% of its cheese and sugar, nearly 80% of fruits and about 90% of cereals and fats. ... A typical allotment plot, Essex, United Kingdom, an allotment is a small area of land, let out at a nominal yearly rent by local government or independent allotment associations, for individuals to grow their own food. ... Coloured world map indicating Human Development Index (as of 2003). ...

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 and cloned meat. Synthetic or artificial meat may refer to: Imitation meat products, such as textured vegetable protein (TVP) In-vitro meat This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of an original. ...

Economic vegetarians frequently contrast themselves with mainstream vegetarians, most of whom abstain from animal products on religious or ethical grounds.

See also

• Environmental vegetarianism
• Simple living
• Sustainable living
• Vegetarianism

Rapeseed fields in Northamptonshire, England. ... Simple living (similar but not identical to voluntary simplicity or voluntary poverty) is a lifestyle individuals may pursue for a variety of motivations, such as spirituality, health, or ecology. ... Sustainable living might best be defined as a lifestyle that could, hypothetically, be sustained unmodified for many generations without exhausting any natural resources. ... Vegetarianism is the practice of not eating meat, including beef, poultry, fish, or their by-products, with or without the use of dairy products or eggs. ...

External links

• Eco-Eating: Eating as if the Earth Matters