Spory o wegetarianizm w wieku XIX. Ideowe i materialne podstawy diety bezmięsnej
Disputes over Vegetarianism in the 19th Century. The Ideological and Material Foundations of a Meatless Diet

Summary/Abstract: The world’s first Vegetarian Society was foundedin 1847 in England. Its founding declarationstated that members could not eat “flesh, fowl orfish”. As for eggs, milk, cheese, butter and honey,members were left free to choose. It was also upto their discretion whether to use alcohol, tobacco,stimulants such as coffee or tea, or clothingand materials of animal origin. This wide-rangingapproach allowed for the inclusion of vegetariansof various kinds, but inevitably also led tocontroversy and disputes about what it actuallymeant to be a vegetarian. At the end of the 19thcentury these internal ideological conflicts intensifieddue to the appearance of new productsthat were “purely” plant-based – substitutes formilk, meat and leather – all of which extendedthe options for a vegan lifestyle. This articlediscusses both the ideological and the materialdimensions behind the emergence and the developmentof the vegetarian movement in the secondhalf of the 19th century, and traces the birthof 20th-century veganism.

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