# predominately vegitarian countries

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predominately-vegitarian-countries/119945>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 20, 2002, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predominately-vegitarian-countries/119945 "2002-07-20T06:10:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tumafish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@tumafish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumafish)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predominately-vegitarian-countries/119945/1 "2002-07-20T06:10:52Z")

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i just read about a 19 million pound recall of beef and i am so upset. i know humans are omnivores, but i have chosen to be a herbivore because it makes me happy. i want to find a place to live in this world where a majority of the society is vegitarian.

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**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predominately-vegitarian-countries/119945/2 "2002-07-20T09:18:54Z")

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To be honest, I think your best bet will be in North America, Australia/NZ or Western Europe. While there are many countries where the average diet is fairly low in meat, in most of those cases it is not because of any lifestyle choice, but because meat is (or traditionally was) too expensive to be the average family’s daily main dish. Other than a few religious ascetics, I don’t think there are too many people in these countries who routinely refuse to eat any meat when its available.

Ironically, it can actually be more difficult to lead a strict vegan life in one of these countries than in the U.S. Since meat is considered to be somewhat of a luxury, almost every dish will be made with at least a little bit of it somewhere: soup stocks made with fish or pork, rice dishes with small bits of egg or chopped beef and mutton mixed with lots of veggies, etc. You’ll probably eat far less meat than the average American, but you probably won’t be able to go vegan unless you cook everything yourself, which you could do just as easily in Baltimore.

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predominately-vegitarian-countries/119945/3 "2002-07-20T10:35:58Z")

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India is the Mecca for veg **e** tarians.

There is no place I’d rather be. Take me back to India!