Vegetarian Utopia

Conclusion

The vegetarianism that was practiced in the 19th century is different from that of today because by-and-large animal welfare, economics, and environmental concerns were secondary reasons for the plant-based diet, if considered at all. Protestantism, health, and ethical discipline were more widely considered, and this wave of American history created a new brand of moralism that encouraged the formation of these virtuous colonies well into the 1900s. But, as this book has demonstrated, the insistence on dietary restriction ultimately restricted the colonies.

Later colonies were built throughout the West,  especially in the Plains and Front Range area of Colorado. While these communities still focused on morality, individual equality, abolitionism, temperance, etc., they did not restrict the diet of their citizens to a meatless existence. It is hard to challenge the meat eating majority culture, and many of these idealists came to realize this. Many proponents of the diet abandoned it for the convenience and tradition of meat eating.

Regardless of these obstacles to a diet, each of the men and women thinkers involved in the movement created unique strands of moral liberalism that outlasted the vegetarianism they held most dear. This video describes precisely why these ideas failed. 

The rest of Louisa May Alcott's quote from the Introduction supports this feeling:

"The world was not ready for Utopia yet, and those who attempted to found it only got laughed at for their pains.”

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