Vegetarianism in the Victorian era

Vegetarianism in the Victorian era was the advocacy and practice of meat-free diets in Britain during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). The organised movement coalesced with the founding of the Vegetarian Society in 1847, following earlier religious and medical advocacy; the word "vegetarian" was in print by 1842 and gained wider currency in the late 1840s. Victorian organisations generally defined vegetarianism as abstention from the flesh of animals (fish, flesh, fowl) rather than from all animal products, a usage that often encompassed what is now termed ovo-lacto vegetarianism.

Advocates advanced health, humanitarian, religious and economic arguments through lectures, tracts, periodicals and cookery guidance; vegetarian discussion also intersected with hydropathy and wider health-reform publishing, and found audiences in urban restaurants and self-improvement circles. Press coverage ranged from satirical sketches to descriptive reports of dinners and meetings, and the organised movement remained small relative to the population: by 1899, Britain's vegetarian societies reported almost 7,000 members and associates.