Editing Vegetarianism (section)

===Christianity===
{{Main|Christian vegetarianism}}

Various groups within Christianity have practiced specific dietary restrictions for various reasons.<ref name=Vatican>{{cite web|title=Code of Canon Law|publisher=vatican.va|access-date=July 28, 2013|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_P4O.HTM#37|archive-date=November 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129223503/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_P4O.HTM#37|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Council of Jerusalem]] in around 50 AD, recommended Christians keep following some of the Jewish food laws concerning meat. The early sect known as the [[Ebionites]] are considered to have practiced vegetarianism. Surviving fragments from their [[Gospel of the Ebionites#Vegetarianism|Gospel]] indicate their belief that – as Christ is the Passover sacrifice and eating the Passover lamb is no longer required – a vegetarian diet may (or should) be observed. However, orthodox Christianity does not accept their teaching as authentic. Indeed, their specific injunction to strict vegetarianism was cited as one of the Ebionites' "errors".<ref>Epiphanius, ''Panarion'', 30.22.4</ref><ref>Isidore of Seville, ''Etymologies'', VIII.v.36</ref>

At a much later time, the [[Bible Christian Church (vegetarian)|Bible Christian Church]] founded by Reverend [[William Cowherd]] in 1809 followed a vegetarian diet.<ref name=desc>{{cite web|url=http://www.ivu.org/history/thesis/bible-christian.html|title=The Bible Christian Church|publisher=International Vegetarian Union|access-date=January 23, 2012|archive-date=May 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505020050/http://www.ivu.org/history/thesis/bible-christian.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Cowherd was one of the philosophical forerunners of the [[Vegetarian Society]].<ref name=history>{{cite web|url=http://www.vegsoc.org/page.aspx?pid=827|title=History of Vegetarianism – Early Ideas|publisher=The Vegetarian Society|access-date=July 8, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716205137/http://www.vegsoc.org/page.aspx?pid=827|archive-date=July 16, 2012|url-status=dead}}; Gregory, James (2007) ''Of Victorians and Vegetarians''. London: I. B. Tauris pp.&nbsp;30–35.</ref> Cowherd encouraged members to abstain from eating of meat as a form of [[Temperance (virtue)|temperance]].<ref name=oxford>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101006496/|title=William Cowherd (brief information)|publisher=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|access-date=July 8, 2008|archive-date=March 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331022711/http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101006496/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Seventh-day Adventist Church|Seventh-day Adventists]] are encouraged to engage in healthy eating practices, and lacto-ovo-vegetarian diets are recommended by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Nutrition Council (GCNC). They have also sponsored and participated in many scientific studies exploring the impact of dietary decisions upon health outcomes.<ref name=sdada1>{{cite web |url=http://www.sdada.org/position.htm |title=Position Statement on Vegetarian Diet |publisher=Sdada.org |access-date=September 12, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120529062331/http://sdada.org/position.htm}}</ref> The GCNC has in addition adapted the [[United States Department of Agriculture|USDA]]'s [[Food guide pyramid#USDA food pyramid|food pyramid]] for a vegetarian dietary approach.<ref name=sdada1/><ref>{{cite web |title=The Vegetarian Food Pyramid |url=http://www.sdada.org/Pyramid-Vegetarian-01.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513033958/http://www.sdada.org/Pyramid-Vegetarian-01.jpg|archive-date=May 13, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> However, the only kinds of meat specifically frowned upon by the SDA health message are [[unclean animals|unclean meats]], or those forbidden in scripture.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sdada.org/sdahealth.htm |title=The Seventh-day Adventist Health Message |publisher=Sdada.org |access-date=November 28, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 13, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513031730/http://www.sdada.org/sdahealth.htm}}</ref>

Additionally, some [[monastic orders]] follow a [[pescatarian]] diet, and members of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] follow a vegan diet during fasts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/pr_fasting.aspx |title=Living an Orthodox Life: Fasting |publisher=Orthodoxinfo.com |date=May 27, 1997 |access-date=February 3, 2010 |archive-date=September 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100925050218/http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/pr_fasting.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> There is also a strong association between the [[Quakers]] and vegetarianism dating back at least to the 18th century. The association grew in prominence during the 19th century, coupled with growing Quaker concerns in connection with alcohol consumption, anti-vivisection and social purity. The association between the Quaker tradition and vegetarianism, however, becomes most significant with the founding of the Friends' Vegetarian Society in 1902 "to spread a kindlier way of living amongst the Society of Friends."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ivu.org/history/thesis/quakers.html |title=The Great War and the Interwar Period |publisher=ivu.org |access-date=August 14, 2009 |archive-date=February 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217224500/http://ivu.org/history/thesis/quakers.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Seventh-day Adventist====
[[File:San health food.jpg|thumb|right|[[Sanitarium Health Food Company|Sanitarium]] products for sale]]The [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]] is well known for presenting a health message that recommends [[Christian vegetarianism|vegetarianism]] and expects adherence to the [[Kashrut|kosher]] laws in Leviticus 11. Obedience to these laws means abstinence from pork, shellfish, and other animals proscribed as "[[unclean animals|unclean]]". The church discourages its members from consuming [[alcoholic beverage]]s, [[tobacco]] or illegal drugs (compare [[Christianity and alcohol]]). In addition, some Adventists avoid [[coffee]], [[tea]], [[cola]], and other beverages containing [[caffeine]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

The pioneers of the Adventist Church had much to do with the common acceptance of [[breakfast cereal]]s into the Western diet, and the "modern commercial concept of cereal food" originated among Adventists.<ref>{{cite web |title=breakfast cereal |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/78499/breakfast-cereal |website=Britannica.com |access-date=July 16, 2016 |archive-date=April 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403134921/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/78499/breakfast-cereal |url-status=live }}<!-- need to replace this with a secondary (not tertiary) source, and remove the quotation--></ref> [[John Harvey Kellogg]] was one of the early founders of Adventist health work. His development of breakfast cereals as a health food led to the founding of [[Kellogg Company|Kellogg's]] by his brother [[William K. Kellogg|William]]. In both [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]], the church-owned [[Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company]] is a leading manufacturer of health and vegetarian-related products, most prominently [[Weet-Bix]]. Kellogg encouraged his students [[Daniel H. Kress]] and [[Lauretta E. Kress]] to study medicine together at the [[University of Michigan Medical School]] and become public advocates of vegetarianism; together they published an important vegetarian cookbook and became early founders of what was later [[Washington Adventist Hospital]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kress |first1=Daniel |last2=Kress |first2=Loretta |title=Under the Guiding Hand: Life Experiences of the Doctors Kress |date=1932 |publisher=College Press |location=Washington, DC}}</ref>

Research funded by the U.S. [[National Institutes of Health]] has shown that the average Adventist in [[California]] lives 4 to 10 years longer than the average Californian. [[Adventist Health Studies|The research]], as cited by the cover story of the November 2005 issue of ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]'', asserts that Adventists live longer because they do not smoke or drink alcohol, have a day of rest every week, and maintain a healthy, low-fat vegetarian diet that is rich in nuts and beans.<ref>{{cite magazine
| url = http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=anh&an=18574682
| last = Buettner
| first = Dan
| title = The Secrets of Long Life
| magazine = [[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]
| date = November 16, 2005
| volume = 208
| issue = 5
| pages = 2–27
| issn = 0027-9358
| access-date = June 6, 2006
| archive-date = November 30, 2020
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201130165751/http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=anh&an=18574682
| url-status = live
}} [http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0511/feature1/index.html Excerpt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071116202303/http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0511/feature1/index.html |date=November 16, 2007 }}. See also ''National Geographic'', "[http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0511/sights_n_sounds/index.html Sights & Sounds of Longevity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722215402/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0511/sights_n_sounds/index.html |date=July 22, 2016 }}"</ref> The cohesiveness of Adventists' social networks has also been put forward as an explanation for their extended lifespan.<ref>{{cite news
| first = Gina
| last = Kolata
| title = A Surprising Secret to a Long Life: Stay in School
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/03/health/03aging.html
| work = The New York Times
| date = January 3, 2007
| access-date = February 20, 2017
| archive-date = May 17, 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170517110147/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/03/health/03aging.html
| url-status = live
}}</ref>
Since [[Dan Buettner]]'s 2005 ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]'' story about Adventist longevity, his book, ''The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest'', named [[Loma Linda, California]], a "[[Blue Zone|blue zone]]" because of the large concentration of Seventh-day Adventists. He cites the Adventist emphasis on health, diet, and Sabbath-keeping as primary factors for Adventist longevity.<ref>{{cite web|author=Elizabeth Lechleitner|date=May 27, 2008 |title=Researcher says California Adventists are America's 'Blue Zone'|website=Adventist News Network |url=http://news.adventist.org/data/2008/1211899368/index.html.en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225110752/http://news.adventist.org/data/2008/1211899368/index.html.en |archive-date=February 25, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>

An estimated 35% of Adventists practice vegetarianism or [[veganism]], according to a 2002 worldwide survey of local church leaders.<ref>"[http://www.adventist.org/world_church/official_meetings/2002annualcouncil/strategic-issues-report.pdf Three Strategic Issues: A World Survey]". [[General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists]], 2002. See question 26, on page 14 etc. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202185642/http://www.adventist.org/world_church/official_meetings/2002annualcouncil/strategic-issues-report.pdf |date=December 2, 2008 }}</ref><ref>See also "The Myth of Vegetarianism" Keith Lockhart. ''Spectrum'' 34 (Winter 2006), p22–27</ref> North American Adventist health study recruitments from 2001 to 2007 found a similar prevalence of vegetarianism/veganism. A small majority of Adventists, 54%, were conventional meat-eaters. Of the remaining 46% it was found that 28% were [[Ovo vegetarianism|Ovo]]/[[Lacto vegetarianism|Lacto]]-[[Lacto-ovo vegetarianism|vegetarians]], 10% were [[Pescetarianism|Pesco-vegetarians]] and 8% were vegans. It is common for Adventists who choose to eat meat to also eat plant-based foods; 6% of the "meat-eaters" group restricted their intake of meat/fish to no more than once per week.<ref>{{cite web|title=Adventist Health Study-2 {{!}} Adventist Health Study|url=https://adventisthealthstudy.org/studies/AHS-2|access-date=January 5, 2021|website=adventisthealthstudy.org|archive-date=January 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107145925/https://adventisthealthstudy.org/studies/AHS-2|url-status=live}}</ref>