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Plant-Based Diets and Scientific Value Judgments

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Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics

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Synonyms

Ethics; Nutrition; Philosophy; Plant-based diet; Value judgments; Vegan diet; Vegetarian diet

Introduction

Diets containing animal products predominate in the developed world. Fewer than 10 % of persons in the USA follow a vegetarian-inclined diet; fewer than 3 % are strict vegetarians who consume no meat, poultry, or fish; and less than 1 % are vegans who consume no animal products (Vegetarian Times 2008). Furthermore, diets in the developed world are often characterized by heavy consumption of animal products– up to 250 pounds annually (Daniel et al. 2011). As the developing world industrializes, industrial animal agriculture is expanding, and dietary patterns are shifting towards the heavy consumption of animal products characteristic of the West (Delgado 2003). Despite these facts, the consumption of animal products has become the object of much moral scrutiny over the past few decades, because of animal welfare concerns, environmental concerns, public health concerns,...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Health and Prevention, Drexel University School of Public Health, 3215 Market Street 4th Floor, MS 457, 19102, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Prof. John Rossi

  2. HJF-Division of AIDS, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, 6700A Rockledge Drive Suite 200, 20817, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Samual Garner M. Bioethics

Authors
  1. Prof. John Rossi
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  2. Samual Garner M. Bioethics
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to John Rossi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Michigan State University Dept. Philosophy, East Lansing, Michigan, USA

    Paul B. Thompson

  2. University of North Texas Dept. Philosophy & Religion Studies, Denton, Texas, USA

    David M. Kaplan

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Rossi, J., Garner, S. (2013). Plant-Based Diets and Scientific Value Judgments. In: Thompson, P., Kaplan, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6167-4_312-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6167-4_312-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6167-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities

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