“Are Vegetarians Good Fighters?”: World War I and the Rise of Meatless Patriotism

Abstract

As the USA approached possible involvement in World War I, debates arose in the popular press about American war readiness. While some writers worried about the size and scale of American military capabilities, others debated the state of American masculinity and strength in the face of a potential mass mobilization. Perhaps surprisingly, one group that focused on issues of masculinity, strength, and violence were vegetarians. In the pages of one vegetarian publication, the issue was answered directly. The editorial staff of Physical Culture Magazine responded to a letter from a reader asking if vegetarians were prepared to serve their country during its time of need. The magazine’s answer made an explicit connection between meatless living and the strength needed to win a war. Responding to the onset of war, the magazine emphasized the need for what an editorial labeled “men in brain and body.” The editorial explained that “the manhood” of the USA had been collectively called to reckoning and that the fate of the war would be decided by those “nations that can furnish the best, the most capable, the most courageous men” of strength and health and this group quite clearly included vegetarians.1