History Main / Veganopia

Peaceful, idyllic societies have a tendency to be vegetarian (if not vegan) in fiction. As often as not, these societies are portrayed as being morally, perhaps even spiritually/magically superior to our own, implying that humanity's meat-eating habit is somehow holding us back from living in a world of CrystalSpiresAndTogas. Sometimes it can be downright {{Anvilicious}}.

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** The most widely consumed food in the world is rice, given the large populations of Asian countries.

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* The peaceful Eloi in HGWells's ''TheTimeMachine'' were vegans. (However, they weren't especially bright.) They didn't have much of a choice though, since all other animals were (at least locally) extinct by then. Not to mention that the [[IAmAHumanitarian Morlocks]] treat them as cattle.

* Technology similar to the [[DesignerBabies uterine replicators]] in Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' allows people to create "vat protein" with no animals being harmed. No one is a true vegan, but when forced to eat meat from a real animal, Cordelia is distinctly uncomfortable. How "vegan" this situation is proves debatable in ''Ethan of Athos'', where the reader is shown just where the protein in those vats comes from when the characters use the animal protein reclamation system to [[ImAHumanitarian covertly dispose of a dead body.]]

* The Kindar in the ''GreenSkyTrilogy''. Justified somewhat by the fact their social structure was engineered since day one to make violence of any kind unthinkable. Their Erdling brethren are omnivores, mostly because their underground-dwelling condition isn't conducive to harvesting and agriculture. This also features as a [[GeniusProgramming game mechanic]] in the video game adaptation; Kindar take a hit to their spirit stat if they eat meat while Erdlings are unaffected.

* Given the rising human population, many scientists are predicting that the world will have to drastically if not totally reduce the amount of meat produced due to it being an extremely inefficient way of producing food in terms of land and energy requirements. Of course, this seems more like a dystopian scenario than a utopian one.
** Feeding grains to cows is inefficient. Letting them graze grass, especially in unarable areas (most of the world), is efficient.

Probably stems from the issues raised by CarnivoreConfusion and LetsMeetTheMeat. See also MarySuetopia and PerfectPacifistPeople.

* In Creator/AnneMcCaffrey's ''Dinosaur Planet'', vegetarianism is legally mandated by TheFederation, to such a strict degree that omnivorous species must unanimously swear off meat or be kicked out of the [=FSP=]. "Reversion" to hunting for meat is portrayed as a heinous crime, and leads to mutiny when the heavyworlders indulge in this forbidden practice.

* Jack Vance maliciously subverts this in ''The Book of Dreams'' by describing a world in which a colony of fanatical human vegetarians degenerated into mindless grazing animals.

* Being ponies, it makes sense that the ponies (and for some reason, ''dragon'') in the ''MyLittlePony'' series[[note]]All four generations[[/note]] are all primarily vegetarians, though they do seem to enjoy dairy (chocolate milk) and eggs.

* The advanced alien race on ''Film/{{K-PAX}}'' are vegetarians.

* The leading civilization on the titular planet in ''{{K-PAX}}'' is described as this by prōt, the mental patient very convincingly claiming to be a visitor from said planet.

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* Possibly the case with Aquator, the planet where the Alien Rangers (a mostly-aquatic species) come from on ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers''. They express horror when they discover that humans eat fish, clearly considering that a taboo.

* Subverted by the Quarians of ''Franchise/MassEffect''. Quarians are stated to be naturally omnivorous, but subsist on a vegan diet. They live on a fleet, and raising animals for food is less than optimally space- and energy-efficient. The quarians are not exactly a ProudWarriorRace, but live in a state of perpetual martial law, and their entire society is geared towards the day when they can reconquer their homeworld. As a result, quarians who ''can'' get their hands on meat will gorge themselves. Their severely weakened immune systems (due to generations of life in sterile environments) will promptly rebel, but quarians just don't care about that.

* Along vaguely similar lines, eating meat (or at least beef) is illegal in the near-future world of ''SeaQuestDSV'', it seems, because the ecologically-minded folks of the late 2020s did not like the atmospheric implications of keeping large numbers of cows around.

** Beren is specifically said to have given up meat because of the aid animals gave him during his adventures. The Laiquendi or 'Green Elves' also seem to be vegetarian but the Noldor and Sindar most certainly are ''not'' as hunting is a favoured pastime and the Valar include Orome, a huntsman.

* Subverted by the Quarians of ''MassEffect''. Quarians are stated to be naturally omnivorous, but subsist on a vegan diet. The Quarians live on a fleet, and raising animals for food is less than optimally space- and energy-efficient. The Quarians are not exactly a ProudWarriorRace, but live in a state of perpetual martial law, and their entire society is geared towards the day when they can reconquer their homeworld.
** As a result, Quarians who ''can'' get their hands on meat will gorge themselves. Their severely weakened immune systems (due to generations of life in sterile environments) will promptly rebel, but Quarians just don't care about that.

* It is suggested that the Air Nomads in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' were vegetarians[[hottip:*:Though not vegan, as they do eat egg]], due to the belief that all life is sacred.
* Being ponies, it makes sense that the ponies (and for some reason, ''dragon'') in the ''MyLittlePony'' series[[hottip:*:All four generations]] are all primarily vegetarians, though they do seem to enjoy dairy (chocolate milk) and eggs.

Probably stems from the issues raised by CarnivoreConfusion and LetsMeetTheMeat. See also MarySueTopia and PerfectPacifistPeople.

* Some Christian sects believe the [[Literature/TheBible Garden of Eden]] was like this prior to the apple incident. Some believe that a post-Armageddon world would be the same.

* Eternia is a Veganopia in the ''Film/MastersOfTheUniverse'' movie, and has apparently been that way for a very long time, to the point that Teela doesn't realize that the ribs she eats after coming to Earth are actually meat. When Man-At-Arms informs her of this fact, she's suitably disgusted. On the other hand, he doesn't seem to mind.
** He's a veteran of several wars and has probbably eaten far worse to survive.

* Parodied by FrankMiller in ''Tales to Offend'' #1 where a woman from a typical Veganopia is rescued from a rampaging dinosaur by 'real man' Lance Blastoff. She starts to berate Lance for his unenlightened ways but is overwhlemed by the smell of the roasting dinosaur and immediately begins gorging herself on the freshly killed and cooked meat.
* TheSmurfs are portrayed mostly as vegetarians, though sometimes they will be shown eating meat-based products. However, where they get the meat is anybody's guess.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} TranshumanSpace'', "fauxflesh" has led to the EuropeanUnion becoming a slight Veganopia. The absence of "fauxfish" means that there's still aggressive aquaculture, though.

* The advanced alien race on ''Film/K-PAX'' are vegetarians.