History Main / MeatVersusVeggies

Compare and contrast SillyReasonForWar, Literature/TheButterBattleBook (where a fight over dietary questions can and does ''really'' escalate).

When their philosophies on food come together, [[HilarityEnsues expect them to clash]]. Bob thinks Simon is eating FakeFood, and that [[StrawVegetarian he just needs to try meat once to appreciate how good it tastes]]; Simon is [[{{Squick}} squicked out]] by Bob's dietary choice and thinks he'll suffer DeathByGluttony for his obsession with meat.

* ''Literature/BabySittersClub'': Dawn and her family were vegetarians (though this [[DependingOnTheWriter varies from book to book]]; sometimes they simply avoided red meat, and sometimes they, especially Dawn, were devout vegetarians). This was especially played up after Dawn's mother married Mary Anne's father, with three vegetarians and two meat-eaters in the same house having to make peace with one another's diets.

* Played with during Grant Morrison's run on ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' in the 1980s, in which Animal Man's connection to animal life gradually made him decide to become vegetarian... which in turn caused friction with his wife when she came home to find him emptying the refrigerator of all meat products. In this case, the problem wasn't so much that he'd decided to become vegetarian as much as the fact that he'd made the unilateral decision for his family without consulting them or her, and his high-handed and self-righteous response when confronted about this didn't help either. Later taken to meta-levels in later issues when Animal Man came into contact with Grant Morrison himself, who admitted that he'd been using Animal Man as a vehicle to [[AuthorTract persuade people to accept his real-life views]].

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' has a minor moment of this, when Team Avatar arrives to the Fire Nation: Sokka is overjoyed to eat meat at last, while Aang gets a little sick thinking about eating meat, and decides to stick with the veggies. In general, the Water Nation had meat as a major part of their diet (being from a part of the world where food was scarce), and the Air Nation was a vegetarian society being a race full of [[FriendToAllLivingThings Friends To All Living Things]] (doubly so for Aang, being the Avatar). But since the Gaang are TrueCompanions, Aang, Katara, and Sokka get along fine.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'', Bubbles was sort of an odd case, at least continuity-wise. She claimed to be a vegetarian in some early episodes (being a FriendToAllLivingThings, it made sense) and actually, no-one in-universe objected to it. In some other episodes, however, she seemed to abandon this philosophy entirely, having no problem with the Professor's sloppy joes. (Most likely, this was a case where it was DependingOnTheWriter.)

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[[quoteright:299:[[WesternAnimation/PeaceOnEarth https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/meatvegewar_9.png]]]]
[-[[caption-width-right:299:Meanwhile, all the omnivores have moved to Switzerland.]]-]

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[[folder:Comics]]
* Played with during Grant Morrison's run on ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' in the 1980s, in which Animal Man's connection to animal life gradually made him decide to become vegetarian... which in turn caused friction with his wife when she came home to find him emptying the refrigerator of all meat products. In this case, the problem wasn't so much that he'd decided to become vegetarian as much as the fact that he'd made the unilateral decision for his family without consulting them or her, and his high-handed and self-righteous response when confronted about this didn't help either. Later taken to meta-levels in later issues when Animal Man came into contact with Grant Morrison himself, who admitted that he'd been using Animal Man as a vehicle to [[AuthorTract persuade people to accept his real-life views]].

* ''Fanfic/KitsuneNoKenFistOfTheFox'': Minor characters Sagi and Guren have this dynamic with each other; Sagi's the meat-eater and Guren is the vegetarian. During their first meeting, they're able to articulate their respective points clearly, calmly and respectfully, and the difference of opinion doesn't keep them from becoming a couple later on.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

* Phoebe Buffay of ''Series/{{Friends}}'' is an odd case, as she flits between being a strict vegetarian by virtue of being an animal-rights supporter, and eating meat as part of HypocriticalHumor. The trope is played straight in one episode, however, when she gives in to the pressure to impress her boyfriend's parents and eats some veal, and is later sick because of it.
** Another episode has her horrified when, while acting as a surrogate for her brother and his wife, she starts to crave meat. [[Heartwarming/{{Friends}} Her friend Joey vows to take up vegetarianism during Phoebe's pregnancy to balance it out]].

* ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'' is every bit of a {{Jerkass}} toward Darlene and her boyfriend David because they're both vegetarians.
--> '''Roseanne:''' ''(introducing them when they're camera-shy)'' They're vegetarians. They don't have the strength to hold their heads up.
** On another occasion, she delivers this line to David (who had been brainwashed by a Disneyland-esque cult):
---> '''Roseanne:''' Listen to me, David! RABBITS AND GEESE AND GOATS ARE NOT PEOPLE!! THEY DON'T SING AND DANCE!! [[LargeHam THEY'RE FOOOOOOD!]]
** Darlene was little better; she not only refused to shut up about her vegetarian status and was every bit as much of a Jerkass as her mom, but at one point actually vandalized her family's diner specialising in [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tavern_sandwich loose meat sandwiches]]. Given that diner was her impoverished family's only source of income at the time, this was a pretty selfish and stupid move.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries:'' Mr. Spock is a vegetarian, and is extremely displeased with himself when he eats meat in an out-of-character moment in the episode "All Our Yesterdays":
--> '''Spock:''' Please pay no attention. I'm not myself. I'm behaving disgracefully. I have eaten animal flesh and I've enjoyed it. What's wrong with me?
** In ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', there is a sect of Vulcans that rely on both emotion and logic in balance, and they have no qualms about eating meat.
** The Klingons, the Vulcans' main competitor for the primary alien race in the franchise, seem to eat meat almost exclusively. Most of it is still raw, with some dishes still ''moving''.
* Creator/GordonRamsay once tricked a vegetarian into eating meat in one of his cooking shows. Needless to say the vegetarian wasn't pleased.
* In ''Series/{{Leonardo}}'', JerkJock Michelangelo makes fun of Leo for being vegetarian, and suggests the birds he frees should be "released" into a cooking pot.

* Downplayed on ''Series/MythBusters''; for the most part, the members of the Build Team respect each others' dietary choices (Kari is vegetarian, while Grant and Tory are not). However, the producers of the show do deliberately send Kari to pick up meat products from the butcher (because [[{{Squick}} her reactions]] make for [[RuleOfFunny good TV]]), and Tory and Grant aren't above teasing her about it themselves.
* In ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'', it's Carnivores versus Herbivores. Earl and Fran reacted to finding broccoli hidden in Robbie's room like they had found some illicit drug.
* In one episode of ''Series/LivingSingle'', Regine becomes a [[StrawVegetarian vegetarian]] and attempts to force her roommates to follow suit by throwing out all the meat in the apartment. The roommates counter this by throwing out all her veggies and having a huge meat-only BBQ in the backyard. [[spoiler:This backfires on everyone, however when Regine snaps and demands everyone's meat products for herself]].
* The ([[RecycledScript first]]) ''Series/DoctorWho'' Strax Field Report on each incarnation of the Doctor reveals that Strax considers the Fifth Doctor's 'vegetarian diet' to be the cause of his [[ReluctantWarrior lack of warrior constitution]].
* On an episode of ''Series/{{QI}}'', Stephen Fry asked why people who do not eat meat are called vegetarians. Jeremy Clarkson's response was "So they can be identified as fools and madmen!". Clarkson also wanted to put vegetarians into ''Series/{{Room 101}}''.
* In addition to all of Georg's other [[PointyHairedBoss authoritarian neuroses]] in ''Series/{{Naeturvaktin}}'', he is a batshit insane gluten-free vegetarian who abuses his position as petrol station shopkeeper to peddle homebaked spelt bread to customers coming in for hotdogs.
* ''Series/LawAndOrder'': Detective [[StealthPun Green]] is a vegetarian, for which his partner Briscoe has a lot of fun at his expense. Although that's as much about Briscoe being the all-time DeadpanSnarker of the series as it is about the actual merits of a particular diet.
* During the San Francisco season of ''Series/TheRealWorld'' replacement roommate Jo is vegan. During a Hawaiian luau she becomes very upset when the chef allows butter to touch her vegetables. At the same dinner she learns she's eaten some salad that has meat in it and induces vomiting on the beach.
* This caused a confrontation on ''Series/ComeDineWithMe'' when a rather insensitive carnivore host decided to serve meat-based dishes ''anyway'', reasoning a vegetarian guest should stop being so bloody precious about it and eat like a normal person, and that he wasn't going to make any allowances for a "fad diet". This did not end well.
* In ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'', Ron is a staunch meat eater to the point of disgust at fruit and vegetables, and he considers fish meat "practically a vegetable". Chris is a health nut who does eat meat, but is so fixated on vegetables he acts as a stand-in StrawVegetarian. The two tend to butt heads when it comes to food and in one episode have a burger cook-off: everyone thinks Chris' fancy veggie burger is delicious, but ''even Chris'' admits that Ron's plain beefburger is the winner.
* On ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', Earl and Randy stay at a hippie commune for a week, in order to make up for stealing all the property of a former stoner who now lives there. The members of the commune raise goats for milk and wool, and cows for milk and manure (to fertilize the crops and to build their houses), but they don't eat meat. They all come together to share food, a lot of which is glorified salad (perhaps made to look like a burrito or a slice of pizza), or maybe something like "beet loaf." Earl is okay with the food, but Randy has a hard time adjusting to it.
--> '''Randy''': I need. To eat. An animal!
* ''Series/AmericasNextTopModel'' cycle 8 had a photoshoot of various opposing political concepts (pro- and anti-gun, pro- and anti-fur, etc.), amongst them being a meat eater and a vegetarian. Unfortunately, both photos were considered some of the weakest amongst the panel.

* ''Elizabeth Costello'': The eponymous character's vegetarianism is just one of the many issues she has to contend with in the world she lives in.

* In the ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' audio "The Holy Terror", Frobisher (a [[VoluntaryShapeshifter shapeshifter]] who uses a penguin body) is introduced playing with an alien fish, tormenting it before he eats it. The Sixth Doctor, a vegetarian, catches him doing this and is appalled, telling Frobisher that what he's doing is unnecessarily cruel and that there's a whole room on the TARDIS full of canned tuna if he's hungry. Frobisher snaps back that the need to do this is part of his nature as a penguin, and it's not ''his'' fault the Doctor prefers salad. Then the Doctor finds out that the fish isn't even a real fish -- it's created artificially by the TARDIS, and Frobisher's bullying of it has caused the TARDIS itself to go on strike.
* On Carolyn and Hercules's first NotADate in the ''Radio/CabinPressure'' episode "Ottery-St-Mary", Herc orders a salad and an aubergine risotto, and Carolyn's reaction is "But they have real food here!" When he explains he's vegetarian, she calls his reasons childish, and then pointedly orders the rack of lamb and the whitebait platter ("Thirty little lives, yum yum!") [[NoAccountingForTaste This is about typical of their relationship]].
* The Radio 4 comedy pilot ''Common Ground'' stars Henning Wenn as the owner of a market stall selling vegan food, who has a friendly(ish) rivalry with the woman who runs the hot dog stand opposite his patch, frequently trading barbs about each others' wares.

* [[UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica South African]] stand-up comic Barry Hilton [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C49uh9QAWDM&list=PLIa36ETako3MaZaw7-I0qEuflOniBvTWd&index=21 sums up his country's attitude]] in a routine on ''braai'' culture;
-->Boykies don't eat anything but meat. They just graze meat. That's it. Salads? They think nothing of salads. MEAT!

[[folder:VideoGames]]

* In ''VideoGame/DigimonWorldNextOrder'', this is taken to the extreme, with the Digimon living in the Ohguino Wastelands managing to turn the debate into a full-on war. Interestingly, in the digital world, meat [[GrowsOnTrees grows from the ground]], so the whole war was started over something as petty as personal preference.

* Sometimes happens in ''Webcomic/JohnnyWander'', such as when Yuko excitedly proposes a new bacon recipe to her friends, who are all vegans/vegetarians. Cue awkward silence.

* In ''WebComic/GrrlPower'', protagonist Sydney [[http://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1242 identifies as a vegetarian]] but doesn't want to bring it up because of this trope. And given how some of her teammates react in the very next strip, you can hardly blame her. [[note]]Sydney will eat fish on the grounds that they are "ugly and delicious" which is strictly called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pescetarianism Pescatarianism]] but many Pescatarians identify as vegetarians in [[TruthInTelevision real life as well]][[/note]]
* In [[https://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=4128 this]] ''Webcomic/SquareRootOfMinusGarfield'', the title cat is offended enough by salad to beat a plate of greens with a ham.

* In ''Delve,'' the antagonists are an ApocalypseCult dedicated to the Devourer of Worlds, and all their rituals revolve around cannibalism. They taunt one of their number who underwent a HeelFaceTurn with "Your body won't be eaten, but rot. Just like a vegetable."

* In ''WesternAnimation/WhatAboutMimi'', Mimi's mother is vegan, but when she's away for the weekend Mimi's father secretly eats meat.
* In ''WesternAnimation/PeaceOnEarth'', Meat-eaters and Vegetarians are among the warring factions mentioned as the Grampa squirrel explains how Mankind wiped itself out. Though, [[FridgeBrilliance if you take into account that the story takes place after]] UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, it's obvious that he must have seen Indian soldiers fighting for Britain, eating vegetarian dishes, and shooting up German soldiers who have eaten sausages. Ignorant of the big, screwed-up politics behind the conflict, the old squirrel, then young, must have assumed these [[HumansAreCthulhu monstrous-looking humans]] wiped each other out over dietary choice as well as physical deformities (flat-footed Germans shooting up [[BritishTeeth buck-toothed Brits]]).

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' has a minor moment of this, when Team Avatar arrives to the Fire Nation: Sokka is overjoyed to eat meat at last, while Aang gets a little sick thinking about eating meat, and decides to stick with the veggies. In general, the Water Nation had meat as a major part of their diet (being from a part of the world where food was scarce), and the Air Nation was a vegetarian society being a race full of [[FriendToAllLivingThings Friends To All Living Things]] (doubly so for Aang, being the Avatar). But since the Gaang are TrueCompanions, Aang, Katara, and Sokka get along fine.

* The ''WesternAnimation/BountyHamster'' episode "Fashion Victim" has Marion as the vegetarian, being a hamster and all, and Cassie as the meat-lover.
-->'''Cassie:''' Call me old-fashioned, but I like my food to have a face.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'', Bubbles was sort of an odd case, at least continuity-wise. She claimed to be a vegetarian in some early episodes (being a FriendToAllLivingThings, it made sense) and actually, no-one in-universe objected to it. In some other episodes, however, she seemed to abandon this philosophy entirely, having no problem with the Professor's sloppy joes. (Most likely, this was a case where it was DependingOnTheWriter.)
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheMidnightGospel'', Meat City is plastered with billboards extolling the virtues of meat. One billboard shows a piece of broccoli inside the buster symbol, suggesting that the clown-parasites take a dim view of vegetables.
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "Sue Ellen Vegges Out" starts with Sue Ellen becoming a vegetarian. She doesn't try to impose her dietary choices on her friends, but Francine and Muffy decide it sounds cool and copy her. Muffy quickly becomes frustrated with the restrictions and gives up, leading to the conflict of the episode. Francine flaunts her ability to stick to the diet (putting her on the Veggies side), while Muffy makes it her mission to get Francine and Sue Ellen to also give up (putting her on the Meat side), but it's more about the girls' stubbornness than the actual issue they're fighting over. At the end of the episode, Sue Ellen snaps and points out that vegetarianism was her own personal choice, not a statement of moral superiority and certainly not something worth fighting over. Francine and Muffy concede and apologize.
* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': In "And They Call It Bobby Love", Bobby Hill dates a classmate who's a vegetarian, which initially frustrates his father Hank, since as a propane and propane accessories salesman, he loves to grill meat. But when Bobby's girlfriend dumps him, he gets back at her by eating a 72 oz. sirloin steak within an hour, with everybody, including ''his ex-girlfriend's parents'', cheering him on.
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/GreenEggsAndHam'': Sam-I-Am is obsessed with the eponymous meal and convincing Guy to try it. So when he learns that Michellee is vegan (and what a vegan actually ''is''), it looks like it's setting up a conflict, especially when he's dubious at the prospect of tofu green-eggs-and-ham substitute. But when Michellee points out he can't know he doesn't like it if he doesn't try it, he's the ''last'' person who's going to argue with ''that''.

Bob is a born and bred meat-eater. He counts meat-related foods as his TrademarkFavoriteFood and staunchly believes that RealMenEatMeat, and in extreme cases will willingly become a BurgerFool just to be close to the burgers. Chicken, pork, beef, fish, lamb, goat--if it's meat, he'll eat it without any qualms, and he's not afraid to be a [[IncrediblyLamePun Large Ham]] about it.

** Beast Boy can tolerate the presence of meat when he wants to. In "Employee of the Month", he sort-of willing works at Mega Meaty Meat because the Employee of the Month prize is his dream vehicle.

** The Klingons, the Vulcans' main competitor for the primary alien race in the franchise, seem to eat meat almost exclusively. Some of it is still moving, and (with some contradictions) mostly ''raw''

---> 2 Abel became a keeper of sheep, and Cain became a tiller of the soil.
---> 3 In the course of time, Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the soil;
---> 4 and Abel, for his part, brought the choicest of the firstlings of his flock. The LORD paid heed to Abel and his offering,
---> 5 but to Cain and his offering He paid no heed. Cain was much distressed and his face fell.

---> "She wanted me to just eat salad. I said no. Salad isn't food. Salad comes ''with'' the food. Salad is a promissory note that food will soon arrive. When I see a salad, my brain goes "Something good is about to happen, wait right here." And then she said "what about steamed veggies?" Oh, you ''spoil'' me! Steamed veggies is just ''hot salad!''

* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' Al and Marcie were often on opposite sides of this conflict, although neither is truly a character to be admired. (Al was a complete and total {{jerkass}} towards vegetarians, claiming RealMenEatMeat while not "manly" in the least, and Marcie was as much a StrawVegetarian as she was a StrawFeminist.)