For much of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, Italians found themselves in a state of meatlessness. The young nation, unified in 1861, confronted economic hardships, regional disparities, and social divisions. The majority of Italy’s population lacked the money to purchase meat or animal products; agricultural production focused on grains, olives, and grapes; the domestic production and market for foods was limited; and a faltering economy hindered the development of sophisticated food retail sector. Meat was a rarity, consumed by Italians on holidays or special occasions like funerals. Most Italians were vegetarians by necessity, not choice.
Scientific professionals in nineteenth-century Italy viewed the Italian state of meatlessness unfavorably. In many of the scientific and social scientific writings published in Italy, the absence of meat in the Italian diet signaled monotony, malnutrition, and backwardness, especially in the context of the dietary habits of other European nations (Britain, Germany) and the United States. Because of technological advancements like the railroad and refrigeration, Western European and American workers had access to meat, the protein source recommended by a growing number of medical professionals. At the end of the nineteenth century, physiological chemists established dietary norms and published daily requirements of calories and protein. American, German, and British physiologists recommended a daily intake of between 80 and 120 grams of protein a day (along with 2500–3000 calories) for an adult male engaged in moderate labor (Rabinbach 1990, 128–133). Although some physiologists and food reformers (such as Horace Fletcher and Russell Henry Chittenden) contested high levels of protein and calorie intake, scientific consensus formed around the idea that meat was an excellent and efficient source of protein, to build muscle, endurance, and strength (Offer 1989, Chapter 2). In Italy, scientific professionals knew that most Italians were unlikely to reach the recommended protein levels set by the international scientific community, primarily because individual Italians could not afford to consume meat on a daily basis. Urban and rural Italian workers consumed a monotonous diet based on wheat (bread) or corn (polenta), depending on where they lived. Popular diet was a source of great professional concern and diseases of malnutrition like pellagra plagued Italian regions well into the twentieth century. The Italian government conducted social scientific inquests into the nature and quality of popular diets across Italy, but the government possessed few resources to help Italians afford a more varied diet (Helstosky 2006, Chapter 1; Scarpellini 2015, Chapter 2).
The lack of animal products in popular diet or what I refer to as meatlessness was viewed negatively by many Italians. Those who did not consume meat or animal products for the sake of economy cannot be called voluntary vegetarians; they might have enthusiastically consumed meat if they could have afforded to do so. However, a number of Italians chose to evaluate popular consumption levels, not by what Italians could not eat, but what they did eat. Rather than viewing existing eating habits as monotonous or inadequate, some medical professionals and a small number of proclaimed vegetarians promoted a diet consisting mostly of grains and fresh produce as a way to maintain good health. Moreover, vegetarians reasoned that a simple diet based on grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables was the most appropriate diet for Italians, who lived off the land and were therefore closer to nature than other European and American populations. For those who thought positively about vegetarianism, meatlessness was not a sign of Italian inferiority; meatlessness was a sign of individual and community well-being (Capatti 2016).
This chapter will examine the history of vegetarianism in nineteenth and early twentieth-century Italy, examining the publications of vegetarian organizations and published works by individuals in order to understand the ideas of Italian vegetarians regarding diet and its connection to individual, community, and national health. Rising to prominence in the early twentieth century, Italian vegetarians maintained organizations in Florence and Milan. These societies were loosely affiliated with other vegetarian societies across Europe, drawing inspiration from British, German and Swiss organizations. Italian vegetarian philosophy was influenced by naturism and Theosophism. Although Italian organizations cross-pollinated ideas and strategies with other groups, Italian vegetarianism remained distinctive from its European and American counterparts. With an emphasis on local produce grown in Italy and prepared according to varied regional cooking styles, vegetarian cuisine followed closely the general precepts of Italian cuisine: a minimal number of locally produced ingredients, simple preparation techniques, and a tendency not to mask or hide the authentic flavors of the foods used in dishes. Even when suggesting ways to create substitute meats, vegetarian cookbook authors remained true to local ingredients. During the early twentieth century and through the years of the First World War in Italy (1915–18), the small but vocal group of vegetarians pushed for dietary reform because they thought a simple and healthful vegetarian diet would be well suited for the alimentary needs of individuals as well as larger populations of Italians.
After the First World War and four years of economic and political dislocation, Benito Mussolini was given the reins of power, ostensibly to reform Italy and Italians. From 1922 until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the fascist regime actively sought to promote Italian nationalism in all aspects of life, including agricultural production and food consumption, both of which were subject to the national goal or autarky or self-sufficiency. Given the contours of national agricultural production, the fascist regime promoted a dietary regime that was not unlike that proposed by Italian vegetarians: grains enhanced by an abundance of fresh produce and an emphasis on locally grown or produced foods. The two alimentary regimes were not identical, however. Fascists enthusiastically recommended the consumption of wine, given that grapes were abundant and easy to raise in Italy, and thus fit into the autarkic aims of the regime. Italian vegetarians seldom mentioned wine in their publications and considered alcohol an overly stimulating substance, with effects similar to those of meat. Although historians have noted ideological and culinary connections between early twentieth-century vegetarians and fascist agricultural and medical professionals (Buscemi 2019, 137–147; Capatti 2016), one must be careful not to draw too many conclusions about vegetarianism or fascism based on similar attitudes towards food. Italy’s state of meatlessness originated with inequities in land use and a poor economy; both conditions ensured that Italians consumed a monotonous diet composed mostly of carbohydrates and lacking in animal-based proteins as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. The fascist regime understood that boosting protein consumption among Italians would be costly. Although the regime spoke openly about maintaining and improving racial health (through various initiatives), the government was more interested in controlling consumption patterns so that they accommodated national agricultural and economic imperatives through autarky. Despite similarities in thinking about and through Italy’s condition of meatlessness, vegetarians and fascists differed sharply in terms of how they viewed the purpose of rejecting meat. For vegetarians, the rejection of meat was a choice to benefit individual health whereas for fascists, rejecting meat was one of several responses to the demands of economic nationalism.
The Case of Italy
Today, when we define Italian cuisine, we tend to think about uncomplicated dishes based on local ingredients that have been minimally processed, with grains comprising the foundation of many dishes. Two of the most globally recognized Italian dishes, pasta, and pizza, are made with little or no meat (unless one considers the fast-food pizza, laden with various meats, produced in the United States). In many Italian dishes, meat does not comprise the foundation of the dish but is treated more like a condiment, added sparingly for flavor. Historians have referred to Italy’s cuisine as a cuisine of scarcity, based as it was on limited access to expensive ingredients (Montanari 1994; Dickie 2008; Helstosky 2006; Parasecoli 2014; Scarpellini 2015). There were topographical reasons for the nature of Italian cuisine, as the rocky quality of the Italian peninsula is good for growing grapes and olives more so than wheat and pastures for cattle. There were...