Government Mandated Vegetarianism (Vegetarian World)

Government Mandated Vegetarianism (GMV) or Government Enforced Vegetarianism (GEV) (or popularly, a "meat ban") is a situation in which a government bans the sale, handling, and consumption of meat. As of 2007, two countries have a complete meat ban, and. In addition, several countries are in the process of formulating bans of their own. Besides national governments, some provincial or even county governments have the power to create such laws, and the number of these areas are rapidly increasing.

History
Meat bans are not a new concept. Of course, within certain religions and sects, there have been complete bans for the people who subscribed to that faith, and sometimes extending even to those who didn't. Governmentally, they have been around throughout history, but generally, over larger areas, their enforcement capabilities have been questionable. One example is the Japanese emperor Tenmu banning all forms of meat in the year 676.

More recently, in the 20th century, the idea saw a resurgence. In 1922, just after the Indian states gained more autonomy, became the first modern political entity to declare itself completely vegetarian. followed in 1924. Other Indian states implemented these bans until the whole nation became officially vegetarian in 2006. However, from 1980-1998, Sundarapore had phased out meat, and in doing so, became the first modern nation to do so.

Various sub-national entities have become vegetarian, or have been vegetarian from their founding. These places are scattered around the world, from Amirim in to Tolosa in  to Chochenyo County in.

Criticisms
Some people have criticized the meat bans for a variety of reasons. One reason is that governments should not have the power to choose what its citizenry should be able to eat. They say that people should have the right to eat whatever they want. Another claim is that outlawing meat will create a black market for it, so people will not only have access to meat, but organized crime will increase. Also, many worry that investment will slow, tourism will decrease, and thus jobs will be lost.

Rebuttals
In response to these criticisms, GMV supporters state that a human's liberty should not include the right to take a life at will, only for reasons of culinary taste. All civilized nations on earth have some sort of partial ban, for example against cannibalism or eating cats, dogs, and endangered animals, so this already proves that liberty does not include the right to eat anything just because it might taste good. Furthermore, from all reports so far, it seems that black market activity has been extremely low. Perhaps this is because GMV has sprung up from societies in which the vast majority of people were already vegetarian, but so far, so good. Finally, looking at recent figures, investment and tourism have only increased in both Sundarapore and India. Also, because of its fame as being a vegetarian heaven for ages, the Indian state of Gujarat has for decades been one of the most popular tourist destinations among vegetarians from around the world.

Partial List of Vegetarian Political Entities

 * Amirim,
 * Biltmore Village, ,
 * Chochenyo County, ,
 * Philippolis,
 * Philipsburg,
 * Tolosa,
 * Philippolis,
 * Philipsburg,
 * Tolosa,
 * Tolosa,
 * Tolosa,