SYDNEY, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Vegetarians are bullied and hated in Australia as its culture is caught in a cycle of overreliance on meat, said Aussie food writer Richard Cornish.
Cornish, a self-confessed meat-lover, made this discovery after conducting a year-long experiment in vegetarianism.
"There's a lot of disrespect for people who choose not to eat meat. We're not equipped to be vegetarians," Cornish told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday.
Cornish said he noticed positive changes on himself such as weight loss, low blood pressure, and cholesterol after observing a vegetarian diet for a year.
Cornish added it was high time Australians made the transition onto a more vegetable-based diet, adding that such a change was not impossible.
He added that Aussies could learn a thing or two from other cultures that had built itself around a more vegetable-based diet.
"If you go to India, for example, you know that most of the diet is going to be rice and pulses," he said.
"Go to Mexico and it is beans and corn, and meat is more or less a garnish."
According to a 2010 Newspoll survey, only 5 percent of Australians had identified themselves as vegetarians with 2 percent following a strict vegetarian diet.
Last month, it was reported that Australian beef prices had soared largely driven by an international demand. However, instead of going vegan many Aussies had turned to eating chicken and pork meat instead.
