can you tell me more about this?
Well vegetarianism has roots in ancient India and Greece?
wow, what year are we looking at
It's very interesting. It was promoted by religious groups and philosophers.
I know religion must have a stronger influence 
Yup. Supposedly monks restricted the consumption of meat for ascentic reasons.
what else can you tell me about this
The percentrages of vegetarians varies from 0.5% to 4% in the Western world.