When I was growing up my diet was a little strange. Both of my parents, like many of the upper middle class people in Sao Paulo, ate primarily vegetarian meals. Every once in a while they would have a little bit of free range meat. For most of my life the government has imposed such strong laws on the ranching industry that free range beef and pork is all you'll find in Amazonia. There are some major anti-cage laws that killed veal production and gimped chicken cage hatcheries in my parents' youth.
I remember when I was eight it was a big deal because we got to go to a huge cookout with real sausage and burgers. One of my father's grad students was working on growing high quality meat in vats for Amizonia's "vegetarian" upper crust. I had the vague impression from my mother that the target audience was avoiding meat because of the opinions of society rather than their personal feelings or lack of funds. The grad student had produced over 200 kg of meat products to prove his factory techniques were valid for his thesis. He couldn't sell any of it on the open market, since the techniques were not okayed by the government yet. Instead he held an open cook out in one of the poorer neighborhoods of Sao Paulo and gave it all away for free. I think my dad was rather proud of him for not putting it on the black market.
I was mostly used to eating vegetables, tofu, and seafood by the time I left home. I have to say, the tofu in Sao Paulo is not like the soy that I've had up here. It is like a whole other category of food. I've bought the high grade stuff you can get in Seattle, but it barely touches what I could afford when I lived on an arena fighter's pay in Sao Paulo. I don't know why the corps up here don't try to do better. I guess they've convinced people there isn't better to be had.
I've been trying to find good places to get fresh vegetables in Seattle, but it's hard going. There are a few farmer's markets surviving, but the prices are steep and only some of the goods aren't ruined by pesticide application. I never knew how terrible pesticides tasted until I lived in Boston. I make do with what I can afford, though I expect that without the cheaper seafood here I would be miserable.