The True Vegan and Vegetarian Consumers Are Not Who You Think

To read any report on the eating habits of US consumers today, and to take a look at new food product introductions, you could assume that plant food and vegetarianism is leading the trends. And you would be wrong.

A Gallup poll has found that fewer than one in 10 Americans adheres to a plant based diet with just 5 percent of people saying they are vegetarian and 3 percent saying they are vegan.

Take a closer look at the numbers and you’ll find that 7 percent of people aged 18-29 saying they are vegetarian while 3 percent say they are vegan. In the 30-49 age-bracket, 8 percent are vegetarian while 4 percent are vegan. Those figures fall drastically to 3 and 2 percent respectively among over 65's.

 Surprisingly vegans and vegetarians are most likely to be earning below $30,000 a year while these diets are significantly less among high earners.  

So why are we seeing more and more vegan and vegetarian restaurants open their doors and why are we seeing supermarket shelves booming with alternatives to meat and dairy products.  

What the survey does not show, and should to be fair, is that many consumers are eating more plant-based foods, but occasionally. Programs like Meatless Monday has driven many to balance their diets rather than simply eliminate all meat or dairy products from their diets.