Meat or no Meat

After deciding that I will be making my infographic about veganism/vegetarianism vs omnivores in the UK, I went online and searched multiple websites for statistics to include and base my designs around. Here is the information that I have compiled:

The information following is from Finder.com, I found that these statistics answered quite a few of the questions I had, and gave quite a lot of the information that I wish to include in my infographic.

Currently, around 14% of adults (7.2 million) in the UK are following a meat-free diet, a further 12% (6.5 million) of the population intend to become vegetarian, vegan or pescatarian in 2021. Almost 500,000 Brits gave up meat in 2020.

The number of those who gave up meat in 2020 was double that of 2019’s figures People following veganism increased by 40% in 2020.

Younger generations are significantly more likely to follow a meat-free diet, with a fifth of Gen Z already doing so (20%) and a further 26% planning to adopt one in 2021.

The UK’s current diet According to our survey, 86% of the population currently eat meat in their diets. This means that around 7.2 million British adults (14%) currently follow a meat-free diet.

How many vegetarians are there in the UK? With around 3.1 million people in the UK (6%), the vegetarian diet is currently the most common of the non-meat diets.

How many pescatarians are there in the UK? The next most popular meat-free diet at this moment in time is the pescatarian diet, with around 2.5 million Brits (5%) opting for this diet.

How many vegans are there in the UK? Lastly, there are around 1.5 million people in the UK who are currently vegan. A number which is growing rapidly.

I then looked to other websites to find more information, as well as checking whether the initial statistics I found were accurate or not. The next site I looked at was a blog called Truly Experiences. 

This site also used multiple sources in accumulating information and so I will include these sources within my research to keep me right.

According to the Guardian, a record 500,000 people, of whom 125,000 are based in the UK, took the Veganuary pledge to eat only vegan food in January. The figure is up by 100,000 on last year’s, and it’s double the number of people who signed up for Veganuary in 2019.

Veganism In The UK – Stats At A Glance

(Source: The Vegan Society and Finder)

• A record half a million Brits signed up to Veganuary in 2021
• Deliveroo’s vegan orders spiked by 163% in 2020
• 7.2 million British adults currently follow a meat-free diet
• 13 million Brits will be meat-free by the end of the year
• The number of vegans in the UK has increased by 445,428 people (40%) over the past 12 months.
• Vegans and vegetarians look set to make up a quarter of the British population in 2025
• If the 2 million people who intend to become vegan this year do so, the number of vegans will increase by 132%.
• In 2020, The Grocer reported 62% of adults in the UK had purchased plant milk.
• 10% of British children aged eight to 16 are vegan or vegetarian
• The number of vegan residents in UK care homes has almost trebled in the five years to 2019
• 19% of people check if their toiletries are tested on animals
• Generation Z (aged 18 -23) are currently the most meat-free generation
• 262,000 more men than women don’t consume meat (7.2 million vs 7 million)
• Those who eat meat spend £645 extra a year on food, compared to those on a meat-free diet
• 50% of Brits said they know someone who is vegan
• Sainsbury’s sales of its vegan cheeses surpassed the company’s predictions by 300%.
• The global vegan meat market is expected to be worth $8.3 billion by 2025

The website veganfoodandliving.com also confirmed the information that Finder.com supplied about vegan/vegetarianism in the UK this year.

I also found this information on Health Careers.co .

7. Vegetarian stats reveal that over 50% of those who choose to go vegetarian or vegan do so to protect animal welfare.

(BBC)

A survey of 1,040 adults in Britain revealed that the most common reason for them to give up eating meat is animal welfare.

About a third of non-meat-eaters note the environment, health, and taste each as strong reasons for their dietary choice.

Concerns for antibiotics are noted by approximately 20% of vegetarians or vegans, and less than 10% include weight management as a reason for choosing this lifestyle.

I then went to look for information about health differences between meat and non-meat eaters.

About Manchester gave me these statistics about the percentage of cardiovascular health issues caused by meat consumption:

Cutting out meat boosts overall health and reduces illness

With around 70 percent of human diseases like cardiovascular illness and cancer linked to animal agriculture and meat consumption, it may be obvious that reducing meat and fish in your diet can prevent these issues. Vegetarians tend to eat less animal fat and often have a lower cholesterol level which is good for overall heart health.

Nuffield Department of Population Health:

Previous studies have suggested that vegetarians have a lower risk of CHD than non-vegetarians, but data from large studies are limited and little has been reported on the difference in risk of stroke.

Researchers from CEU used data from the EPIC-Oxford study, a prospective cohort with one of the largest number of vegetarians, to explore the risks of CHD and stroke in meat eaters, pescetarians (who eat fish but not meat) and vegetarians over an 18 year period.

The study, led by Dr Tammy Tong, included information on 48,188 people (average age 45 years) recruited between 1993-2001, who had no history of CHD or stroke. They were grouped into meat eaters (24,428), pescetarians (7,506), and vegetarians, including vegans (16,254).

There were 2,820 cases of CHD and 1,072 cases of stroke during the study period, including 519 cases of ischaemic stroke (when a blood clot blocks the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain) and 300 cases of haemorrhagic stroke.

After taking account of potentially influential factors, such as medical history, smoking, physical activity and use of dietary supplements, pescetarians and vegetarians had, respectively, a 13% and 22% lower risk of CHD than meat eaters.

This is equal to 10 fewer cases of CHD in vegetarians than in meat eaters per 1000 people consuming such diets over 10 years. The difference may be at least partly due to lower BMI and lower rates of high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and diabetes linked to these diets, say the authors.

In contrast, vegetarians had a 20% higher risk of total stroke than meat eaters, equivalent to three more cases of stroke per 1000 people over 10 years, mainly due to a higher rate of haemorrhagic stroke.

Vegetarians in the study had lower circulating cholesterol and levels of several nutrients (e.g. vitamin B12) than meat eaters, which could explain these findings, the authors suggest.

As an observational study, this research cannot establish cause, and because the findings were based mainly on white Europeans, they may not be applicable in low and middle-income countries.

Dr Tammy Tong said “The study had a large sample size and long-term monitoring, but further research is needed to replicate the results in other populations and it should include further measurements of nutritional factors.”

Update: May 2nd

I was doing some further research to make sure my statistics were correct before I finalise my infographic, as I wanted to try and include a little more, and I came across an article on Metro.

It stated the following:

67% of people would rather reduce their life expectancy by five to 10 years than give up meat, according to a new national survey. The survey of 2,000 people, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of No Meat May, also found that more than half (51%) of British men and women associate a diet that contains a lot of meat with being ‘masculine’, while vegetarian (36%) and vegan (35%) diets are seen as more ‘feminine’. One third (30%) of men believe humans are meant to eat meat compared to less than a quarter (22%) of women. More than one in 20 (6%) also said they would rather go to jail than stop eating meat, rising to 11% for those aged 25-34.

I found this information very interesting and I might try to incorporate it into my infographic before sending it to Paul for feedback.

On Average:

How much meat do we eat on average per person?

In the Western world we eat a lot of meat in comparison to other parts of the world. The supermarkets are filled with meat products, it is cheap and readily available. Research shows that in the United Kingdom around 84.2 kilograms of meat per person is consumed. This is measured by the full carcasses needed for the meat. The actual amount of meat consumed per person is therefore substantially lower.