Shifting plates

The percentage of people identifying as vegetarian or vegan declined in the US from 8% in 2019 to 5% in 2020 according to a recent poll by Gallup. Coinciding with the lower rate of vegetarianism and veganism are decreasing sales of plant-based meat substitutes and increasing total consumption of meat per capita with people eating more chicken but less beef. The poll by Gallup might not cover all changes in meat eating behavior as we observe an increasing percentage of people identifying their dietary choices as “flexitarian” or “other” in the UK for instance. These choices were not offered in the poll.

Source: Gallup, July 2023. Note: survey among 1,015 adults across all 50 US states and the District of Columbia.