37% of Brits say they have actively reduced or removed animal products from their diet in the last five years, according to a survey by The Vegan Society and BOSH!.
While 28% say they’ve cut back or removed meat, 19% state they’ve reduced or removed dairy in their diet. Encouragingly, 10% of Brits said they had either cut back or removed both meat and dairy.
When it comes to removing meat from their diet, personal health was cited as the reason for 49% of people with 36% saying it was because of environment reasons. 31% say they were motivated by ethical reasons and animal rights while 1 in 5 (25%) revealed they’ve cut back on meat purely because of taste preferences.
Despite often being hailed as the group most resistant to change, the survey shows older people are reducing their meat intake more than most with 34% of the 55+ age group saying they had either reduced or removed meat for their diet in the last 5 years. However dairy reduction increased for younger respondents with 27% of those aged 18-25 saying they had either reduced or removed dairy from their diet since 2016.
For those who had specifically said they had reduced or removed dairy from their diet, health reasons once again came out on top (45%). This was followed by environmental (27%), taste preference (25%) and animal rights (21%). 18% stated it was down to allergies or intolerances while 5% cited religious reasons.
The results of the survey comes as Henry Firth and Ian Theasby, the co-founders of BOSH!, are celebrating the brand’s fifth birthday. June 2021 marked exactly five years since the pair posted their very first recipe video on what has now become the biggest Facebook vegan recipe channel. Often referred to as ‘the vegan Jamie Oliver’ they’ve since gone on to publish five vegan cookery books and have amassed 780k followers on their Instagram channel and 210K subscribers on YouTube. Last year they aired a 10-part vegan cookery series ‘Living On The Veg’ on ITV, and launched a new range of Vegan Trademark registered cakes in Asda and Tesco.
Louisianna Waring, Senior Insight and Policy Officer at The Vegan Society, said: “It isn’t at all surprising to see so many people are leaving meat off their plates and ditching dairy. We know that interest in veganism is at an all-time high – particularly amongst young people who are genuinely concerned about environmental issues and the future. Perhaps the most promising finding from this survey is that older people are actually leading the way when it comes to reducing their meat intake, which is fantastic news.”
“It’s amazing to see just how much the team at BOSH! have manage to achieve in the last five years. They really are plant-based food pioneers and have influenced so many to go vegan or try vegan food for the first time. We’re delighted to see them celebrating their 5th birthday and just know things are only going to get bigger and better from here.”
You’re being invited to join in with BOSH!’s birthday celebrations. You can also read more about the Vegan Trademark and find products registered with the sunflower label.
“Food survey”, conducted through Attest, the survey took place between 21st and 22nd May 2021.
The audience was 1,000 respondents from the UK, working age nationally representative for age, gender and home region.
