[Dave in MPLS]

Here's the survey results: http://www.vrg.org/blog/2011/12/05/h...an-in-the-u-s/

Quick summary: 5% of Americans said they never eat meat, fish, seafood, or poultry. About half of these also don't eat dairy or eggs.

So ~2.5% OL or lacto, ~2.5% vegan (in diet at least).

This survey was designed specifically to avoid the problem sometimes seen in other surveys by specifically enumerating the foods never eaten rather than using terms which are more open to individual interpretation. The Vegetarian Resource Group designed the survey.

 

[nomad888]

As nice as that would be, I'd be very surprised if the number was actually that high. That would be 1/20 being veg*n. I know a LOT more than 20 people, but the only veg*n I come into contact with regularly is my girlfriend. Perhaps I'm hanging out in the wrong places, and there are actually veg*n cities hidden in the mountains somewhere

 

[greensmoothie mama]

i have over 300+ friends on fb and only 1 of them is veggie...so....

 

[Nera]

Yeah, in my little world I know NO vegetarians or vegans in person. Nada. :-(

 

[Werewolf Girl]

I know a whole bunch of vegans and vegetarians in real life, I live in Canada though

Still, I do have a bunch of American veg*n friends on Facebook and stuff too. It could very well be a matter of where you're from, bigger cities tend to be more veg friendly I find.

 

[Zoesmama]

I have a couple friends I've known a long time that are vegetarian. One is close real life friend the other is a friend I've known many years online. She was vegan but now just vegetarian I believe.

 

[Eugene]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave in MPLS

Here's the survey results: http://www.vrg.org/blog/2011/12/05/h...an-in-the-u-s/

Quick summary: 5% of Americans said they never eat meat, fish, seafood, or poultry. About half of these also don't eat dairy or eggs.

So ~2.5% OL or lacto, ~2.5% vegan (in diet at least).

This survey was designed specifically to avoid the problem sometimes seen in other surveys by specifically enumerating the foods never eaten rather than using terms which are more open to individual interpretation. The Vegetarian Resource Group designed the survey.

I have found that the word "never" is subject to a lot of individual interpretation.

 

[ElaineV]

These kinds of surveys suffer from the problem of self reporting. What this study shows is that 5% of people identify as veg*n or want to eat veg diets, not necessarily that 5% of people actually behave in the way that they say they behave.

That said, it's still very encouraging that so many people consider themselves vegetarian, vegan, or plant-eaters. This is encouraging because it means that our lifestyle is accepted and envied. We can hope this will lead to more people actually adopting the veg lifestyle, not just the badge.

 

[zirpkatze]

Quote:

Originally Posted by greensmoothie mama

i have over 300+ friends on fb and only 1 of them is veggie...so....

are you sure only one is veggie? i once asked on my status and a few people responded that i had no idea about. i've got 125 and at least 7 on my list are vegetarian and 2 definitely are vegan.

 

[sequoia]

I know plenty of veg*ns IRL. I think it probably depends on where you live. I wouldn't expect to find many veg*ns in Texas, but there are quite a few in California.

 

[vegluv]

I know many vegetarians. Unfortunately they eat meat. I get excited when someone says they're veg...then learn they don't even know what it means. Sigh.

 

[Pirate Huntress]

I don't personally know any vegetarians, but sometimes I see vegetarians at places like Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Chicago Diner.. & other veggie friendly places.

 

[Lifesize]

I've met a small handful of vegetarians (maybe 7-8 people) and one vegan. The amount would be higher if I included people who say they're veg*n when they aren't really. I don't think 5% is too much of a stretch, but I think it's likely to be a bit lower than that.

 

[Indian Summer]

I would have preferred it if instead of a survey the researchers went home with the study participants, thoroughly inspected their refrigerators, freezers and kitchen cupboards, and then beat up the participant if they had claimed to be veg*n yet possessed non-veg*n foods.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pirate Huntress

I don't personally know any vegetarians, but sometimes I see vegetarians at places like Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Chicago Diner.. & other veggie friendly places.

You live in Chicago and don't know any other vegetarians? I think there's a pretty active vegan community there. I've been to a couple of vegan meetups there when I've visited - you should try one of those! Just saying!

 

[Move of Ten]

I suppose it depends on where you live. Three of the closest grocery stores to me all have strong selections of vegetarian and vegan products and there are multiple veg*n restaurants.

Counting people I've known well personally, it's definitely been higher than 1 in 20.

 

[vegan cyberpunk]

The vegetarian/vegan population is generally concentrated in some ares, for example in UK, you have around 9-10% vegetarians ( vegans & co included in the number ), but if you go to scotland... well you will hardly meet even one of them. In brighton and london, you will hardly find someone who don't know at least 1 or 2 vegetarians.

In Italy, around 3%, but you are not likely to find any of them in the south, wich is more poor and more traditional... they are mostly in the north, more rich and with more food and cultures diversity.

In Poland, you can find vegetarians among the youth, in the big cities, but in the rural areas most of people never even heard about such thing as a vegetarian ^^

 

[Dave in MPLS]

Totally off topic, one of the cooking blogs I follow is Polish Vegan Kitchen (http://polishvegankitchen.blogspot.com/

It often has scans of Polish language vegetarian cookbooks. Use Google translate to read the blog in your native tongue.

 

[spursbob]

Since I met my g/f she and her sisters have become vegetarians. Felt a little awkward being the only vegetarian and her family dinners as they'd go out of their way to accommodate me but we're gaining in numbers. I didn't push my vegetarianism on to either of them and decided on their own; I'm sure I helped them think about it though.

 

[cienerose]

I think the sampled population was too small. If they polled 10 or 20 times that many then I could consider it more representative.