There is no doubt that more people than ever are making the switch to a vegan lifestyle. Not only do Google trends
show a great deal more interest in vegan recipes and lifestyle in recent years, the research firm GlobalData identified an increase of nearly 600% in the number of people who identified as vegans between the years 2014 and 2017.
The areas that this increased interest has been most apparent include Israel, Austria, New Zealand, Australia and of course, the United States where that 600% increase statistic came from. From the same source, people in the UK have been swayed to veganism at about half the rate as the United States.
But, the real question is why.
Why People Are Going Vegan
So, why are people going vegan in record numbers all of a sudden? There could be a number of explanations. With health care costs rising many people definitely want to focus on their health and eating better is a major part of that. Concurrently, there has been an increasing number of books and fad diets that tout veganism as a way to lose weight and get healthy.
Many health professionals have always seen fruits and vegetables as a healthier alternative to meat, And, while the core foundation of a vegan diet is not solely based on its health benefits, it is generally a step in the right direction for those that were eating a traditional American diet.
Another major reason is that being vegan is astronomically easier now than it has ever been before. There are plenty of websites as well as plenty of brick and mortar shops that specialize in offering vegan products. And, it’s not very hard to find vegan-friendly restaurants now either.
More Eyes on the Lifestyle
In the past, veganism was seen as a fringe lifestyle if seen at all. A college student may have been introduced to it through someone living in their dorm, or maybe someone ran across a small stand at a concert venue sharing information about it. But, you rarely would see it anywhere else. Nowadays it’s seen all over the place. You can see vegan recipes being promoting on magazine covers near the registers of supermarkets. You’ll hear professional athletes like Kyrie Irving talk about their switch to veganism. And, there are even a growing number of highly followed vegan YouTube personalities.
It’s clearly a lifestyle that is much more in the public eye than at any time in the past.
What Does the Future Look Like for Veganism?
What about the future? Will there come a day when it will become illegal to eat animals? Will our diets be 100% vegan in the future? Unless there is some kind of animal shortage, both of these scenarios are unlikely. For one thing, even though the number of people that identify as vegan is estimated at about 6% currently, that still leaves a large part of the population that either are vegetarian and still use animal-based products or both eat meat and use animal-based products.
Veganism may continue to grow little by little in popularity in the coming years, but chances are it will still be a diet and lifestyle followed more by the few than the many.
The Bottom Line
Veganism is undeniably becoming a lifestyle that is more accepted than ever before. The fact that it’s something that almost every American is aware of even if they don’t adhere to it is proof enough of how it indeed has entered the mainstream. But, now that more people are aware of it, will more people adopt it as a lifestyle?
James Keifer says
Nice and informative post. I am a non-veg though. Thanks for sharing.
Neal says
Interesting article.
I think, for many “original” vegans, it’s important to point out that there is much more to adopting a vegan lifestyle than just diet!
Deciding to no longer consume meat/dairy is technically just that. On its own it is not veganism.
True veganism is a philosophy of “care of and respect for the world and those in it”, from the (our) environment to the individuals living In it..
Eating salad all day to stay healthy whilst polluting the planet in that 4×4 you drive out to your weekly hunting trip is not veganism!!, it’s just looking after number one whilst enjoying yourself.. The point is that “yourself” is still at the centre of the equation in those cases. It misses the point of true veganism.
I wonder how may of those recently increased numbers of people who “identified themselves as vegans” really understand what the word actually means?
I suspect far less that the figures in your article.