A 2023 Gallup survey found that 4% of Americans described themselves as vegetarian, and 1% described themselves as vegan. This was down from 6% and 2%, 18 years earlier. The vegetarian/vegan community is very small – far smaller than might be expected based on the broad media coverage promoting “plant-based” eating the past few years.
But here we are: The collapse of the vegan boom
and here: Veganism and the Plant-Based Diet Have Officially Peaked
Several studies found about half of “vegetarians” admit to eating fish or meat from time to time. Self-identifying as vegetarian is not so much about not eating meat as it is signaling something such as “I care about my diet and health”, or “I care about climate change”. It is an activity and a label that says, “I care” (or it looks like I care), and gives the individual a group identity.
The media promoted “plant-based” eating, partly by tying it into human induced climate change – but mostly just because it seemed like a new thing. In northern climates, it is only possible to be vegetarian or vegan due to modern, global, food supply chains, modern transportation, and food storage (including freezing, refrigeration, canning).
Sometimes it is tied to health outcomes. Some studies, for example, will say that meat eaters may have a 22% higher risk of heart disease. But when confounding variables are addressed, these studies mostly show that skinny people have lower risk of heart disease than overweight people – and vegetarians/vegans have, on average, a lower BMI.
There are a lot of people who “did everything right” – runners, vegetarian, working as medical professionals – and they had heart attacks anyway. Because heart disease is far more complex than the highly simplified view promoted by the AHA and media stories.
Eat however you want, and in a way that works for you. Your own eating style might not work for everyone else.
