Why are so many young people giving up on being vegetarian or vegan?

Evening Standard

If you met me this time last year, at some point during our conversation I’d beam with an irritating sense of pride as I told you that I’d been a vegetarian for four years. “Oh, I could never be vegetarian!” you might respond, to which I’d whip out my go-to response: a smile and a cheery, “Each to their own!”. Internally, however, I’d scoff at your selfish lifestyle choice and clear disregard for the environmental implications of eating meat. But unbeknownst to me, over the course of 2024 I would slowly become the person I once turned my nose up at. What started with a few drunken chicken tenders after a night out turned into a visit to In-N-Out burger in California. A Madrid stay consisted of nightly charcuterie boards, which has now thrown me onto a slippery slope of ordering a meat dish whenever I’m out for dinner. January 2024 Jordan would be shocked, disgusted, aghast.

Transcript

00:00Are young people giving up on meat-free diets?

00:02According to research, the uptick of vegetarianism and veganism

00:06amongst the younger generations is still going strong.

00:0950% of Gen Z plan to be meat-free this year,

00:12as do just over a third of millennials.

00:14I'm a vegan.

00:15I am a vegetarian.

00:17I haven't eaten meat since I was about eight years old.

00:19I was like really into animal rights and I was like,

00:22might as well just give it up.

00:23However, while this might be true,

00:25it seems a lot of young people are also giving up on plant-based diets.

00:29A different study showed this was the case for a fifth of 19 to 22 year olds.

00:33I have been full vegan.

00:34I woke up one morning and I had just like crazy intense cravings for meat.

00:38So I broke my vegetarianism and I haven't really looked back.

00:41So what's caused this shift?

00:44One reason is the catastrophic state of the environment.

00:47Maybe it's because people feel like nihilistic about climate change

00:51and think that there's nothing they can do.

00:54I think there's disillusionment that any one individual

00:58can really do anything environmentally by not eating meat.

01:02Another is the high price of meat alternatives.

01:04Last year, Sky News found that fake sausages,

01:07burgers and milk were on average a third more expensive

01:10than animal-based equivalents in UK supermarkets.

01:13And there's also the emerging ultra-processed food argument.

01:17Some, albeit disputed, research has suggested

01:20that plant-based meat alternatives are ultra-processed

01:23and therefore worse for you.

01:25There's also a higher chance of plant-based consumers

01:27eating more ultra-processed food that is vegan by default,

01:30such as bread and crisps.

01:32So this is also causing people to make the switch.

01:35Perhaps expect to hear an increase of young people

01:38identifying as a flexitarian in 2025.

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