Vegetarianism declining?

July 14, 2003

It's a bit quiet here at present (to say the least!) so, in an attempt

to get some discussion going, I was wondering what people think of the

following rather depressing article:

DAILY TELEGRAPH

July 9th 2003

Vegetarians rediscover the taste of red meat

Robert Uhlig reports on the turnaround in British eating habits

by Robert Uhlig

Carnivorism is back. After years in the wilderness, knocked by food

scares, red meat consumption has returned to levels last seen before the

BSE crisis, while vegetarianism is declining for the first time since

the 1970s.

The change in British eating habits is shown in the Realeat Survey,

conducted by Gallup and cited by the Vegetarian Society as the most

reliable record of meat-eating habits, and in figures from the Meat and

Livestock Commission.

More than a million Britons abandoned vegetarianism over the past two

years, while more red meat is eaten than at any time since 1985. This

return to carnivorism was acknowledged by the Vegetarian Society

yesterday.

" There was a false high in the total number of committed vegetarians

because of the reaction to BSE and FMD, " a spokesman said.

" When you take out that peak, we have returned to pre-BSE levels, which

fits well within a pattern of gradual, steady growth over the past 25

years, from 2.1 per cent in 1984 to four per cent now. "

Vegetarianism increased strongly in the early 1990s. It peaked at 3.25

million in 1997, a year after the brain wasting disease vCJD was linked

by scientists to mad cow disease, when some 2,000 people a week were

said to be giving up meat.

But the most recent figures from the Realeat Survey, which has recorded

eating habits since 1984, show only 2.24 million Britons now claim to be

vegetarians, the lowest since 1990.

Chris Gladman, 32, of Allens butchers in Mayfair, central London, said:

" Over the past year, there has been a marked turnaround. We've seen an

increase in sales of around 30 per cent. The difference now is that

customers want organic and free range products. "

Peter Bradford, 58, the marketing manager of Fresh & Wild, an organic

food store in west London, agreed. " Many customers are going for

organically produced meats from specialist stores because they cannot

guarantee the quality of the meat otherwise. "

The Vegetarian Society has little time for those who avoid meat but eat

fish, but with the health benefits of factory-farmed fish increasingly

questioned, many former vegetarians said yesterday they were more

inclined to eat meat than anything from the sea.

Justine Bothwick, 33, a public relations executive, of Godalming,

Surrey, returned to meat after a 10-year absence because she thought it

could be a healthier option. " I decided to become a selective carnivore,

eating only meat or fish that I know has been raised well and killed

humanely. "

Kate Ewing, 31, a nutritionist who runs the Pure Foods Clinic in

Mayfair, recently turned her back on vegetarianism after 18 years. " I

became concerned that there are things in meat, such as vitamins B3 and

B12, selenium and chromium, that are in good supply in chicken, but

which you don't get much of in vegetables. I now eat organic chicken and

steak - for the iron - about twice a week and oily fish twice a week. "

Rikki Hunt, 49, a former chairman of Swindon Town football club and

owner of a string of health food shops, returned to meat after 20 years

when he realised he was not getting enough energy from vegetables for

his hobby of mountaineering.

" I'd failed to climb Aconcagua four times, then one evening I realised I

was eating plain rice while the other climbers were eating meat and

rice. I went on a high meat diet for months, returned to Aconcagua and

strolled it. I haven't looked back. "

The trend is mirrored among celebrities such as Madonna, who claimed to

be vegetarian until the birth of Lourdes, her first child, when she

professed deep admiration for the turkey burgers made by Carlos, her

daughter's father. Since marrying Guy Ritchie, the film director,

Madonna has become a fully-fledged carnivore, accompanying her husband

on pheasant shoots.

Drew Barrymore, the actress, recently turned her back on a long period

of vegetarianism. She now eats meat and wears leather shoes, while Lowri

Turner, the television presenter, admitted to succumbing to cravings for

red meat during pregnancy.

Last year at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, which for years

had one of the best vegetarian restaurants in Britain, using recipes

devised by Linda McCartney, students overturned Sir Paul McCartney's

decree that no meat should be served on the premises.

According to the Meat and Livestock Commission figures, we now consume

985,000 tons of beef a year, a third of which is imported.

Mutton and lamb sales are at their highest since 1990, and we eat more

pork than ever, though bacon consumption has hardly changed since 1995.

Only chicken, foreign supplies of which the Food Standards Agency

recently found were often adulterated with water, beef and pork proteins

to increase its weight, has declined in recent years.

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I wouldn't expect anything else from the Telegraph, but it does go to

show how hard it still is to persuade people to adopt a cruelty-free

lifestyle. It's hard not to conclude to wonder, given their attitudes,

why those lapsed vegetarians were veggie for all those years?

Chris W

July 14, 2003

There will be a day when people will look back at this era and think

of it as the diet dark ages, People consume to much meat, salt,

alcohol, caffeine & the list goes on.

The human diet is supposed to be mostly plant based if not exclusive

and we should only drink water and perhaps fruit juices.

It is true that there has been a false high, but the people who are

truly animal & environment friendly would feel guilt after consuming

meat and animal based products, it's these people that need to be

shown alternatives & it is our job to do so as our government does

not seem to want to promote any alternatives.

July 14, 2003

Hi,

I wonder if it has something to do with organic/free range dairy products

taking away the guilt of eating dairy and meat. In the past, the choice was

between battery hen eggs and no eggs, or factory farm meat and no meat, so

if someone had the slightest conscience regarding animal cruelty, they went

vegetarian/vegan. Now, however, they can eat meat and eggs from animals

which are claimed to have lived in good conditions, and so not feel so

guilty.