Research suggests 7 per cent of UK residents identify as vegan!

Posted on the 3rd April 2018

The latest research from comparethemarket.com – supported by Gresham College professor Carolyn Roberts – suggests that 7 per cent of the UK population identify as vegan, and a further 14 per cent have switched to vegetarianism.

The study looked at ways in which people are trying to reduce their impact upon the environment, including through changing eating habits. What’s even more interesting is that 80 per cent of respondents said they would rather give up eating meat than their car – which would actually have a greater impact on reducing ones carbon footprint.

Animal farming is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than all of the world’s motorised transport combined – this includes cars, planes, trains, trucks and ships. The carbon footprint of a vegan diet is as much as 60 per cent smaller than a meat-eater’s diet. The production of meat is also the leading cause of deforestation and water pollution globally.

Professor Roberts states:

β€œFrom farm to fork and beyond, food accounts for about 20 percent of all of our greenhouse gas emissions […] Estimates suggest that if all of our meat eaters switched to a vegan diet, it would roughly halve total greenhouse gas emissions associated with food.”

If you care about the planet, why not give it a go yourself?

Read the full report by comparethemarket.com

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