Around the world, vegetarianism is viewed in different lights. In some areas, there is cultural and even legal support, such as in India and the United Kingdom, where food labelling is in place which can make it easier for vegetarians to identify foods compatible with their diets.[1] The results of a recent International survey suggest the definitions of vegetarianism vary from nation to nation. Vegetarians in some nations consume more animal products than those in other nations.[2]
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In China, although full vegetarianism is a fairly rare practice, vegetarianism has been around since at least the 7th century and has been practised by devout Buddhists. In recent years, it has seen a new resurgence in the cities as the emerging middle class in China pay attention to issues of health and diet.[3] In 2010, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao (溫家寶總理), proposed a nationwide campaign of "one day of vegetarianism every week" (每週一素), mainly as part of a broader environmental platform.[4]
In Taiwan, 1.7 million people, or 10% of the population of Taiwan, follows a vegetarian diet at least some of the time.[5][6] There are more than 6,000 vegetarian eating establishments in Taiwan.[7] Food labelling laws for vegetarian food are the world's strictest, because more than 2 million Taiwanese use vegetarian food.[8] A popular movement of "one day vegetarian every week" has been advocated on a national level,[9] and on a local level, even government bodies are involved, such as the Taibei City Board of Education.[10]
In India, vegetarianism is usually synonymous with lacto vegetarianism. Most restaurants in India clearly distinguish and market themselves as being either "non-vegetarian", "vegetarian", or "pure vegetarian". Vegetarian restaurants abound, usually, many vegetarian (Shakahari: plant-eater, in Sanskrit) options are available. Animal-based ingredients (other than milk and honey) such as lard, gelatin, and meat stock are not used in the traditional cuisine.
According to the 2006 Hindu-CNN-IBN State of the Nation Survey,[11] 31% of Indians are vegetarians, while another 9% consumes eggs. Among the various communities, vegetarianism was most common among Jains, Brahmins at 55%, and less frequent among Muslims (3%) and residents of coastal states. Other surveys cited by FAO[12] and USDA[13][14] estimate 20%–42% of the Indian population as being vegetarian. These surveys indicate that even Indians who do eat meat, do so infrequently, with less than 30% consuming it regularly, although the reasons are partially economical.[14]
India has devised a system of marking edible products made from only vegetarian ingredients, with a green dot in a green square. A mark of a brown dot in a brown square conveys that some animal-based ingredients were used.[15]
Recent growth in India's organized retail has also been hit by some controversy, because some vegetarians are demanding meatless supermarkets.[16]
In Australia, some manufacturers who target the vegetarian market will label their foods with the statement "suitable for vegetarians"; however, for foods intended for export to the UK, this labelling can be inconsistent because flavourings in ingredients lists do not need to specify if they come from animal origin. As such, natural flavour could be derived from either plant or animal sources.
Animal rights organisations such as Animal Liberation promote vegan and vegetarian diets. "Vegetarian Week" runs from 01 – 7 October every year,[17] and food companies are taking advantage of the growing number of vegetarians by producing meat-free alternatives of popular dishes, including sausages and mash and Spaghetti Bolognese.[18]
According to a 2010 Newspoll Survey, 5% of Australians say they are vegetarians with 2% of them actually eating a vegetarian diet.[19]
The definition of vegetarianism throughout Europe is not uniform, creating the potential for products to be labelled inaccurately.[1]
Since May 2009, Belgium has the first city in the world (Ghent) with a weekly "veggie day".[20] More info about the veggieday here.
In October 2011, the European Vegetarian Union reported that the French government's Décret 2011-1227 and associated Arrêté (September 30, 2011) effectively outlaws the serving of vegan meals at any public or private school in France. Similar decrees are proposed for kindergartens, hospitals, prisons and retirement homes.[21]
According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Germany has over six million vegetarians.[22] A survey conducted by Institut Produkt und Markt, found that 9% of the population (7,380,000 people) are vegetarian,[23] which the Italian research institute Eurispes reports as the second highest rate of vegetarianism in the European Union (after Italy).[24]
The Italian research institute Eurispes reports that according to the European Vegetarian Union, Italy has over six million vegetarians and the highest rate of vegetarianism in the European Union, at 10% of the population.[24]
Vegetarianism is fairly common in the Netherlands. A study has shown that the number of vegetarians out of a population of nearly 16.5 million people increased from 560,000 in 2004 to 720,000 in 2006.[25][26] It is estimated that 4.5% of the Dutch population don't eat meat.[27][28] The number of part-time vegetarians grew rapidly as well: around 3.5 million Dutch citizens abstain from eating meat a few days a week.[26]
The sales of meat substitutes has an annual growth of around 25%, making it one of the fastest-growing markets in the Netherlands.[26] In supermarkets and stores, it is sometimes necessary to read the fine print on products in order to make sure that there are no animal-originated ingredients. Increasingly, however, vegetarian products are labeled with the international "V-label," overseen by the Dutch vegetarian association Vegetarisch Keurmerk.[29]
Veganism is uncommon in the Netherlands: the Dutch Association for Veganism estimates that there are approximately 16,000 vegans in the Netherlands, or around 0.1% of the Dutch population.[30]
The Vegetarian Society of Portugal was founded c. 1908 by Amílcar de Sousa.[31] In 2007, the number of vegetarians in Portugal was estimated at 30,000, which equates to less than 0.3% of the population.[32]
In Spain, vegetarian restaurants and stores are rare.[33] Some Spanish vegetarians argue that this situation is due to the fact that the Franco Regime strongly discouraged vegetarianism, which it associated with the political left. It was not until 1975 that doctors were allowed to discuss the health benefits of vegetarianism and vegetarian restaurants were permitted to do business again.[34]
According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Switzerland has the second highest rate of vegetarianism in the European Union (even though Switzerland is not in the EU, it was most likely included with the other EU countries for this study).[22] Older governmental data from 1997 suggest that 2.3% of the population never eat meat and the observed trend seemed to point towards less meat consumption.[35] Newer studies suggest that the percentage of vegetarians has risen to 5% by 2007.[35]
In the United Kingdom, increasing numbers of people have adopted a vegetarian diet since the end of World War II.[36] The Food Standards Agency Public Attitudes to Food survey 2009 reported that 3% of respondents were found to be "completely vegetarian", with an additional 5% "partly vegetarian (don't eat some types of fish or meat)".[37] Some independent market studies suggest that vegetarians constitute 7% to 11% of the UK adult population (4 million people).[38][39][40]As of 2003[update], the Vegetarian Society estimates that there are between three and four million vegetarians in the UK.[41] There are twice as many vegetarian women as men.[40] Despite the clear classification by the Vegetarian Society, some people in the UK wrongly identify as vegetarians while still eating fish, either for health reasons, or because of differing ethical perspectives on vegetarianism, while others use the term "flexitarian" or part-vegetarian.[36] As of 2009, people in the UK are now also being identified with the labels "meat-avoiders" and "meat-reducers" by marketeers, denoting people who do not self-identify as vegetarians, but are reducing or avoiding meat for reasons of health or climate change impacts, with one survey identifying 23% of the population as "meat-reducers", and 10% as "meat-avoiders", although the same survey indicated the "vast majority" in the UK still eat meat, with one-in-five eating meat every day.[36] According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the UK has the third highest rate of vegetarianism in the European Union.[22]
"Vegetarian" and "vegan" are not terms defined in law at either a UK or European level. Nonetheless, foods labelled as suitable for vegetarians or vegans are subject to provisions within the Trades Descriptions Act 1968.[42] The Food Standards Agency issues guidance on the labelling of foods as suitable for vegetarians:
The term 'vegetarian' should not be applied to foods that are, or are made from or with the aid of, products derived from animals that have died, have been slaughtered, or animals that die as a result of being eaten. Animals means farmed, wild or domestic animals, including for example, livestock poultry, game, fish, shellfish, crustaceans, amphibians, tunicates, echinoderms, molluscs, and insects.—Food Standards Agency [43]
In addition to voluntary labelling, the Vegetarian Society operates a scheme whereby foods that meet its criteria can be labelled "Vegetarian Society approved".[44] Under this scheme, a product is vegetarian if it is free of meat, fowl, fish, shellfish, meat or bone stock, animal or carcass fats, gelatin, aspic, or any other ingredient resulting from slaughter, such as rennet.[45] Cheese is often labelled as well, making it possible to identify cheeses that have been made with rennet derived from non-animal sources. Many hard cheeses in continental Europe contain rennet derived from animal sources.[46]
In 2004, Marly Winckler, President of the Brazilian Vegetarian Society claimed that 5% of the population is vegetarian.[47] According to a 2011 survey undertaken by the Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion and Statistics, 9% of the population identified themselves as vegetarian.[48]
In Canada, vegetarianism is usually synonymous with lacto-ovo-vegetarianism. However, vegetarians are sometimes wrongly assumed to be pescetarians or pollotarians who tolerate the flesh of fish or poultry, respectively. Approximately 4.0% of adults are vegetarians as of 2003[update].[49]
Vegetarianism was endorsed in the United States in 1838 by the American Health Convention. In fact, in 1971, only 1 percent of U.S. citizens described themselves as vegetarians, but vegetarianism became an increasingly attractive and accepted dietary option by the century's end. A 2000 Zogby Poll sponsored by the Vegetarian Resource Group found that 2.5 percent of respondents reported not eating meat, poultry, or fish while 4.5 percent reported not eating meat."[50] A 2008 Harris Interactive study of 5,050 respondents found that "approximately 0.5%, or 1 million [Americans] are vegans, who consume no animal products at all," while a significantly higher number, 3.2% of U.S. adults (7.3 million people) "follow a vegetarian-based diet" and 10% of U.S. adults, or 22.8 million people, "say they largely follow a vegetarian-inclined diet." [51]
Many children [in the United States] whose parents follow vegetarian diets follow them because of religious or ethical beliefs, for animal rights, or for environmental or other reasons.[52] In fact, in the government's first estimate[53] of how many children avoid meat, the number is about 1 in 200.[54][55] [Some people] suspect that this is one reason the most recent poll [that one website took] found that 3 percent of 8- to 18-year-olds [in the United States] are vegetarian. Also, the CDC survey included children ages 0 to 17 years. Possibly, older children are more likely to follow a vegetarian diet, so differences in age could explain some of the difference in results between the surveys.[52]
U.S. vegetarian food sales have doubled since 1998, reaching $1.6 billion in 2003. The vegetarian and vegan population is expected to continue its increase steadily.[56]
A 2002 poll of American adults[57] found the following reasons for choosing a vegetarian lifestyle:
| Health | 32% |
| Because of chemicals and hormones in meat products | 15% |
| Don't like the taste of meat | 13% |
| Love of animals | 11% |
| Animal rights | 10% |
| Religious reasons | 6% |
| Concern for the planet | 4% |
| To lose weight | 3% |
| To reduce hunger and famine worldwide | 1% |
By U.S. law, food packaging is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and therefore, generally, must be labeled with a list of all its ingredients.[58][59] However, there are exceptions. For example, certain trace ingredients that are "ingredients of ingredients" do not need to be listed.[60]
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