How Many True Vegetarians?
How do you categorize whether someone is truly a vegetarian or not? A lot of people call themselves veggies because they “only” eat, say, fish, eggs and dairy … or they eat vegetarian three times a week. But a poll from the Vegetarian Resource Group is probably most reliable because it only includes people who give answers like “I never eat meat, fish, seafood, or poultry” or “I never eat meat, fish, seafood, poultry, dairy, or eggs.”
The VRC’s latest survey shows that approximately 5 percent of people in the United States say that they never eat meat, fish, seafood, or poultry. About half of these are also vegan – i.e. no dairy or eggs.
Many more are moving in the overall direction:
Six percent said they eat one vegetarian meal a week.
Four percent said they eat vegetarian one full day per week, as in the growing popularity of “Meatout Monday.”
Seventeen percent said many of their meals are veggie, but less than half the time
And 16 percent that more than half their meals are veggie, but not all the time.
More details at the Vegetarian Resource Group.