Rise of the Vegans!

| 4 April 2018
minute reading time

More people than ever before are choosing to enjoy a plant-based lifestyle to help their health, animals and the environment. 

According to new research from comparethemarket.com, over 3.5 million (seven per cent of people) in the UK now identify as vegan! This is a substantial increase on the number published in 2016, which said there were roughly 540,000 vegans over the age of 15 living in Great Britain. 

The latest research, supported by environmental expert Professor Carolyn Roberts, reveals which ‘green’ changes the public are making and the associated impact on the environment.

Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems.

Replacing meat and dairy with plant-based foods is one of the most effective ways to fight global warming. Professor Roberts, the first Frank Jackson Professor of the Environment at Gresham College, says that in the battle to save the environment we could be better off passing on our steak and burgers than taking the bus.

Avoiding food grown in hot-houses or air-freighted to the UK could reduce your emissions by five per cent. Cutting out all avoidable food waste by 12 per cent. Switching to less intensive meats (from lamb and beef to pork and chicken) by 18 per cent and eliminating all meat from the diet reduces food-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 35 per cent. But going vegan could halve your emissions!

In an email to Viva! Health, Professor Peter Scarborough of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food said “…a 100% plant-based diet (i.e. vegan diet) would reduce GHG emissions by about 50%”.

Despite the government’s lack of action, people are wising up to what changes they can make to reduce the impact they have on our planet.   

Your choice of food can be a problem or part of the solution in addressing climate change – the choice is yours!

A vegan diet is the only truly ‘green’ diet, associated with lower GHG emissions than that of a meat-eater, fish-eater or a vegetarian.

It’s so easy to go vegan! Try our free 30 Day Vegan meal plan. You can start anytime and we’re here to help www.viva.org.uk/30dayvegan.

 

About the author
Dr. Justine Butler
I joined Viva! as a health campaigner in 2005 after graduating from Bristol University with a PhD in molecular biology. My scientific training helped me research and write numerous reports, guides and fact sheets for Viva! including Meat the Truth, Fish-Free for Life, One in Nine (breast cancer and diet) and the substantial report on the detrimental health effects of consuming dairy; White Lies. This accompanied Viva!’s report The Dark Side of Dairy which spelt out the inherent cruelty of dairy farming. We were the first UK group to take on the dairy industry in this way, and many of our supporters go vegan after reading these reports.

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