A survey of 2000 Americans conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Modern Table revealed that more Americans are trying plant-based diets. Of the participants, 1 in 5 said their diet had changed significantly in the last five years.
Americans have made changes to their diet
About 19% of the respondents said their diet has become different over time. Reasons given for the difference in diet included raised environmental concerns (19%), change in personal preference (35%) and changes in their dietary and health needs (41%).
About 53% said what they ate hadn’t changed by much. This could be because 75% of the participants follow health guidelines or diet to help them make food choices. The most commonly used approach was calorie counting (38%), followed by intermittent fasting (26%) and ketogenic eating (20%).
About 48% of the respondents referred to themselves as omnivorous as they chose to eat both plant and animal products. However, 17% were carnivorous and consumed meat products with no plants in their diet. A smaller portion of women (12%) than men (26%) had an all-meat diet.
About 1 in 3 participants tended to favour or only eat plant-based products referring to themselves as vegetarians, flexitarian or vegan. Exclusively vegan participants were rarer (3%). Some of the participants (51%) went as far as labelling the vegan diet as rabbit food.
More Americans are trying vegan foods
Despite their attitudes towards veganism, 46% of the respondents admitted that they had considered or tried going vegan at some point. Another 1 in 10 said they consume more vegan foods, while 60% had tried making their own.
Among the participants who had tried cooking vegan food, 48% said they did it to make healthy food. When asked to describe vegan food, they used terms such as natural (38%), plant-based (48%) and healthful (49%).
According to Nick Banuelos, a spokesperson for the Modern Table, most people assume that going vegan involves giving up your favourites meals, cutting out protein and sacrificing taste.
The difference between vegan and non-vegan products is barely noticeable. Although 46% claim to know the difference between the two, about 50% have admitted not knowing something was vegan until later.
