I regularly read articles about the spread of veganism throughout the world. In case you are not similarly inclined, here are just a few snippets of news from 2017:
VEGAN ALTERNATIVES MAKE UP 40% OF NEW ‘DAIRY’ STYLE PRODUCTS.
UK’S VEGAN ‘MEAT’ MARKET TO GROW 25% WITHIN THE NEXT 4 YEARS.
NEARLY 50% OF AMERICANS SUPPORT A BAN ON SLAUGHTERHOUSES.
40% OF CONSUMERS ARE TRYING TO INCLUDE MORE VEGAN FOODS INTO EVERY MEAL.
VEGAN MARKET IN CHINA PREDICTED TO RISE BY 17% BY 2020.
DEMAND FOR VEGAN FOOD HAS SPIKED BY 140%.
MORE ‘MAINSTREAM’ RESTAURANTS ARE NOW OFFERING VEGAN MENUS AT LEAST ONE DAY PER WEEK.
GLOBAL PLANT BASED MILK MARKET SET TO REACH $21.6 BILLION BY 2022.
SWITZERLAND HAS BANNED THE BOILING ALIVE OF LOBSTERS.
GOOGLE TRENDS SHOW A 90% INCREASE IN VEGAN SEARCHES.
MORE THAN 1.5 MILLION AMERICANS OVER 17 ARE NOW VEGAN.
VEGANUARY 2017 HAD OVER 59,500 PARTICIPANTS GLOBALLY.
44% OF CONSUMERS IN GERMANY NOW FOLLOW A LOW-MEAT DIET.
'GOING VEGAN’ IS PREDICTED TO BE THE BIGGEST FOOD TREND OF 2018
This is all cheering stuff, isn’t it? It’s easy to imagine that slowly but surely, the message is getting through and that ultimately, a vegan lifestyle will proliferate to such an extent that it predominates global eating habits.
Yet the momentary glow I get from reading statistics like those above, can easily be extinguished by those below.
THE UNITED NATIONS REPORTS THAT THE DEMAND FOR MEAT IS INCREASING AND WILL HAVE RISEN BY 70% BY THE YEAR 2050.
THIS WILL REQUIRE THE SLAUGHTER OF OVER 300 BILLION ANIMALS ANNUALLY.
OF THOSE CHOOSING A VEGETARIAN/VEGAN DIET, 84% ABANDON IT.
Statistics, as we all know, can paint any picture we choose to see.
Clearly, if progress is being made, there’s a long way to go before the majority of the population will look at the carnage of theriocide and ask themselves “How could we ever do that?”
In the meantime, those of us who truly care about animals and want to make a change, cannot afford to be complacent.
Not for one moment.