‘Aggressive vegans’ putting people off giving up meat, study finds

26 per cent of carnivores said that they were put off changing their eating habits due to “the attitude of certain vegetarians/vegans”
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Liz Connor11 August 2017

Veganism has emerged as the fastest growing lifestyle trends in recent years, with celebrities and fitness fans flocking to the diet in droves.

But according to new research, so-called ‘aggressive’ vegans could be putting meat eaters off making the switch to a plant-based lifestyle.

A study of 2,363 meat-eating Britons found that 26 per cent of carnivores are put off changing their eating habits due to “the attitude of certain vegetarians/vegans.”

Two thirds of those surveyed said they’d considered becoming vegan or vegetarian in the past year, saying the health benefits and seeing animal cruelty footage on the internet were big factors in pushing them to make the switch.

However, when quizzed on why they were still eating meat, more than a quarter cited other vegans as a reason not to revise their diet.

Researchers asked those who flagged the attitudes of veggies for putting them off what, exactly, vegans and vegetarians had done to prevent them from switching.

The top responses were ‘they were quite aggressive to those eating meat’ (37 per cent) and ‘they consider their way of eating to be the only way’.

A further quarter said they’d been lectured about their diets by other vegans.

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Other common reasons for not going plant-based emerged from the study, which was conducted by VoucherCodesPro. Many felt that they liked the taste of meat too much to give it up, while 58 per cent said that they found meat substitutes too expensive.

According to the study group, these are the top five reasons people cited for not turning vegan or vegetarian:

  1. I like the taste of meat too much (81 per cent)
  2. Meat substitutes are too expensive (58 per cent)
  3. I’d struggle for meal ideas (50 per cent)
  4. My family eat meat and wouldn’t consider going vegetarian or vegan with me (41 per cent)
  5. The attitude of certain vegetarians/vegans has put me off (26 per cent)

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