At the height of the mad cow disaster in Great Britain, vegetarian groups in the United Kingdom and elsewhere trumpeted the millions of people who were embracing vegetarianism. But a recent Gallup survey of eating habits in the UK suggests that those same people are now abandoning vegetarianism as the BSE risk has turned out to be far lower than initially believed.
Gallup has conducted its Realeat Survey in the UK since 1984. In 1997, a year after the connection between Mad Cow Disease and vCJD was confirmed, the number of people who told Gallup that they were vegetarians peaked at an all time high of 3.25 million.
Gallup’s latest survey, however, shows only 2.24 million people in the UK are vegetarians — the lowest number since 1990.
A Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom spokesman told The Daily Telegraph,
There was a false high in the total number of committed vegetarians because of the reaction to BSE and FMD.
When you take out that peak, we have returned to pre-BSE levels, which fits well within a pattern of gradual, steady growth over the past 25 years, from 2.1 per cent in 1984 to four per cent now.
Some animal rights groups, notably Vegetarians International Voice for the Animals, tried to dismiss the numbers, noting that a) these numbers were first released last year, and b) the trendline for vegetarianism in the United Kingdom is still positive.
There are two problems with that line, however. First, since this survey asks people whether they self-define themselves as vegetarians, whether or not these people are really vegetarians is debatable, and the number of vegetarians in the UK is likely significantly less than even the 2.24 million the survey arrives at.
Second, despite the Mad Cow disease scare, per capita red meat consumption in the United Kingdom is at its highest level since 1985.
Sources:
Daily Telegraph Publishes Year-Old News Story. Vegetarians International Voice for the Animals, Media Release, July 10, 2003.
Vegetarians rediscover the taste of red meat. Robert Uhlig, Daily Telegraph (London), July 9, 2003.