Generation Z and millennials are the age-groups with the highest percentage of people eating a meat-free diet, a study has revealed.
Data from finder.com shows 20% of gen Z are already eating meat-free, narrowly ahead of 19% of millennials.
The news comes fresh off the back of Veganuary 2021, which proved to be the most popular ever.
Generation Z encompasses people born in the late 90s and early 00s, the generation that grew up with technology as an extension of themselves, whilst millennials are the generation apparently obsessed with crushed avocado bagels that was born in the late 80s to early 90s.
Valentina Iannucci, a 25-year-old vegan chef, was only 19 when she adopted a plant-based diet after taking a course in naturopathic medicine.
She explained that she suffered from depression to the point of crying in the mirror and not wanting to wake up in the morning, and that she cured herself with food.
Iannucci said: “I think young people are more aware of the damage that’s around us due to technology being advanced.
“You can Google what the Amazon rainforest looks like but if you’d asked your parents if they knew what the other side of the world would look like they wouldn’t have known because they didn’t have that 24-hour surveillance that we have, which is a gift.”
A 2013 American scientific study found that a vegan diet decreased obesity and cardiovascular risk, and that a vegan diet is safe for children.
A Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study in 2016 found that a global move to a vegan diet could decrease global mortality by 6–10% and food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 29–70%.
Iannucci added: “There’s just so much more we can do as a conscious society and I really do have hope for the future, like generation Z.
“Until I die the voice coming out of my mouth is the voice to save animals and the planet because they don’t have health insurance, life insurance, housing benefit.
“They are the most vulnerable, innocent creatures of our land and we exploit them for a barcode in a supermarket when we can get our nutrients from plants.”
If you are thinking about trying a vegan diet, here is an NHS guide to healthy vegan eating.
Picture credits: Valentina Iannucci
