Vegetarian Vogue
Description of the growing mainstream “trendiness” of vegetarianism, including many societal examples.
10-15 years ago, vegetarian was a pejorative term, and now as many as 60% of Americans are eating meatless meals at least twice per week.
The number of people who call themselves “vegetarians” but eat chicken and fish is greater than the number of actual vegetarians.
A 1995 HealthFocus national survey of 2000 shoppers found that 3% followed a strict vegetarian diet, 7% usually eat vegetarian, 17% sometimes eat vegetarian, 21% rarely followed a vegetarian diet, and 52% never follow a vegetarian diet. Many individuals who consider themselves strict or usually vegetarian stated they eat limited amounts of fish or chicken.
A National Life Stock and Meat Board survey showed that 25% of adult respondents believe they should eliminate meat from their diets; 23% said they didn’t know.
Some new terms encountered are “pollo-vegetarian” and “pisco-vegetarian.”