Two-thirds of men in Britain would rather die five to ten years earlier than giving up meat, according to a new survey. It would be a hard thing for us Yorkshire folk to give up a bit of beef and roast chicken in our Sunday Roast that’s for sure. Men surveyed believed that the meatless diets are less masculine with one in ten believing this – whilst one-quarter of women surveyed believed the same.
OnePoll surveyed 2,000 people for the charity No Meat May and found that more than one in 20 men would rather go to jail than stop eating meat 0 and 11% of 25-35-year-olds felt this way.
Vegetarian and vegan restaurants are becoming more common, especially in our cities, and with the health benefits that are associated with their diets, it’s easy to see why. More and more young people are starting to choose a plant-based diet, but is it the oldies that are being left behind? 35% of men said they would change to a plant-based diet for certain health benefits.
Half of the British people surveyed said they had at least one female friend who is veggie or vegan compared to 38% of male who had a male friend. The numbers decrease rapidly when you look at those over the age of 65 with only 15% who knew a vegetarian male friend and 5% who knew a vegan friend.
Whilst 76% of people said they care about the environment only 26% said they would stop eating meat to reduce environmental impact.
The campaigning charity noted around 90% of sign-ups this year are women, emphasising a “major disparity between the sexes in their attitudes towards adopting a meat-free diet. “
Dr Shireen Kassam, founder of Plant Based Health Professionals UK, added: ‘This survey highlights a real disconnect between the science and public attitudes relating to meat consumption.
“Given that eating meat, particularly red and processed meat, is a leading risk factor for some of our commonest chronic illnesses, it is quite alarming to learn how entrenched some myths and beliefs about a vegan diet actually are.
“This is undoubtedly a result of decades of effective marketing and PR by the meat industry.”
