A Quarter of UK will Be Vegetarian Within 25 Years, Claims New Research

16 May 2016 --- A quarter of the UK will become vegetarian within the next 25 years, as the country becomes more health conscious, claims new research.

The research, carried out by Linda McCartney Foods which specializes in vegetarian food, means the proportion of people across the country who are already shunning meat will be more than double in 25 years.

Currently 12 percent of Britons are meat-free – rising to 20 percent in the 18 to 30 age group.

The figure has already doubled from 6 percent a quarter of a century ago.

As people look to become more health conscious, millions have ditched meat and fish from their diet.

The research also found that nearly six in ten plan to cut their meat consumption – due to health reasons but also due to animal welfare concerns and to save money.

People across the country are eating an average seven percent less red meat than they were 25 years ago, matching similar reductions in other developed nations.

The vegetarian market is worth £820 million ($1.2bn) a year in the UK – four times what it was in 1991 – and is predicted to grow to £2.38 billion ($3.4bn) a year by 2041.

According to professor David Hughes, from Imperial College, London, the rise in the number of vegetarians is partly down to people becoming more health conscious.

Hughes: “As you turn 60 you wish to change your diet as you realise exercise and food underpin performance and appearance.”

Sir Paul McCartney, the first husband of Linda McCartney who died at the age of 56 from breast cancer said: “Our family love being involved today in her legacy. We are incredibly proud of the brand she created.”

“Vegetarianism is the way for us all to eat and live.”