Study: 55% of Americans Plan to Eat More Plant-Based Foods This Year
The results are in: Americans are officially opening their minds to vegan eats. According to a recent study by Wakefield Research, 55 percent of U.S. residents plan to eat more plant-based foods this year.
Of the 55 percent, 36 percent say they’re going to eat somewhat more; and 19 percent, much more.
The research was commissioned by House Foods (a leading tofu purveyor), and the results are in line with other, similar studies and indicators pointing to major change. Plant-based food was named a top trend for 2016, and a 2015 study indicated that 36 percent of Americans are open to plant-based eating.
“We think these survey results are indicating a real shift in how Americans think about and consume food,” Yoko Difrancia, pr & marketing manager at House Foods, America, tells Latest Vegan News. “There has been more widespread adoption of plant-based foods due to various reasons and this will continue to grow. Younger Americans (Millennials) in particular are leading the charge as they seek out healthier options. People are more conscious than ever about what they’re eating.”
Also, according to the new data, “More than 1 in 3 (35 percent) Americans admit they like tofu, including 45 percent of Millennials. Americans who like tofu eat it up because it’s healthy (67 percent), while those who don’t cite taste as the issue (59 percent).” (Of course, not knowing how to prepare tofu is a major barrier — lots of people mistakenly believe it’s tasteless, but clearly they’re not using the right recipes.)
The study included “1,015 nationally representative U.S. adults ages 18+ between March 7th and March 11th, 2016, using an email invitation and an online survey.”
Also of note from the survey: more women (60 percent) are planning to add protein to their diets this year than men (49 percent); Americans in general are planning to add more protein (55 percent); and more women (61 percent) are planning to eat more plant-based foods this year than men (49 percent).
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It’s positive, although what people say they will do and what they actually do are not the same thing! Let’s hope the trend to consuming healthier, and planet-friendlier, food continues.
Great article and this is why I created a FB page called “Super Quick Plant-Based Recipes” – to help meat/dairy lovers see how quick and easy it can be to make PB meals. Thank you!
Great article and for this reason, I created a FB page called Super Quick Plant-Based Recipes – to help meat/dairy lovers see how quick and easy it is to eat plant-based. I offer daily recipes that take only 5-20 minutes to prepare. Hopefully this will be a great motivation to give it a try.