Statistics On Veggies!

I was curious to see how many people in the U.S. are vegetarian or vegan and if the numbers were increasing over the years. So this is some information I came across.

According the the Vegetarian Times from information collected by the Harris Interactive Service Bureau in 2008:

• 7.3 Million Americans Are Vegetarians
• 1 Million are Vegan
• 22.8 Million Follow a Vegetarian-Inclined Diet

Percentages:

• 3.2 % follow a vegetarian-based diet.
• 0.5 %, or 1 million, of those are vegans
• 10 % of U.S., adults, say they largely follow a vegetarian-inclined diet.

Demographics:

• 59 % of vegetarians are female; 41 % are male.
• 42.0 % are age 18 to 34 years old; 40.7 % are 35 to 54; and 17.4 % are over 55.
• 57.1 % have followed a vegetarian diet for more than 10 years; 18 % for 5 to 10 years; 10.8 % for 2 to 5 years, 14.1% for less than 2 years.

Other Statistics:

• Revenues for meat alternatives such as Quorn, Boca, and tempeh have increased since 2009 by 2.4 percent, or $636 million, according to data from the Soyfood Association of North America.
• In a 2005-2006 survey by Philadelphia Inquirer , 8% of college students said they were vegetarian and less than 1% identified as vegan. But the company's follow up 2009-2010 survey showss that 12% of college students are vegetarian and 2% follow a vegan lifestyle.
• The number of vegetarian youth in the United States has increased 70% in just the last few years according to a recent poll conducted by the independent research firm Harris Interactive.