by Mike Kravinsky

Several years ago, the Consumer Analysts Group and Safeway released research done in the U.K. At that time, there were roughly 2000 people per week switching to vegetarian diets. It was estimated that if the trend continues, by 2047 the vast majority of Britons would be vegetarians. Jan Walsh said in UK's The Mirror, "You can almost imagine that in the future it will be the norm to be vegetarian and people will have to consciously opt to eat meat, rather than the other way around." What does this mean for the future of the traditional western diet?

I've been a "sort of" vegetarian or pescetarian for a little over a year. No beef, pig, or fowl. Just plant based and fish. I had actually stopped eating beef around 3 years ago. But then a little over a year ago we inherited a Red Lored Amazon parrot, Pepo. The thing I was amazed to see, is that the bird actually felt fear (breathing heavy when there's something she's afraid of), or annoyance or impatience. Basically, emotions that I can relate to. Well, one thing led to another and I came to the conclusion that I couldn't eat birds anymore. The joke I hear the most is "don't get a fish tank".

Surprisingly, shopping for food in a mainstream grocery, or ordering in a restaurant wasn't the pain that I thought it would be. It's actually easier to find a true vegetarian dish in a restaurant than finding a fish dish I like. So if it's that easy now, does that mean there are more vegetarians? Well, yes, apparently there are.

During the last few decades, the popularity of vegetarianism has surged in the United States and Europe, by the number of people claiming to be vegetarian and the increase in published literature promoting the health benefits of vegetarian diets. In 1994 more than 12 million people in the United States reported themselves to be vegetarians, compared to 6 million in 1986 (Rajaram and Sabate, 2000).

And according to the Vegetarian Research Group of Baltimore, 3% of American children between the ages of 8-18 are now vegetarians, this is up from 1% in previous polls. About 3% of adults are vegetarians. In Europe, it is estimated that 5% of the populations of both the United Kingdom and Germany are vegetarian, and 4% of the adult population of the Netherlands follow a vegetarian diet

The American Dietetic Association says interest in vegetarianism is increasing. They have come out in press releases touting vegetarian diets. "In general, heart disease, high blood pressure, adult onset-diabetes, obesity, and some forms of cancer tend to develop less often among vegetarians than non-vegetarians." They've also dispelled the myth that there's not enough nutrition in a vegetarian diet.

As for Baby Boomers HealthFocus Trend Report published a report in 2001 revealing much interest by boomers in starting to see "food as medicine".

As boomers get older there may be more of a trend to use food as a way of maintaining a higher quality of life as well as warding off health issues such as heart disease.

Photo "Are vegetarians taking over" by Flickr user Graymalkn used under a Creative Commons license.