FACTFILE: VEGETARIAN

Patrick Gouldsbrough

Define a vegetarian The dictionary definition states that vegetarians are “people who do not eat meat, and sometimes other animal products”. This maybe due to ethical, religious or health issues with eating meats.

Vegetarians may, but not always, environmental followers, thus the absence of mean in this specific persons diet.

As for vegans, a group who I have also been told to partially cater for, are defined by “Somebody who does not eat animal products, which includes: meat, fish, dairy and eggs”. This group will be especially difficult to cater for and may carry an expensive price, due to the high price of vegan produce, compared to regular produce.

*All definitions, which were highlighted in speech marks, were found on dictionary.com

This is an example of a vegetarian dish. This is just one of many dishes I could select for my recipe cards.

Tofu plays a large part in the vegan diet and is a main ingredient to use for vegans. This image is an example of a vegan dish, one which I may choose to select for my one of two vegan recipe cards, out of the overall eight.

Demographics:

Percentages and number breakdown:

National diet SurveyIn 2010, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) reported that 583 children and 548 adults were vegetarians in the UK. By 2012 however, this number had rose to 1,582 children and 1,491 adults. These figures show that more people are making the effort to cut meat out of their diet, for reasons, that can be found on the next slide.

Vegetarian food market reportContrary to the previous research, this report found that between the years of 2001 and 2011, the amount of people who were completely vegetarian had fallen from 3 million to 1.9 million. This could be due to a vegetarian converting to a pollo-pescetarian (Someone who has cut red meat out their diet, but still has chicken in it) or the vegetarian had returned meat to their diet.

Age demographic breakdown:

(According to the FSA)

Children 2012 – 1,582 children in the UK were vegetarians 2011 – 1,095 children in the UK were vegetarians 2010 – 583 children in the UK were vegetarians

Adults2012 – 1,491 adults in the UK were vegetarians 2011 – 1,031 adults in the UK were vegetarians 2010 – 548 adults in the UK were vegetarians

Demographics:Gender demographics:

DEFRAIn 2007, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) did a study that showed 3% of the UK population were vegetarian. They also reported that out of that 3%, males made up 2% of that, while females made up 3% of it, making the average of that 3%. As well as this research in 2007, the Low Income Diet and Nutrition Survey was published by the FSA, which stated the same findings from the same year.

In the same report by DEFRA, a vegan study was published as well. It showed that 2% of the UK population were Vegan, but instead of a female dominated demographic, males now had the majority of vegans in the UK in 2007 (Male 3% Female 2%).

*Since that 2007 report, no other gender demographic information has been released and observation must be made from these figures.

*Due to various institutions doing research on vegetarianism, the figures that are published may not be 100% accurate. This is because these institutions don’t have enough resources or man power to research absolutely everyone in the UK, therefore assumptions must be made. This is why, when I come to make my decision on the demographics to choose, I won’t rely solely on this research.

Conclusions of the demographics:Dependant on the institution you read, vegetarianism is on the rise, compared to statistics shown from 2007. The FSA say it’s on the rise, while the Vegetarian food market report stated that it is not. However, the latter report couldn’t produce detailed breakdowns on demographics, only assumptions on the whole of the UK population. As for gender demographics, my recipe cards should be gender neutral, maybe using neutral colours like white, instead of using gender biased colours like blue and pink. Even though the research does say vegetarianism is a female majority subject, it’s a close percentage and should be thought about in the design section of this project. Younger audience demographic features may also be the features to use, due to the research stating that more children have converted to vegetarianism, compared to adults. Brighter colours, more informal language and a bolder border could be ways of producing my recipe cards for a younger target demographic.

Reasons:Ethical •Many see the slaughter of animals as inhumane and wrong, this maybe a reason for people converting to vegetarianism. As you saw from the statistics though, people may see the cull of animals as inhumane, but it doesn’t stop them eating meat, as the figures on the last slide.

•A lot, but not all vegetarians are heavily involved environmentally. Vegetarians is the killing of animals, which are part of the environment itself, as well as many animals helping plants and shrubs to grow naturally, which the cull of these animals won’t help.

Health•Heart and health issues are linked to the consumption of red meat. Some people choose to cut this out of their diet to be healthier, but some cut it out because they have to, due to their potential deteriorating health. However, as mentioned on the previous slide, people could instead be pollo-pescetarian of a pescetarian (Someone who eats fish, but cuts meat out of their diet.

The environment is a major reason for people converting to vegetarianism

A diet for a vegetarian. This meat free diet enables a healthier diet.

ReligionSome religions believe you shouldn’t eat meat or that animals should be killed in a certain way, in order to eat it. For example, vegetarianism is compulsory for Hindus and Mahayana Buddhists. While Muslims require the animal to be killed by slitting the throat, while the blood of the animal must be drained. A prayer must also be offered up, while it’s compulsory for a Muslim man to perform the slaughter of the animal. This way of killing an animal is unconventional and is becoming more uncommon. For example, in the news recently, Denmark have outlawed the killing of animals in this way, which may prompt other European nations to do the same.

This information was found on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism_and_religion

Along with health issues, these are he only two reasons that compulsory vegetarianism may be taken.

Companies:

Quorn This company produce a product that is meant to be the vegetarian substitute for meat. This faux food is made from fungus and comes in various forms, such as: mince, fillets and chunks. Concerns over the manufacture of Quorn is one of the reasons it is not a fully vegetarian approve company, with some vegetarians staying clear of this corporation, and instead consuming products from other companies (some of which are feature later in this slide).

Linda McCartney foodsA company whose products are vegetarian friendly, with some of them also been vegan friendly also. A few examples of some food that the Linda McCartney company produces is: Vegetarian Burgers, Pasta, Sausages and pies.

AlproAs well as producing lactose free milk, which is suitable for those that are lactose intolerant, this company produces vegetarian approved products. They do this by making sure their products are natural, and not genetically modified.

As well as all the companies who produce vegetarian products, there are also those who advertise and campaign these products. One example is:

The Vegetarian Society The company I am producing the recipe cards for, help to make people aware of vegetarianism,while producing information and recipes for their vegetarian followers. Another function of this organisation is the statistics they produce for the vegetarian market.

Non vegetarian products:Soup – While the obvious chicken soups will be avoided by vegetarians, soups, especially ones found in restaurants are sometimes added to, using things like: chicken stock, Beef stock and Fish stock.

Various Salad dressing – Again, one thing that people believe to be vegetarian friendly, occasionally, is not. Supermarket bought salad dressing is suitable for vegetarians, unless stated. However, in restaurants, bacon fat and beef fat is sometimes added to the salad.

Tortillas – An ingredient in many tortillas used to be animal fat (lard). While many companies stopped using the ingredient for tortillas a decade ago, some companies still use it, so vegetarians should be wary before consuming tortillas.

Gelatin – This product may look like a clear product, but it is made out of animal bones, skin, tendon and hooves. This then can not be consumed by a vegetarian or vegan. Instead, if Gelatin is required for a vegetarian recipe, the most popular substitute is:

Agar-Agar – This is made out of seaweed, which is processed using food processes, and can be consumed by vegetarians.

*The information for these products were found on: http://www.nomeatathlete.com/non-vegetarian-foods/ and http://www.peta.org/living/food/gelatin-alternatives/

All these products might contain ingredients that are not vegetarian approved

Bibliography:

http://dictionary.reference.com/ (definitions on page 2)

http://herbivoracious.com/images/old/6a00e008d618bb88340133eca2b5ae970b-500wi.jpg (Vegetarian image on page 2)

http://vegan8korean.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/general-tsos-8.jpg (Vegan image on page 2)

https://www.vegsoc.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=756 (demographic information on slides 3 and 4)

http://www.rochecivilengineering.com/quality/csr-environment/ (the environment image on slide 5)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarian_Diet_Pyramid (vegetarian diet image on page 5)

http://www.personalwellbeingcentre.org/business/clients.html (The Alpro logo on page 6)

Bibliography:

http://www.lifeinabreakdown.com/quorn-a-healthy-alternative/ (The Quorn logo on slide 6)

http://www.igimages.co.uk/blogarchive/2009/octoberblog.html (The Linda McCartney logo – Slide 6)

http://whatscookingamerica.net/CynthiaPineda/Tortilla/TortillaMaking.htm (Tortilla image on slide 7)

http://algarveblog.net/2011/11/19/three-soups-and-a-banana-loaf-cake/ (Soup image on page 7)

http://www.peta.org/living/food/gelatin-alternatives/ (Information about Gelatin alternatives – Slide 7)

http://chadzilla.typepad.com/chadzilla/2006/12/hot_gelatin.html (Gelatine image on page 7)

http://www.internationalfoodco.com/halal-meats/ (Halal Image on slide 5)

Bibliography:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism_and_religion (Slide 6 - The religion section of the slide.