The attachment links for the Faunalytics study are now fixed. Thanks again for point out the issue.
We cover a lot of ground in those reports, and much of it corroborates what you say in this post. I’m not sure where the assumption of exponential growth comes from, however. Our research has shown that the proportion of vegans/vegetarians has not increased substantially in the past decade. There may be exponential growth with Google searches of the term “vegan,” but that doesn’t mean the vegan population is growing.
Rather, the reduction in farmed animal slaughter and the rise of vegan food alternatives is being driven by “part-time” abstainers. That’s where we see the exponential growth. With that said, I certainly agree the growth rate is more important than the absolute number of vegans. The challenge is that research on low-incidence populations like vegans/vegetarians is hard, especially when tracking changes over time.
In addition to helping people maintain a nutritious and plentiful diet while being veg*n, animal advocate also need to work on making veganism less of a purist identity and to make it more inclusive. Following are the recommendations copied from our report:
Improve Vegetarian/Vegan Retention
Target Demographics – Target outreach activities toward those who are most likely to adhere to the diet. Current and lapsed vegetarians/
vegans differ significantly when it comes to their age, political orientation, and religious beliefs. Current vegetarians/vegans are also more
likely to have adopted the diet at a younger age and to have transitioned more gradually.
Increase the Focus on the “How” of Vegetarianism/Veganism – 1) Design outreach and supporting efforts to address the most common
difficulties faced by former vegetarians/vegans, including: cravings and boredom with food options; insufficient interaction with other
vegetarians/vegans; not being actively involved in a vegetarian/vegan community; not seeing the diet as part of their identity; disliking that
their diet made them “stick out from the crowd;” and feeling it was too difficult to be “pure” with their diet. Interestingly, health did not present
a noticeable difficulty for study participants, with the exception of vitamin B12 monitoring. 2) Consider increasing awareness about the
importance of B12: a far greater percentage of former (76%) than current (42%) vegetarians/vegans never had their B12 levels checked
while they were adhering to the diet. 3) Think about barriers in the domestic sphere, including the fact that 33% of former vegetarians/
vegans were living with a non-vegetarian/vegan significant other when they lapsed. With about a third (34%) of lapsed vegetarians/vegans
reporting that they ate the diet for three months or less, the window for advocates to help individuals find ways to sustain their
vegetarianism/veganism is small. While this window is still open, think of vegetarian/vegan advocacy as a longer-term relationship, not just
a single point of outreach.
Diversify Messaging for the “Why” of Vegetarianism/Veganism – Current vegetarians/vegans report a broader range of motivations for
eating their diet than do former vegetarians/vegans. While the only motivation cited by a majority of former vegetarians/vegans (58%) was
health, a number of motivations were identified by a majority of current vegetarians/vegans: health (69%), animal protection (68%), concern
for the environment (59%), feelings of disgust about meat/animal products (63%), and taste preferences (52%).
Focus on Lapsed Vegetarians/Vegans – More than a third (37%) of former vegetarians/vegans are interested in re-adopting the diet, and a
majority of these individuals say they are likely or very likely to do so, with health being the primary motivator. If even half of the individuals
who express an interest were to resume the diet, that would double the number of current vegetarians/vegans in the U.S. Some thought will
be needed, however, to come up with an advocacy approach that works for these individuals.
Thank you! I linked to your comment near the top of my post.
While the only motivation cited by a majority of former vegetarians/vegans (58%) was health, a number of motivations were identified by a majority of current vegetarians/vegans: health (69%), animal protection (68%), concern for the environment (59%), feelings of disgust about meat/animal products (63%), and taste preferences (52%).
So this data suggests the people who stick with veganism tend to be people motivated by multiple factors?
A quick defense of my exponential growth model: Changes in the size of the vegan movement are a result of a tension between tendencies for it to grow and tendencies for it to shrink. If you’re correct that the size of the movement has been basically flat, that suggests those tendencies are currently canceling each other out. But that doesn’t mean this way of thinking is totally useless. (It could be significantly misleading if there’s a subset of the population that’s naturally much more inclined to veganism though.)
The attachment links for the Faunalytics study are now fixed. Thanks again for point out the issue.
We cover a lot of ground in those reports, and much of it corroborates what you say in this post. I’m not sure where the assumption of exponential growth comes from, however. Our research has shown that the proportion of vegans/vegetarians has not increased substantially in the past decade. There may be exponential growth with Google searches of the term “vegan,” but that doesn’t mean the vegan population is growing.
Rather, the reduction in farmed animal slaughter and the rise of vegan food alternatives is being driven by “part-time” abstainers. That’s where we see the exponential growth. With that said, I certainly agree the growth rate is more important than the absolute number of vegans. The challenge is that research on low-incidence populations like vegans/vegetarians is hard, especially when tracking changes over time.
In addition to helping people maintain a nutritious and plentiful diet while being veg*n, animal advocate also need to work on making veganism less of a purist identity and to make it more inclusive. Following are the recommendations copied from our report:
Improve Vegetarian/Vegan Retention
Target Demographics – Target outreach activities toward those who are most likely to adhere to the diet. Current and lapsed vegetarians/ vegans differ significantly when it comes to their age, political orientation, and religious beliefs. Current vegetarians/vegans are also more likely to have adopted the diet at a younger age and to have transitioned more gradually.
Increase the Focus on the “How” of Vegetarianism/Veganism – 1) Design outreach and supporting efforts to address the most common difficulties faced by former vegetarians/vegans, including: cravings and boredom with food options; insufficient interaction with other vegetarians/vegans; not being actively involved in a vegetarian/vegan community; not seeing the diet as part of their identity; disliking that their diet made them “stick out from the crowd;” and feeling it was too difficult to be “pure” with their diet. Interestingly, health did not present a noticeable difficulty for study participants, with the exception of vitamin B12 monitoring. 2) Consider increasing awareness about the importance of B12: a far greater percentage of former (76%) than current (42%) vegetarians/vegans never had their B12 levels checked while they were adhering to the diet. 3) Think about barriers in the domestic sphere, including the fact that 33% of former vegetarians/ vegans were living with a non-vegetarian/vegan significant other when they lapsed. With about a third (34%) of lapsed vegetarians/vegans reporting that they ate the diet for three months or less, the window for advocates to help individuals find ways to sustain their vegetarianism/veganism is small. While this window is still open, think of vegetarian/vegan advocacy as a longer-term relationship, not just a single point of outreach.
Diversify Messaging for the “Why” of Vegetarianism/Veganism – Current vegetarians/vegans report a broader range of motivations for eating their diet than do former vegetarians/vegans. While the only motivation cited by a majority of former vegetarians/vegans (58%) was health, a number of motivations were identified by a majority of current vegetarians/vegans: health (69%), animal protection (68%), concern for the environment (59%), feelings of disgust about meat/animal products (63%), and taste preferences (52%).
Focus on Lapsed Vegetarians/Vegans – More than a third (37%) of former vegetarians/vegans are interested in re-adopting the diet, and a majority of these individuals say they are likely or very likely to do so, with health being the primary motivator. If even half of the individuals who express an interest were to resume the diet, that would double the number of current vegetarians/vegans in the U.S. Some thought will be needed, however, to come up with an advocacy approach that works for these individuals.
Thank you! I linked to your comment near the top of my post.
So this data suggests the people who stick with veganism tend to be people motivated by multiple factors?
A quick defense of my exponential growth model: Changes in the size of the vegan movement are a result of a tension between tendencies for it to grow and tendencies for it to shrink. If you’re correct that the size of the movement has been basically flat, that suggests those tendencies are currently canceling each other out. But that doesn’t mean this way of thinking is totally useless. (It could be significantly misleading if there’s a subset of the population that’s naturally much more inclined to veganism though.)