Meat off the menu

More Americans shifting their diets to include less meat; number of vegetarians remains the same

This article was published on 01.30.20

Americans are slowly shifting away from less meat-centric diets, according to new Gallup poll results aimed at gauging changes in eating habits. Over the past year, just 5 percent of adults reported eating more meat than the previous year, while 72 percent ate the same amount and 23 percent ate less. When it comes to how often people eat meat, 67 percent said they do so frequently, 23 percent occasionally, 7 percent rarely and 3 percent never. Here are a few more stats from the report.

• 70 percent of people who reported cutting back on meat consumption said they did so because of major health concerns; 20 percent said it was due to minor health concerns.

• 7 in 10 respondents said they reduced their meat intake for environmental reasons.

• 65 percent said they cut back because of concerns over animal welfare.

• 77 percent of people who cut back on meat did so by reducing portion sizes.

• The number of vegetarians—5 percent—has remained about the same for the past two decades.