FACTFILE: VEGETARIAN

Mel and Olivia

Definition:

A vegetarian is someone who does not eat, or believe in, eating meat or fish and in some cases they do not eat any type of animal product such as cheese or eggs, this is a vegan diet. Their diet consists of vegetables, fruits, nuts and grain and other natural foods. Sometimes a vegetarian will not eat meat but will eat fish this is called a pescatarian. Various packaged or processed foods like cake, cookies, chocolate and jelly sweets often contain unfamiliar animal ingredients and may be a concern for some vegetarians. This means that vegetarians will need to check food packages to see if they are allowed to consume that product or not. Generally a vegetarian will not eat any products that have been slaughter. You can get different types of vegetarians such as Vegans, Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarians and Lacto Vegetarians. The different types of vegetarians avoid different food products.

“Vegetarian- A person who does not eat meat or fish, and sometimes other animal products, especially for moral, religious, or health reasons.”- google.com

Demographics:America: There are 7.3 million Americans who are vegetarian. 59% are female and the remaining 41% are male, which are mostly ranged between 18 and 34 with a 42 percentage. 57.1% of people have followed a vegetarian diet for more than ten years unlike the 14.1% who have followed the vegetarian diet for less than two years. Here is a table from a statistic website, statisticbrain.com, that has given the demographics of vegetarians in the USA.

From the table we are able to understand the gender and age in the USA. This information can help understand who to aim our product towards. Although here there is not a huge ratio between men and women but usually more women are vegetarians. Therefore we can aim our recipe cards towards women as they would most likely be the ones to look at them. An age between 18 and 34 would be suitable as this has the highest percentage of them all. Having a typical target audience is a good idea so you know it will be successful.

Demographics:India: Although it is true that India’s appetite for meat is increasing, it is still statically found that 42% of the country is vegetarian which is almost half a billion people. In parts of India such as Kerala, Punjab and Bengal there is a structured vegetarian diet. They eat a diet of rice, chapati, soya beans and other lentils. Although the protein intake is low it remains high if more than one type of plant protein are eaten together. Here is a table that shows the amount of vegetarians in different counties around the world:

Country Vegetarians Percentage

France 500,000 0.9%

Germany 700,000 1.25%

Netherlands 700,000 4.4%

Poland 75,000 0.2%

Sweden 60,000 0.75%

United Kingdom 3,500,000 6.1%

As you can see from the table the United Kingdom has the highest population of vegetarians. The country with the least is Sweden, this could be because Sweden is well known for their fish dishes and meat intake and does not have a lot of people who follow a religion that does not let you eat meat.

Demographics:

As you can see from the table on the other page the United Kingdom has the highest population of vegetarians.

United Kingdom: The UK has a high population of vegetarians with 3,500,000 people vegetarian in the country. This includes a 2% of children who are vegetarians too. There are more females to males that are vegetarian in the UK which confirms who a good target audience would be for, for my own recipe cards. Having a target audience that will use and can relate to the product is what will make it successful which will increase the amount of donations and copies of the recipe cards.

The country with the least population of vegetarians is Sweden, this could be because Sweden is well known for their fish dishes and meat intake and does not have a lot of people who follow a religion that does not let you eat meat.

Reasons:People are drawn to the vegetarian lifestyle by all sorts of motives. People want to live longer, have a healthier life and reduce pollution. Some reasons consist of saving the environment, for personal health, personal finances, ethics and to reduce famine. From the website staticsbrain.com, we gained information on statics on reasons why people become vegetarian and placed them in a table.

Reason Percentage.Improve overall health 53%

Environmental concerns 47%

Natural approaches to wellness 39%

Health safety concerns 31%

Animal Welfare 54%

Weight loss 25%

The table shows that the main reason people become vegetarian is because of animal welfare (54%). They feel its wrong to eat a living animal and they stand by this ethic by not eating meat. They believe animals should have equal rights to humans. The least popular reason was weight loss, this could be because there are a lot of different diets that does not mean turning vegetarian and protein is a main part of an healthy diet. Religion has not been featured on the table but this is a huge reason why people convert to vegetarianism. This is the main reason why people are vegetarian in India due to a strong link of religions that originated in ancient India such as Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism that believe in not eating meat.

Companies:Many companies and organisations target the vegetarian market. The well known nutritious company, Graze, is known for its vegetarian and vegan snacks. It is suitable for vegetarians but is popular with everyone. It gives you a source of vitamins, minerals and fibre for all under 100 calories. These boxes are cheap and you can often get codes to get free deliveries. Companies make special offers to make it seem more appealing. Another popular vegetarian company is Quorn. Quorn is made from mycoprotein which is a healthy protein source that is meat free and naturally low in saturated fat. Quorn offers a great tasting range of foods, and they say on their website it is perfect for if you're wanting a healthier lifestyle or watching your weight. It offers you great meat free meal inspiration. Also Quorn products are a great source of protein which is a great way to still receive all the main food groups when being vegetarian. Meals such as spaghetti Bolognese, hot dogs, curry and burgers can still be eaten as Quorn is not meat. This is a great thing for vegetarians as more meals can be offered and it is a health way to still get protein.

Companies:There are many websites and companies online that give vegetarians recipes for alternatives for meat such as Fry’s Family who won the Veg UK 2013 Award. They give alternatives, like Quorn, for sausages, burgers and other meals. Veggiestuff.com is a website which helps you find products that vegetarians can eat and use. This is a very helpful website as it even gives you the price of the ingredients and has some recipes on there to follow too. Redwood is another company that offers alternatives for vegetarians and offers their products to different shops and websites to sell.

The Fry’s Family products who won the Veg award 2013 UK.

Companies:

Veggiestuff.com website enables you to find any meat products you want in a vegetarian version or alternative. This is helpful for people new to the vegetarian lifestyle so they can find products that they can not find in the super market to make a tasty meal.

Non vegetarian products:There are lots of foods out there that sound safe but some crisps, peanuts, cake, beer etc. can be packed with unexpected animal products like gelatin and beef fat. Pinot noir wine has traces of chocolate, black cherries, oak and fish! It is said the membrane is taken from the bladders of tropical fish and used to filter cloudy yeast extracts out of many brands of beer and wine. Fish traces are also found in juices like the brand Tropicana’s Heart Healthy Orange Juice and so does Omega-3 bread. Gelatin is a protein that is obtained by boiling skin, ligaments, or bones with water which usually comes from pigs or cows. Gelatin is found in a lot of jelly sweets such as Haribo’s, marshmallows, Starburst, Gummy Bears and Skittles. Gelatin is also found in savory things too such as margarine, salted peanuts and even Green Giant frozen vegetables. Cheese is a part that some vegetarians take out of their diet but here in the UK supermarkets have a wide choice of vegetarian cheeses.

This is the Vegetarian Haribo packet compared to the original Haribo’s that contain gelatin. As you can see they have different packaging and the Vegetarian versions makes it clear it is for vegetarians by stating it on the front.

Non vegetarian products:Fast food restaurants are particularly hard for vegetarians. For example McDonalds do offer salads but a lot of them have meats on top, or traces. It would be wise to stay away from the fries as they have been found to have beef fat on them. They have started to do vegetarian wraps to show they are trying to appeal to the vegetarian audience. The website Veggiestuff.com lists all the vegetarian and vegan food which can be used to cook recipes with and even some treats like chocolate and sweets that vegetarians can have. Products such as Vegan Marshmallows, Vegetarian Haribo’s and Redwood’s Steaks. It also includes natural body care products that are animal free too.

This is only one of the few options for vegetarians in McDonalds and they only come out for limited time through the year. This is a salad based product and contains no meats like the rest of the wraps do.

Bibliography:•https://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vegetarian•https://www.vegsoc.org•http://www.statisticbrain.com/vegetarian-statistics/•http://mrcyriac.com/2012/03/01/just-how-vegetarian-is-india/•http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=706957•http://www.alternet.org/story/85828/top_ten_reasons_to_go_vegetarian•http://www.vegetariantimes.com/article/why-go-veg-learn-about-becoming-a-vegetarian/

•http://www.vegparadise.com/foodmakers.html•http://www.quorn.co.uk•http://www.veggiestuff.com•http://www.frysvegetarian.co.uk•http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2011/05/09/12-seemingly-vegan-vegetarian-foods-that-really-arent/

•http://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/what-is-gelatin-made-of/#ixzz2wytesx9X•http://www.veggieboards.com/t/102424/gelatin-foods-list• http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080417220934AAZqyaT•http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/food/vegetarian.html#•http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/896050-what-is-a-list-of-foods-a-vegetarian-can-t-eat

•http://www.vbitesfoods.com/meat-free/