Veganism is no longer a far-out lifestyle – it is becoming mainstream. According to Plant Based News, approximately six percent of Americans now identify themselves as a vegan. This has exploded over the past 4 years by increasing over 500%. Veganism is the hot trend in food in 2020 and is being driven by the 15-34 age category and especially, millennials. Every year, more and more people are embracing the vegan lifestyle for dietary and philosophical reasons.
Consumers are more mindful of the foods they eat and the impact they can have on the environment. People engaged in the vegan lifestyle are looking for a healthy, gluten-free, non-GMO, plant-based diet. This includes poultry, eggs, milk products, honey, beef, pork, lard, venison, and any other animal that is raised or hunted for food. Typically people that choose veganism for health reasons have embraced the vegan diet.
The vegan lifestyle centers are more than just food consumption. It also focuses on specific beliefs and philosophies. In simplest terms, veganism is rooted in the idea of “doing no harm”. Living by the ethics of a vegan lifestyle means you no longer financially contribute to factory farming, which has been proven to cause many environmental hazards. It means you agree to no longer purchase fur, leather, wool, silk, feathers, and other items where animals are kept out of their natural surroundings and forced to be part of the mass production of goods. It means you consider all life sacred and choose to harm none. Living today’s modern vegan lifestyle can even mean avoiding petroleum-based products because of the negative impact on the environment.