Back in August, it was reported that the meat industry of New Zealand was facing an uncertain future. Now, that future seems to be looking even more shaky, with the flexitarian lifestyle becoming more and more popular across the nation.
This is all down to the delicious plant based food alternatives on offer in the country claims NewsHub. Favoured establishments like the vegan fast food chain, Lord of the Fries, are showing people you don’t need to live under a rock and eat spinach to be vegan.
Bruce Craig, co-owner of LOTF, said ‘We get a lot of people who come, who don’t necessarily know we are vegetarian or vegan, and they just come and eat the food and they love it, then they find out afterwards and they are like ‘holy cow.’’
Flexitarianism is not just exclusive to New Zealand either, with many UK citizens revamping their food habits to include less meat. A recent report indicated that by 2021 the UK meat substitute market will have grown by 25%, this is due to people becoming more concerned about their own health and the well being of the environment.
UK chain Marks and Spencer are aware of this change in mindset for many members of the public. For the shop’s Christmas mains range this year they have 3 veggie options, 2 vegan options and 3 meat options. This means the meat-free selections actually outweigh the traditional meaty festive mains.
Helena Fleming, a product developer for Marks and Spencer, said flexitarianism ‘is definitely not a fad, this is definitely an evolution of people making conscious changes in the way they eat.’
