There are often heated arguments when meat lovers meet grass eaters. What is downright malnutrition for some is the secret key to success for others. Veganism.
The cliched image that ravioli is the first item on a student's shopping list should have turned into a myth by now. A lot has happened in the student population when it comes to nutrition. Where the cheap pizza used to end up in the shopping cart, there is now a wide range of tofu products. It seems to border on a student movement. More and more students and young people are developing a penchant for other lifestyles, such as veganism or vegetarianism. A trend towards conscious handling of food and the harmony of body and mind seems to have become a way of life.
The vegans - they are becoming more and more!
Statistics show that the trend towards vegan diets continues to increase. Although around 88 percent of the population still identifies as carnivores, the rest abstained from animal products to varying degrees. Around 11 percent describe themselves as vegetarians and around one percent as vegans. One percent doesn't sound like the absolute average, but that does result in a number of around 800,000 vegans living in Germany. On average, a German eats almost 89 kilos of meat per year. A hard fact that many have declared war on.
The growth of veganism appears to be a response to factory farming. The horse meat scandal and knowledge about growth hormones or antibiotic-resistant germs in meat are giving rise to skepticism.
Does tofu make you sexy?
The image of vegetarianism has improved significantly and more and more people are deciding to live a vegetarian life at least part-time. People living vegan today face similar prejudices as vegetarians did in the past. Sustainability instead of cheap surplus production seems to be the new mantra.
Are vegans saving the world now? No idea, but one thing is certain: the number of vegans in Germany is increasing rapidly. Young people, especially students and young families, contribute a large part. More and more people are choosing regional products instead of the cheap meat from the discounter. And that might be just the right way to protect ourselves from an alien invasion. Or simply to save our nature and earth.
Photo credit: gratisography.com
To be or not to be OR veganism or not veganism. You can find out here how the majority of young people feel about this!
