Collective Awareness Raising Towards a Plant-Based Diet Through Social Networking Sites

Introduction

Every hour more than 6 million animals are slaughtered for food; annually around 70 billion animals lose their lives to become human food (Compassion in World Farming, 2013, p. 15). Approximately every 12 seconds a child dies from hunger or hunger- related causes in some of the poorest parts in the world (Poverty.com, 2018) while every 12 seconds a cow is killed for human consumption in a wealthy country (Pachirat, 2013, p. 9). According to Ritchie and Roser (2017, n.p.), only in China: “Increases in Chinese pigmeat production have been rapid, growing around 35-fold from 1.5 million tonnes in 1961 to 54 million tonnes in 2014”; poultry production has risen 28-fold and beef meat – 87-fold. In the meantime, “[r]educing the meat production by merely 10% could release enough grain and another natural foods to feed 60 million people”(Moritz, 2009, p. 176).

An increasing number of scientists expose more robust evidence that the rapid growth of the industrialised meat production and its consumption is the major drive for global warming and species extinction (FAO, 2006; Bailey, Froggatt, & Wellesley, 2014). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations predicts that the Western style meat manufacture model which is rapidly spreading around the world will become a primary reason for conflicts over water resources over the next decades (FAO, 2006, p. 126).

Yet consumption of animal produce is still socially accepted, embedded as a natural, necessary part of our lives. Meat production is not only recommended but also enforced on people by most national and international government bodies. According to the report produced by UK’s Chatham House, “[d]espite the clear case for action to tackle demand for meat and dairy products, there is remarkable lack of policies, initiatives or campaigns to do so” (Bailey, Froggatt, & Wellesley, 2014, p. 22).

Paradoxically in the last few decades, in parallel with the increasing demand for animal produce, the popularity of plant-based diet has also been growing. While the European Union remains one of the major meat consumers, vegetarianism and veganism are undoubtedly on the rise in Europe. Vegan products are becoming new profitable avenues yet to be fully explored. In some cases, profits from selling plant-based protein substitutes and vegan alternatives to dairy have tripled in the last few years. With the rise of veganism, the demand for plant-based substitutes to dairy and meat is increasing. In the USA, the sales of plant-based foods went up by 8.1% in 2017 to reach US$ 3.1 billion and according to Forbes there are significant business advantages to embrace this trend which is gradually becoming mainstream (Fox, 2017). According to the 2018 market research by the firm Euromonitor International, by 2020 Australia’s packaged vegan food market will be worth A$215 million. It also found Australia was the third fastest growing vegan market in the world (Sanda, 2018). In France, in the last 20 years meat sales gradually declined as population is increasingly more concerned about the devastating environmental consequences associated with livestock, animal welfare and negative impact on health (Bréville, 2018).

The “new” consumers have many more options as restaurants specialising in vegetarian and fully plant-based foods are becoming part of the hospitality and leisure world. Data from Happy Cow, the social platform which shows all vegan and vegetarian restaurants and stores around the world, shows that only in Spain the number of fully veggie restaurants had tripled between the years 2011 and 2016. Studies show that nowadays 7.8% of the Spanish population is either vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian in response to global warming, animal right concerns and awareness regarding the link between meat and cancer (Lantern Consulting, 2017). The vegan trend is growing globally not only in terms of diet but also as a whole new lifestyle which will further influence the global economics.