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The number of UK vegans has snowballed in recent years and the trend looks set to continue.

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The number of UK vegans has snowballed in recent years and the trend looks set to continue.

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There are now over half a million vegans in Britain, according to new research that highlights how many people avoid food derived from animals in the UK.

The research, commissioned by The Vegan Society in partnership with Vegan Life magazine, found at least 542,000 people in Britain are now following a vegan diet.

This is an increase of over 350% over the past decade, making veganism one of Britain's fastest growing lifestyle movements.

The study, carried out by researchers Ipsos MORI, surveyed almost 10,000 people over the age of 15 across England, Scotland and Wales - the biggest ever poll quantifying the vegan community.

During the study nearly half of vegetarians who are not vegan said they would like to reduce their consumption of dietary animal products.

This equates to 521,000 people across Britain, meaning there could soon be in more than one million vegans in total.

According to the researchers, the vegan movement is being driven by young people making "more ethical and compassionate choices".

Close to half of all vegans are in the 15-34 age category (42%) compared to just 14% who are over 65 - evidence to support even greater growth in the future.

Jasmijn De Boo, CEO of The Vegan Society said the reasons for the rise of veganism are numerous.

She said: "The positive portrayal in the media has contributed to its changing image; documentaries on the shocking realities and consequences of animal agriculture have gained prominence; delicious-looking vegan recipes have multiplied online and on social media as society becomes more health-conscious; and top vegan athletes keep proving that you can be fit and healthy on a plant-based diet."

The study also found that 3.25% of the population, around 1.68 million people, are either vegetarian or vegan, more than 850,000 of whom also avoid leather, wool and other animal products.

The vast majority of vegans live in urban or suburban areas (88%) compared with rural areas (12%) and this is reflected in London, where 22% of all vegans in Britain live - more than any other region.

"To have over half a million vegans in Britain is fantastic," said De Boo.

"More people than ever are now acting upon the health and environmental benefits of veganism and finding out what really goes on in the meat and dairy industries and deciding they do not want to contribute to the pain and suffering of animals."

Vegan Life magazine publishing director Keith Coomber added: "The public perception of veganism is changing fast. It's no longer an extreme lifestyle, it's easy and accessible - you can walk into any supermarket and be confronted by a huge range of dairy-free milks and other vegan-friendly products.

"As consumers become more savvy about the reality of the farming industry, and the health implications of meat and dairy products, this boom will continue."

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The Number Of Vegans In Britain Has Soared In The Past Decade

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There are now over half a million vegans in Britain, according to new research that highlights how many people avoid food derived from animals in the UK. The research, commissioned by The Vegan Society in partnership with Vegan Life magazine, found at least 542,000 people in Britain are now following a vegan diet.

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The vegan society's trademark was officially announced  on the 27th of
February 1990 establishing the world's first internationally-recognised standard for vegan-friendly products and services. 

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The vegan society's trademark was officially announced  on the 27th of
February 1990 establishing the world's first internationally-recognised standard for vegan-friendly products and services. 

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The 60's saw the rise of the hippie's and people started questioning the status quo...not just regarding animal use but across the board. Also Animal Machines was written by Ruth Harrison (1964).

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The 60's saw the rise of the hippie's and people started questioning the status quo...not just regarding animal use but across the board. Also Animal Machines was written by Ruth Harrison (1964).

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This is the first in an occasional series of articles inspired by books in my Animal Rights Collection. The archive includes more than 75 books about animals in agriculture. The oldest was published in 1912 and is a pamphlet, "The Slaughter of Animals for Food," by John Galsworthy, who is more commonly known for his Forsythe Saga series of novels. It is published by the RSPCA and the Council of Justice to Animals.

Long before Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals (2009), Jeffrey Masson's The Face on Your Plate (2009) (read my review here), Erik Marcus' Meat Market (2005), Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation (2001), Jeremy Rifkin's Beyond Beef (1992), Orville Schell's Modern Meat (1983), Mark Gold's Assault and Battery (1983) and Jim Mason and Peter Singer's Animal Factories (1980) to name a few, there was Animal Machines by Ruth Harrison (1964).

The impact of Animal Machines can never be over stated. The book had profound impact on the British public and government in that it exposed factory farming for the first time. Its standing in this regard is akin to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (1906). The public's outrage at the shocking depiction of the Chicago stockyards in the novel led to the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. The latter led to the formation of the Bureau of Chemistry which the Food and Drug Administration in 1930.

The public outcry from the publication of Animal Machines led to the British government appointing a committee in 1965 to "examine the conditions in which livestock are kept under systems of intensive husbandry and to advise whether standards ought to be set in the interests of welfare, and if so what they should be." The Brambell Committee subsequently formulated the "Five Freedoms": An animal should at least have sufficient freedom of movement to be able without difficulty to turn around, groom itself, get up, lie down, stretch its limbs." This was the beginning of the fight back against factory farming which has led so far to the banning of the battery cage, veal crates, sow stalls and so on.

I recall meeting Ruth Harrison when I worked for Compassion In World Faming in the late 1970s. She was a formidable figure. I wished I had known her father was Stephen Winsten, who had written a biography of Henry Salt, Salt and His Circle (1951), which included a preface by Bernard Shaw who knew Salt.

Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring (1962), wrote the foreword to Animal Machines. "I hope it [ Animal Machines] will spark a consumers' revolt of such proportions that this vast new agricultural industry will be forced to mend its ways," she concluded.

Nearly 50 years have past since Ruth Harrison's book was published. Whereas there is some progress to report, the grip of the trans-national animal agricultural industrial complex has never been as powerful as it is now around the world. I console myself with the belief that factory farming is unsustainable. Much like as we saw with the recent banking crisis intensive animal agricultural interests will also suffer an implosion. Quite simply, there are too many resources being spent to produce too little food.

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Book of the Month: Animal Machines by Ruth Harrison

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This is the first in an occasional series of articles inspired by books in my Animal Rights Collection. The archive includes more than 75 books about animals in agriculture.

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A example of a vegan product from the 1950's

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"1976 – BBC2 & The Vegan Society in the Open Door series. The program led to over 9000 enquiries about veganism resulting in around 1,000 new members of the Society."

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"1976 – BBC2 & The Vegan Society in the Open Door series. The program led to over 9000 enquiries about veganism resulting in around 1,000 new members of the Society."

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OpenDoor - The Vegan Society 1976 - Full 30 minute video

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In the 1970s the BBC did a series of programmes called "Open Door" where the BBC gave campaign groups an opportunity to make a half hour programme explaining their case which the BBC then showed on BBC2.

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In 1984 a break away group called "The movement for compassionate living" was formed. They have always been a small and less well known group

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In 1984 a break away group called "The movement for compassionate living" was formed. They have always been a small and less well known group

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On the 1st of November 1944 the vegan society was formed.

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On the 1st of November 1944 the vegan society was formed.

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" few in number and widely dispersed, and all of us were heavily involved in our own careers. We had no funds, no private transport – apart from bicycles, no precedents to work on, no office, little experience in public speaking, and none in publishing. The war was ending, food rationing was at its most severe and was to continue for another seven years. " Donald Watson, founder of the vegan society