37 Percent Chose Veg When Dining Out

A new survey conducted by Harris Poll revealed that 37 percent of restaurant patrons chose vegan and vegetarian dishes in 2016. The poll—commissioned by the Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG)—asked a representative American population of 2,015 people over the age of 18 to respond to several dietary questions online. Respondents from the Northeast reported the highest amount of vegetarian behavior, and 43 percent of people in the age group of 18 to 34 chose vegetarian or vegan options from restaurant menus. While the population of self-identified vegetarians in the United States hovers around three-percent (half of whom are vegan), VRG points out that this survey indicates a larger slice of the US population chooses cruelty-free options when dining out. VRG urged restaurant owners countrywide to interpret their findings to mean that “there is incentive for producing vegetarian dishes, as there is demand from over one-third of the population.” A 2016 year-end trend report compiled by food industry service magazine Modern Restaurant Management predicted that restaurant menus will increasingly feature options such as the Impossible Burger, due to a rising customer demand for plant-based meat alternatives.