VRG > Vegetarian Journal > 2010 Issue 4 > Do Vegetarians and Vegans Stay Vegetarian?

Subscribe to the Vegetarian Journal

Do Vegetarians and Vegans Stay Vegetarian?

The 2006-2009 Vegetarian Resource Group Survey

Data Compiled by Ricky Christopher Brathwaite
With Assistance from John Cunningham, Kristen Lambert, Reed Mangels, and Rachael Prokop
Article By Charles Stahler

For more than 15 years, the Vegetarian Resource Group has been using polls to estimate the number of vegetarians in the United States. (See www.vrg.org/nutshell/faq.htm#poll.) Next, we wanted to look at the number of people who stay vegetarian, along with their motivations.

In 2006, we received 267 completed surveys, some from Journal readers and others collected by volunteers. In 2009, we resurveyed the same people and received 153 surveys from individuals who were vegetarian or vegan in 2006. Our methodology is exploratory, and further research is necessary to extrapolate to the general population. Note that we don't have information about the 34 percent from our original survey who did not respond to the 2009 one.

The vast majority of vegans and vegetarians stayed at least vegetarian. Our hypothesis was that people who became vegetarian primarily for ethical reasons would be more likely to stay vegetarian than people who became vegetarian primarily for health reasons. This did not hold up since 94 percent of ethical motivators stayed vegetarian from 2006 to 2009, and almost as large a percentage of health-motivated individuals stayed vegetarian with 91 percent. Interestingly, 100 percent of the people who cited environmental concerns as the reason for their diet remained vegetarian from 2006 to 2009.

We also theorized that vegans were more likely to stay vegetarian or vegan than were vegetarians who weren't vegan in 2006. We were wrong here also, as 94 percent of 2006 vegetarians and vegans were still vegetarian and vegan in 2009. Six percent of vegans stopped being vegetarian, and six percent of vegetarians stopped being vegetarian. Eight percent of 2006 vegans became vegetarian, while eleven percent of 2006 vegetarians became vegan.

For both males and females surveyed, 94 percent stayed at least vegetarian. One hundred percent of 2006 vegan males stayed vegan, while 83 percent of 2006 vegan females stayed vegan. Of those who were vegetarian less than two years, 75 percent stayed vegetarian; the categories of people who had been vegetarian from '3 to 5 years' to '30 years or more' varied between 90 and 100 percent remaining vegetarian. Possibly, those who are most likely to stay vegetarian are male vegans and individuals who have been vegetarian (no meat, fish, or fowl) for three or more years.

In our survey, respondents were asked if they did not eat meat, fish, fowl, dairy, or eggs. Though this study can't be extrapolated to the general population, we look forward to building upon this research.

Some of the study results follow on pages 11 and 12. To see all of the results, visit http://www.vrg.org/research/retention_survey_2009.php.