Vegetarian Journal 2009 Issue 2, Online Supplement with Poll Results

Note from the Coordinators

The Latest Vegetarian Resource Group Survey:

Who Answered?

Since 1994, The Vegetarian Resource Group has been conducting national polls on the number of vegetarians and vegans in the United States. (See www.vrg.org/nutshell/faq.htm#poll.) These are undertaken by national polling organizations and are the same types of polls done for presidential campaigns cited in the media.

Recently, there was publicity about the number of vegetarians reported by the Centers for Disease Control. Their numbers were lower than ours, partially because they were counting people who were vegetarian only for health reasons. Not surprising to us, approximately the same number of people reported following the Atkins diet as a vegetarian diet for health considerations. Reed Mangels will be reporting on this interesting study in a future Vegetarian Journal.

Periodically, we do less scientific surveys of our members. These are not ‘random samples’ and only tell us about the people who responded, not the general population or even all our members. However, they give us information about the readers most interested in responding, which may be of use to students and businesses. Here is some data from the survey of vegetarians we printed in Issue 1, 2006 of Vegetarian Journal. Whether so many of our members are vegan is questionable. Nevertheless, many who do respond appear to be the activists or the‘loud mouths,’ the people most likely to spread the word about products and the ones marketers need to reach.

Total Responses	276	Vegetarian and vegan (Does not eat meat, fish, or fowl)	84%
Sent in reply from Vegetarian Journal	200	Vegan	20%
Surveys collected at a booth or meeting	76	Vegan except honey	38%
		Not vegetarian	16%

	Reason(s) for Becoming Vegan*	Reason(s) for Becoming Vegetarian*	Have Been Vegetarian for 30+ Years
Total Respondents	55	232	57
Health	16%	24%	12%
Ethics	24%	28%	25%
Animal Rights	58%	47%	28%
Weight Loss	4%	2%	2%
Environment	7%	9%	4%
Spirituality	11%	13%	26%
Family/Friends	0%	3%	7%
World Hunger	4%	4%	0%

*Main reason for becoming vegetarian, but some people chose more than one answer. Therefore, totals may equal more than 100 percent.

Respondents Were Interested in Vegetarianism Because (Will total more than 100% since respondents were allowed to give more than one answer)
Total Responses	276	Environment	82%	Politics	23%
Health	85%	Religion	8%	World Hunger	50%
Ethics	86%	Spirituality	49%	Taste	33%
Animal Rights	87%	Family/Friends	12%
Weight Loss	21%	Save Money	8%

Total Responses	276	California Resident	11%
Member of an Animal Rights Group	46%	Illinois	8%
Member of a Vegetarian Group	47%	Maryland	12%
Subscribe to a vegetarian magazine	68%	Pennsylvania	6%
		Washington	7%

Approximately 15 percent of the people responding to this survey who said they are vegetarians also said that they eat fish, while about five percent who said they were vegan said they eat fish. We suspect this would be a much higher number in the general population. We define vegetarian as not eating meat, fish, or poultry.

Respondents Who Sent in Survey From Vegetarian Journal
Total Responses	200	40-49	16%	Female	80%
Ages 20-29	16%	50-59	27%	Male	20%
Ages 30-39	18%	60-69	13%

Debra Wasserman & Charles Stahler
Coordinators of The Vegetarian Resource Group

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