FACTFILE: VEGETARIAN

Craig Cassidy & Eddie Gill

Definition:

My personal definition for a vegetarian would be simply someone who doesn’t eat any meat products, I also know that there are different types of vegetarians because you have vegetarians who won’t eat fish and other who will the different types of vegetarians are:Lacto-ovo-vegetarians- They eat both dairy products and egg, the lacto-ovo-vegetarian is the most common type of vegetarianLacto-vegetarians- They will eat dairy products but avoid eggs.Vegans- Vegans will not eat any dairy products, eggs or any other form of products which have been derived from an animal.The people who are lacto-ovo-vegetarians, who will eat eggs will more than likely only eat free range eggs, because they object to battery farming.

As well as vegetarians you also have vegans and in my eyes a vegan is just a more strict vegetarian. For example a vegetarian like I said won’t eat meat but might eat products which come from animals such as dairy or even clothes which are made out of animals. But a vegan will not eat any products which come from animals or wear any clothes which have been made from animals, such as leather.

“A person who does not eat meat or fish, and sometimes other animal products, especially for moral, religious, or health reasons”-Google

"Someone who lives on a diet of grains, pulses, nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruits with, or without, the use of dairy products and eggs. A vegetarian does not eat any meat, poultry, game, fish, shellfish* or by-products of slaughter." -Vegetarian Society

Demographics:Around the world, vegetarianism is viewed in different lights. In some areas there is cultural and even legal support, for example India and the United Kingdom. Here are some statistics on the amount of vegetarians within the UK.

The population of the UK is about 62.3 million. The most recent statistics collected by “the office for national statistics indicates that 2% of adults and children are vegetarian, about 1.2 million individuals.

The most recent figures for the amount of meat consumed by individuals in the UK is:• 79.3kg per year• 217g a day (131g of red meat)

Number of UK vegetarians in 2012In 2012 there were “1,582 children aged 1-18 years and 1,491 adults who were vegetarian.

• 2% of both adults and children reported that they were vegetarian• Less than 1% reported following a vegan diethttps://www.vegsoc.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=753Some demographics of vegetarians from American statistics:• Female vegetarians - 59%• Male vegetarians – 41%• Ages 18 to 34 – 42%• Ages 35 to 54 – 40.7• Over 55 - 17.4% According to the vegetarian union, Britain has the third highest rate of vegetarians in the European union. Italy has the highest rate of vegetarians, with over 6 million vegetarians which is about 10% of the population.

A demographic and social profile of age and sex matched vegetarians and non-vegetarians

A demographic and social profile was complied for 150 vegetarians and 150 non vegetarians who were matched for age and sex. A questionnaire containing both closed and open ended questions was ran. The information collected included personal and demographic data, personal habits, social activates and possible influences of vegetarianism. The results of the questionnaire were:

• No differences were observed in the cultural, ethnic or family background of the groups. • Vegetarians were less influenced by parents and traditional religions, were slightly less well educated, and were employed in less skilled

occupations.• vegetarians socialized more than non-vegetarians• The commitment to vegetarianism was strong and appeared to be reinforced by an extensive network of family and friends who were also

vegetarians.

Reasons:

There are many different reasons why people decide to become vegetarians:The first reason which I think that people choose to become vegetarian because is because they believe that it is the healthier choice. They think that it is overall a healthier because some people believe that you can get more fibre which is true to a certain degree because meat doesn’t contain fibre, even though a non-vegetarian doesn’t only eat meat so they can still get there fibre through other things. Another health reason is that you can get a lot of cholesterol from eating meat so I suppose a way of keeping your cholesterol low would be to avoid eating meat.The second reason I think that somebody would become a vegetarian is for ethical reason, this means that they will choose to become a vegetarian because they care about the animals. They will avoid eating food because they think that its been created and its only purpose is to be killed for food and they think that this is unfair. If they choose to eat eggs then they will only eggs which are free range because they are against the methods used to farm eggs which aren’t free range.My third reason why some people might choose to become vegetarians is because they consider the farming of animals as a cause for environmental cause because they think that excessive amounts of water is used in the process of raising livestock and that the water could be used for other good reasons also cows which are obviously bread in the millions for food, produce a lot of methane which is a greenhouse gas which is linked with global warming.

Reasons:

Another reason why people might decide to become a vegetarian could be because religion, you don’t really hear of it happening that much in the UK, but it’s very common in religions in India. There are three main religions in India which are linked to people becoming a vegetarian which are Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism. In Jainism you basically don’t have any choice because if you want to be part of that religion then you have no choice as it is mandatory. In Hinduism and Buddhism it’s not mandatory but it is promoted by some influential scriptures which they have in their religion. Unlike the religions which I talked about above in religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Sikhism it is directly promoted but there are still small groups of people who promote being vegetarian due to religious reasons.My final reason why I think that people will go vegetarian is because they think that the products which are used to farm the animals could be used for a greater cause such as the water used and the grain used could be given to a starving nation.“Animals are my friends...and I don't eat my friends.” - George Bernard Shaw“If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.” - Paul McCartney

Companies:Product developers are formulating and marketing a variety of innovative packaged foods designed to appeal not only to vegetarians but also to the growing group of consumers who are reducing their consumption of meat.

At one time, small companies produced vegetarian food products and sold them in natural/health food stores. As consumer interest in the products grew, it caught the attention of large food manufactures for example; Kraft foods, ConAgra foods, General mills and others, which either acquired smaller vegetarian food producers or launched their own lines of vegetarian food products. These companies offer a variety of vegetarian products such as burgers, crumbles, patties and starter meals.

Linda McCartney (1941-1998) – was an original food pioneer, she believed in great tasting, honest, meat free food and the shared pleasure that eating could bring. Linda McCartney foods is a British food brand specializing in vegetarian and vegan food. The brand was created in 1991 by Linda McCartney. Even though it was sold in 2000 to Heinz and sold again in 2006 to the Hain Celestial Group, the McCartney family remains involved in its development. The food the company produces consists of frozen vegetarian and vegan pies, burgers, sausages and pastas. Quorn – Quorn is the leading brand of faux meat mycoprotein in the United Kingdom. The mycoprotein used to produce Quorn is extracted from the fungus, fusarium venenatum. The product developer is Rank Hovis McDoughall and Imperial Chemical Industries and launched commercially as the Quorn brand as a joint venture of the two companies under the operating name of Marlow Foods. The brand has been owned by Exponent Private Equity and intermediate Capital Group since 2011. It is sold as a health food and an alternative to meat.

Brakes brothers food service- Brakes are a major wholesaler who supplies a vegetarian lists of food on demand and also deliver

Goodness food wholesale- Goodness food’s are a natural and organic food sale company who deliver throughout the UK

On the link beneath you can find a list of trusted vegetarian companies:http://vegan.org/certify/companies-and-websites/

Non vegetarian products:

The most obvious non-vegetarian product would obviously be meat and other products which contain meat. Non-vegetarian products would also include food which are cooked in oils which are derived from animals and also other animal based ingredients. Such as foods which are cooked animals oils from fish, cooked in lard or fat of numerous animals such as sheep, goats, cattle & pigsSome interesting products which you might have thought don’t contain animal based ingredients are:Tropicana healthy orange juice: This contains tilapia, sardine and anchovyParmigiano-Reggiano-This is used in the cheese making process and the product is actually made with calf rennetOther cheese’s that vegetarians can’t eat are Gruyere, Manchego, Emmenthaler, Pecorino Romano, Gorgonzola, Mimolette, Grana Padano, Camembert, Boucheron, Vacherinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/19/vegetarian-cheese-animal-rennet_n_4467430.htmlMarshmallows-Marshmallows contain gelatine which is a protein made of skins and bones from pigs or cowsCrisps- Nutrition labels on crisps often don’t differentiate between wether an animal or a plant based enzyme has been used. Some crisps are reported to have enzymes from pork added to their cheese seasonings.Worcestershire sauce- This source is well know for having anchovies as an active ingredient.Bagels-Some bagels are made with an amino acid L-cysteine which is an amino acid which comes from either human or poultry feathers.Cake mix- A common ingredient of cake mix is beef fatEnhanced breads-Enhanced bread more than likely will get amino acids which contain fish oils.

The website beneath contains a list hidden ingredients which you should watch out for:http://www.vegansociety.com/lifestyle/food/hidden-ingredients.aspx.

Non vegetarian products:There are too many additives what vegetarians can’t eat. I will list a few beneath and also put a link with a full list of the additives they can’t eat and their E numbers which the are represented by:Cochineal: This is an additive which makes many red coloured foods you eat the red colour you see. Its found in alcoholic drinks, fruit pie fillings a lot of sweets.Gelatine: Gelatine can be found in products like yoghurts, jellies and lots of sweets. Gelatine is made from animal skins and hoofs.Disodium Inosinate- Which is a flavour enhancer and is almost always made from animals and fish.http://www.veggieglobal.com/nutrition/non-vegetarian-food-additives.htm

Finally I’m going to talk about the Alcoholic products which aren’t suitable for vegetarians.There are many alcoholic products which aren’t suitable for vegetarins because of the ingredients that they contain.Lagers: Carling black label, Estrella, Fosters, Kronenbourg, Red Stripe & TennentsBitters:Bass, Boddingtons, Crabbies, John Smiths & Tetleys. There are a lot more bitters which aren’t vegetarian friendly.Cider: Babycham, Bulmers original cider, Gaymers, Stella Artois cidreFollow the link bellow for a list of the Lagers, Bitters and Ciders which are vegetarian friendly and which aren’t.http://www.veggiewines.co.uk/popularbeers.htm#bitterIn the UK basically all the wines are vegetarian friendly but a few are not vegan friendly In terms of spirits you only really have red Russian and Silent Sam Vodka which aren’t suitable.All the information for the vegetarian alcoholic drinks were found at:http://www.veggiewines.co.uk/index.htm

Bibliography:

(List the books, magazines and websites you looked at to gain information for this fact file.)http://www.statisticbrain.com/vegetarian-statistics/

http://www.naturalnews.com/030890_vegetarian_reasons.html

www.statisticbrain.com/vegetarian-statistics/

https://www.vegsoc.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=753

http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2011/05/09/12-seemingly-vegan-vegetarian-foods-that-really-arent/

http://www.vegansociety.com/lifestyle/food/hidden-ingredients.aspx

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/20/non-vegetarian-ingredients-foods_n_3942454.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism_and_religion

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/19/vegetarian-cheese-animal-rennet_n_4467430.html