Peak meat: is animal consumption falling out of style in the US? [View all]

[G_j]

http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/sustainable-meat-vegan-vegetarian-celebrities

Peak meat: is animal consumption falling out of style in the US?

Demand for meat has declined for a decade in the US, the second-largest consumer of meat per capita. Now Jay Z, Rick Warren and Oprah Winfrey are calling attention to a vegan diet

Tuesday 10 December 2013 12.32 EST

What will be hot on restaurant menus in 2014? The National Restaurant Association, which surveyed more than 1,400 chefs, says the top three trends for next year will be locally sourced meats and seafood, locally grown produce and environmental sustainability. That's welcome news for people who care about the health of the planet, but the chefs may have missed an even bigger change coming to the US diet – the decline of meat.

Today, Americans consume more meat – approximately 270lbs per capita – than carnivores elsewhere (except Luxembourg). But meat consumption in the US has been declining for nearly a decade, according to the research firm Packaged Facts. About 12% of US adults strongly agree and 19% somewhat agree that "they are eating many meatless/vegetarian meals," says David Sprinkle, publisher of Packaged Facts. Beyond the data, there are signs all around us that meat is falling out of favor, for health, environmental, ethical and economic reasons.

The decline of meat creates opportunities for an array of competitors in the protein business. They include the developers of sustainable aquaculture, producers of vegetarian analogs like Beyond Meat and Beyond Eggs, and consumer products firms whose vegetarian products like Boca and Gardein have moved from natural foods channels to mainstream retailers like Target, Safeway and Kroger. Fast-casual chain Chipotle recently launched Sofritas, a tofu sandwich, under the headline, Vegans and Carnivores Unite, while Subway is rolling out a vegetarian falafel sandwich. On its website, Starbucks says: "If you've ever heard someone dismiss vegetables as "rabbit food," you should introduce them to our Hearty Veggie & Brown Rice Salad Bowl."

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