Survey finds market goers have a strong interest in dietary change
In November and December the VEG action team were at Macedon Farmers’ Market and Woodend Farmers’ Market speaking to punters about their diets. We chatted to over 50 people in Macedon and an impressive 82 people in Woodend.
Our survey questions explored how much meat people are eating, and whether they are happy with their diet - specifically, do they want to eat more plant-based dishes?
Why did we want to know?
Australians are the second biggest meat eaters in the world. We eat approximately 110kgs of meat per person per year, which is roughly 2kgs per person per week. This huge amount is 545gms per week above Australian dietary guidelines for cooked lean red meat (which includes beef, veal, pork, lamb, mutton, venison and goat), and a whopping 1.9kgs per week more than recommended by the authors of the ambitious Planetary Health Diet (a diet designed to achieve improved global health and environmental outcomes).
The VEG action group’s mandate is to encourage people in the area to eat “more veg, more often” (see why here) and that requires an understanding of why people are or are not eating plant-based meals in the first place.
What did we discover?
Almost everyone we spoke to (besides vegetarians/vegans) wanted to increase the number of plant-based dinners in their week by one or two days
Main reasons cited for wanting to eat more veg included health, followed closely by concern for the environment and animal welfare. We also had quite a few people who simply liked veg meals and wanted to eat more of them
Main reasons for eating more meat than intended include the perceived ease of cooking meat dishes (due to a lifetime of cooking them), lack of veg inspiration and being given a slab of meat from relatives who breed livestock. We also spoke to a few people with health complications requiring meat consumption.
30% of people we talked to in Woodend were vegetarian or vegan!
Where to from here?
There are so many good reasons to eat more plant-based meals - in fact our future food security may depend on it (see more here).
As individuals we can all try and get more veg into our diets. There are a so many simple steps that can be taken to get started.
As an organisation, MRSG through the Veg Action Group, manages a Facebook page for vegetarian or vegan recipe ideas, and hosts regular Pot-Lucks to enable people to sample a range of delicious food and meet like-minded people. We are about to start planning for 2020 and have some great ideas in store for you!
The results also speak to opportunities for stall holders at the market to provide more food options for the vegetarian/vegan population and also to promote opportunities for market goers to eat plant-based dishes whilst at the market. Punters want more plant-based dishes - we just need to show them some good easy and most importantly DELICIOUS options.
Improving the availability of plant based meals at the market
There are some simple steps market food stall owners can consider to better meet demand for plant based food, whilst also having a positive impact on the environment:
work towards 50% of the menu being vegetarian/vegan
put the veg dishes up the top of your menu sign board. The positioning of the dish on the menu affects sales significantly
create a plant-based/vegan base dish and then offer extras (meat or cheese). If you start with vegetarian or meat dishes, it can be quite hard to make them plant-based/vegan. Plant-based/vegan is not only more inclusive, it reduces headaches too!
don’t label the dishes as “vegan/ vegetarian option”, without details of what it is. This reduces the number of people who identify with the food option. If you simply described the dish - (with vegan/vegetarian at the end of the description) you’d probably get a lot more interest.
If you need any help ‘veganising’ any of your food, the VEG action Group can help.
Thanks for the great conversations, Woodend and Macedon!
Claire and Lucy
VEG Action Group