Twenty-three percent of Americans report eating less meat in the past year than they had previously, while only 5% said that eat more meat than in the past, according to a Gallup poll released on Monday.
Seventy-two percent said that they are consuming about the same amount of meat as they were the previous year.
Other results from the survey:
- Asked how often they eat meat, 67% said "frequently," 23% said "occasionally" and 7% "rarely," with 3% saying "never."
- Women, at 31%, are more than twice as likely as men, at 15%, to report having eaten less meat.
- Nonwhites report having eaten less meat at a higher rate than whites, 31% to 19%.
- Five percent of Americans are vegetarians, about the same rate as it has been the past two decades.
- Health was cited as the main factor for reducing meat, with 70% saying it is a major reason and 20% saying it is a minor reason.
- Environmental concerns were the next most important factor, with 49% saying it is a major reason and 21% a minor one.
- Next on the list of factors was concerns about food safety, with 43% citing it as a major reason and 22% a minor one; and animal welfare, with 41% saying it is a major reason and 24% a minor one.
- Eating small portions of meat was the most cited way to cut back on meat consumption at 77%.
Results are based on telephone interviews conducted between September 16-30 with a random samplel of 2,431 adults living in the U.S. The margin of sampling error is +/- 2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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