More flexitarians, but growth stagnates

More and more Flemish people eat no meat or fish at least three times a week, according to a ten-year study by the VUB. After a peak in 2016, the growth of flexitarians is slowing down. A small but stable group is vegan or vegetarian.
In the past decade, the eating pattern in Flanders has clearly shifted from omnivorous eating habits, with meat or fish on the plate every day, to more flexitarianism, with at least three days a week without meat or fish. Stricter plant-based diets such as veganism and vegetarianism have a relatively small but stable number of adherents: less than 5% of the population.
“This trend is mainly visible among young, highly educated females who live in urban areas,” says researcher Tom Deliens of VUB. “While most of the population is omnivorous, we see a spike in the consumption of plant-based products in 2016, and more respondents (10% compared to 5% in 2011) consider themselves flexitarians. Veganism or vegetarianism may still be too big a step for some, where flexitarianism seems a viable compromise for reduced meat/fish consumption.”
What is remarkable is that the growing number of flexitarians has stagnated since 2016. The sudden peak may have been due to awareness-raising campaigns such as Days Without Meat, Thursday Veggieday and Try Vegan. Deliens suggests that new campaigns could target older and less educated men from rural areas to raise awareness and promote plant-based eating habits there too. After all, a plant-based diet is both healthier and more sustainable: “Integrating more plant-based food into our diet could even play a key role in the fight against climate change.”