from Kerry Bennett, The Vegetarian Society
SIR; In response to last week’s Saturday Essay, the Vegetarian Society (you may be surprised to hear) would like to applaud John Howard of the Danish Bacon and Meat Council (July 19, p34)
We agree with Howard, there is nothing to be gained by exploiting flimsy and selective research.
We would also like to point out that as a registered charity The Vegetarian Society is excluded from doing so.
The study, released during National Vegetarian Week, that indicated 2,000 people a week were stopping eating meat, was conducted by Safeway.
Of course, the timing of the study and its subject matter led a number of journalists to The Vegetarian Society for comment, as did the MLC’s constant referral to statistics from a Realeat Survey at a recent press event.
The Realeat Survey from which it was selectively quoting was undertaken in 2001, and showed a drop of around 600,000 (half a per cent) between1999 and 2001 in the number of vegetarians, not a drop of one million in the last year!
Given later surveys such as April 2002’s Mori Poll for the Coalition of Medical Progress which reported that 9% of respondents had been vegetarian or vegan during the last two years, it seems reasonable to conclude that the nation was in fact eating more vegetarian food in 1999 in response to fears over BSE.
The figures that count in the business world are those with a pound sign in front of them.
The Vegetarian Society would like to quote one statistic from Taylor Nelson Sofres released earlier this year: The total meat-free and vegetarian market is worth £582m, showing an 8% rise year-on-year.
SIR; In response to last week’s Saturday Essay, the Vegetarian Society (you may be surprised to hear) would like to applaud John Howard of the Danish Bacon and Meat Council (July 19, p34)
We agree with Howard, there is nothing to be gained by exploiting flimsy and selective research.
We would also like to point out that as a registered charity The Vegetarian Society is excluded from doing so.
The study, released during National Vegetarian Week, that indicated 2,000 people a week were stopping eating meat, was conducted by Safeway.
Of course, the timing of the study and its subject matter led a number of journalists to The Vegetarian Society for comment, as did the MLC’s constant referral to statistics from a Realeat Survey at a recent press event.
The Realeat Survey from which it was selectively quoting was undertaken in 2001, and showed a drop of around 600,000 (half a per cent) between1999 and 2001 in the number of vegetarians, not a drop of one million in the last year!
Given later surveys such as April 2002’s Mori Poll for the Coalition of Medical Progress which reported that 9% of respondents had been vegetarian or vegan during the last two years, it seems reasonable to conclude that the nation was in fact eating more vegetarian food in 1999 in response to fears over BSE.
The figures that count in the business world are those with a pound sign in front of them.
The Vegetarian Society would like to quote one statistic from Taylor Nelson Sofres released earlier this year: The total meat-free and vegetarian market is worth £582m, showing an 8% rise year-on-year.
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