{"id":3745,"date":"2016-02-11T05:46:19","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T05:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalpress.hinduismnow.org?p=3742&preview_id=3742"},"modified":"2016-02-11T05:46:19","modified_gmt":"2016-02-11T05:46:19","slug":"8-nations-going-vegetarian-proving-to-the-world-less-is-more-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/?p=3745","title":{"rendered":"8 Nations Going Vegetarian, Proving To The World Less Is More Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span> Amanda Froelich<\/a>\u00a0at\u00a0<\/span>trueactivist.com<\/a><\/p>\n

These countries have decreased their consumption of animal products dramatically!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/b>Did you know?<\/strong><\/em> In 2010, the United Nations released a report urging the world to adopt a predominantly plant-based diet<\/a>, for its environmental and health implications. Since the turn of the century, interest in vegan<\/a> and vegetarian diets has dramatically increased!<\/p>\n

In fact, a number of nations are making headlines with their sustainable commitments<\/a>, some of the most notable ones listed below.<\/p>\n

According to an article in the New Zealand Herald<\/a><\/i>, the increase is fueled by a motivation to help prevent disease, environmental degradation, and animal suffering on factory farms.<\/p>\n

Explains the author:<\/p>\n

\u201cA decade ago, the vegan diet<\/a> was considered whacky, if not plain risky. Vegans were seen as un-fun characters who lived on dandelion tea and brown rice. Now, eating vegan is seriously cool.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Following are eight other countries ditching meat and lessening their carbon footprint by embracing a delicious, plant-based lifestyle<\/a>:<\/p>\n

1) SPAIN\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As shared by this article<\/strong> <\/a>published last year in The Guardian<\/i>, there is a growing population ofvegetarians and vegans <\/a>in the country of Spain:<\/p>\n

\u201cSpanish people have a reputation as diehard meat eaters. But in recent years, as the number of vegan or vegetarian restaurants in Spain has doubled, there are signs of change.\u201d <\/i>The author continues, \u201cThe idea that we should, at the very least, eat less meat is increasingly common in Spain, as in many other parts of Europe.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

2) <\/i>THE UNITED KINGDOM<\/b><\/h2>\n

The UK is quickly following in the footsteps of the United States health-wise, which is why news of one in eight British adults<\/a> now following a vegetarian or vegan diet<\/strong> is positive news.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, 12% of the population now identifies as \u2018vegetarian\u2019 or \u2018vegan\u2019,<\/a> but that percentage jumps to 20% for people between the ages of 16 and 24. That\u2019s not all:<\/strong><\/em> millions more in the UK are \u201cflexitarians,\u201d meaning they have cut back on their meat consumption dramatically, but still consume it now and again.<\/p>\n

3) SWEDEN\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

Not only has the nation run out of garbage<\/a>\u00a0and is importing trash from neighboring countries to burn for fuel, its government is contemplating a \u201cmeat tax.\u201d You can learn more about that here.<\/p>\n

That said, it should as no surprise, then, that nearly 10% of the country<\/strong> now identifies as vegetarian<\/a> or vegan \u2013 and the millennial generation is leading the way.<\/p>\n

Animal Rights Sweden conducted a poll<\/a> and learned that in the past five years, the number of vegetarians in the country has increased by 4%!<\/p>\n

4) ISRAEL<\/strong><\/h2>\n

An article published by JSpaceNews <\/i><\/a>last year showcases the growing vegan population in Israel. It is estimated that at the time of publication, there were nearly 300,000 vegans<\/a> in the tiny country \u2013 making up 4% of its total population.<\/p>\n

According to the author: \u201cThat makes Israel the vegan capital of the world, with more people per capita eschewing all animal products<\/a> in their diet than any other nation.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

5)<\/i> INDIA<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This largely vegetarian country became even more <\/i>veg-friendly last year! As the Mercy for Animals <\/i>blog relays, last year, the Indian city Palitana became the first all-vegetarian<\/a> city in the world.<\/p>\n

Monks in this country spurred this revolutionary change by going on a hunger strike to pressure the state of Gujarat to outlaw animal slaughter in their city. Their efforts proved to be successful, and shortly after, the government imposed a ban on animal slaughter<\/a> and outlawed the sale of meat and eggs.<\/p>\n

6) GERMANY<\/b><\/h2>\n

It may seem shocking that the nation renowned for Bratwurst is now home to over 7 million vegetarians, <\/a>but the demand for plant-based products is only increasing.<\/p>\n

Even the nation\u2019s 200-year-old Oktoberfest, a meat-laden annual German beer festival, has started serving delicious vegan versions of traditional favorites to satiate attendees\u2019 appetites.<\/p>\n

In addition, the owner of Veganz, <\/a>an all-vegan supermarket chain based in Germany, has ambitious plans of opening 60 more stores by the year 2020, due to popular demand!<\/p>\n

7) CANADA<\/strong><\/h2>\n

According to results from a survey of Canadian food consumption for 2013, citizens in this nation have decreased their meat<\/a> consumption by almost 10%(!) since the year 2011. A general decrease was noted across all meat categories, but the most noteworthy decline was seen in pork consumption, with a decrease of 4.5%.<\/p>\n

Not only that, last year The Huffington Post Canada <\/i>highlighted<\/a> Canada\u2019s growing trend away from the consumption of milk. It seems consumption of dairy products has dropped 25% as more nutritious, humane and dairy-free alternatives (like soy and almond milk) have become available.<\/p>\n

8) THE UNITED STATES<\/b><\/h2>\n

The country is doing something right <\/i>in its quest to curb skyrocketing diseases of affluence (like Diabetes, Cancer, and heart disease) by reducing its consumption of animal products.<\/a> Google even recently tried to buy-out a Vegan \u2018cheeseburger\u2019 company in the States.<\/p>\n

Other private investors are putting millions into vegan food start-ups, like Bill Gates who is an die hard fan of Beyond Meat<\/a>, and Hampton Creek Foods<\/a>, which garnered the attention of Asia\u2019s richest businessman, Li Ka-Shing, along with a $23 million investment.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not all:<\/strong> <\/em>global market research company Mintel recently discovered that 36% of Americans purchase meat alternatives every once in a while<\/a>. (Perhaps for Meatless Mondays?)<\/i><\/p>\n

Consuming <\/i>more plant-based foods is one of the best <\/b>things you can do for the environment and your health. And guess what?<\/em> It doesn\u2019t have to be disgusting, boring, or hard. TrueActivist<\/em> has already shared some healthy inspiration, such as \u201c5 Best Ways To Eat More Bananas,\u201d <\/a>and the \u201cTop 7 Vegan Sources of Protein.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easier than ever to get started today<\/a> <\/b>and start living a vibrant, eco-friendly lifestyle. Share this article<\/strong>\u00a0and comment your thoughts below.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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This article (8 Nations Going Vegetarian, Proving To The World Less Is More <\/a>) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons<\/em><\/a> license with attribution to the author and <\/em>TrueActivist.com<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: 8 Nations Going Vegetarian, Proving To The World Less Is More Environment AnonHQ<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Amanda Froelich\u00a0at\u00a0trueactivist.com These countries have decreased their consumption of animal products dramatically! Did you know? In 2010, the United Nations released a report urging the world to adopt a predominantly plant-based diet, for its environmental and health implications. Since the turn of the century, interest in vegan and vegetarian diets has dramatically increased! In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3745"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3745\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}