Growth of Vegetarianism among the Young

"Is your diet green today?" With the rise of vegetarianism worldwide, young people are the driving force of this new trend. Why are plant-based diets becoming trendy among the young? What is the impact of this trend on existing perceptions of vegetarianism? How can we keep people's passion for vegetarianism alive?

Original Chinese text / Qiu Huimin (邱惠敏)

"Plant-based diets have become a mainstream in Europe and the U. S. Many famous Michelin-starred restaurants serve vegetarian cuisine made with home-grown ingredients. There are also enterprises investing in the R&D of vegetarian ingredients, such as plant-based meats." Ven. Chang Ji (常濟法師), Dharma Drum Mountain's delegate on the United Nations' NGO committee, pointed out that the United Nations is calling for a change in diet to reduce meat consumption in its 2019 climate report. In the past few years, the number of vegetarians has increased significantly due to Covid-19.

Issues such as climate change and animal protection have indeed prompted a call to "preserve the environment by changing the diet" among the younger generation. Most of them are adopting a "flexitarian" diet. According to "Going Plant-Based: The Rise of Vegan and Vegetarian Food," a report released by a leading market analysis firm in 2021, flexitarians make up 42% of the world's population, with the majority of them being young people.

"Is your diet green today?" Influenced mainly by social media contents or their peers, young people who choose a meat-free vegetarian diet have developed a lifestyle that advocates "care for the earth and ourselves." According to statistics, more than 70% of Gen Z, who were born after 1995, use Facebook and Instagram every day, and tend to imitate one another as they share posts and discussions on social media platforms. Social media users also gain a sense of belonging and form identities, making it easier to rally and build camaraderie through participation in activities by sharing information on stores, recipes, and purchases, which has indeed infused elements of youth into the contemporary landscape of vegetarianism.

Youth's Vegetarianism "Awakening"

"I was inspired by a TED talk by Graham Hill, the founder of TreeHugger.com and LifeEdited. Without rich financial resources or power to impact the world, young people will find it easier to start by changing their diets." Before becoming a monastic, Ven. Yan Duan (演端法師) of DDM was a chef living abroad who enjoyed delicacies and fine wine, being a young man. He later chose to be a vegetarian because he wanted to adopt a more environmentally ethical diet. After a while, he realized that the dietary change not only helped him save money and time, but was also conducive to a self-disciplined mentality, enabling him not to be swayed by the desire for good food.

Chen Ting-yu (陳婷鈺), a dietitian at the Taiwan Vegetarian Nutrition Society, came into contact with Buddhism when she was a student. Later, under the influence of Veganism, she identified with the ideals of environmental protection and animal protection, and went on further to become a vegan. Moreover, her parents became vegetarian and gained an interest in Buddhism because of her. "I started being a vegetarian in my sophomore year for health reasons, but I didn't actually get any healthier. As I wanted to learn more about the nutritional aspects of vegetarian diets, I switched to nutrition studies for my master's degree. This also reinforced my aspiration to promote healthy vegetarian diets," she says.


Beware of the Vegetarian Traps

"It is best to refrain from eating the flesh of any living beings altogether out of compassion. But if you can only choose to be a flexitarian due to your health issues, then perhaps you have to take it that way." In The Dalai Lama's Cat 2, the author explores how vegetarians can strike a balance between faith and health through the story of a little girl who insists on not eating meat. In the story, the Dalai Lama reminds the little girl that being a vegetarian or not doesn't have to be a black-and-white issue: "Whether adopting vegetarian diets or not, we should always remember that it is because of the death of these lives that we have things to eat. Their lives matter just as much as yours and mine, so be grateful when you think of them."

In addition to protecting living beings out of compassion, the fundamental spirit of going for a vegetarian diet as a way of life is so that we can rein in our desires, rendering ourselves to be more tolerant and empathetic, while reducing afflictions, both for ourselves and others. Many people choose a vegetarian diet because they identify with the ideas of health, environmental protection, and animal protection. The newly emerging topic of the meat of the future and cultivated meat serves as an opportunity to ask ourselves: why do I adopt a vegetarian diet?

"You've abandoned meat in favor of a vegetarian diet. Now, you begin to become attached to vegetarianism, even regarding meat as something unclean. Those who eat meat also instill resentment and hostility within you. When this happens, you should abandon vegetarianism." As Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche wrote in his article "What is True Renunciation?" We often think we have detached ourselves from a certain object or feeling, but in fact we are unconsciously falling into another trap.

In addition, vegetarians are also prone to falling into the trap of guilt tripping. There are companies abroad that make money in the name of environmental protection. "Take the meat of the future and plant-based meat as an example. The intention of the research and development involved may initially be for environmental protection and animal protection, but the business opportunities behind it are also a key factor as to why companies are investing in it." Ven. Chang Ji, who has been leading workshops around the world for many years, often reminds workshop participants that, when it comes to making food choices, we can examine our original intention for adopting a vegetarian diet. If we really want to preserve the environment through adopting a meatless diet, when seeing plant-based meat that looks like meat or fake meat that is "bleeding," then perhaps we should look inward to check whether our inner greed is actually leading us to fall into another trap that exploits the earth.

For Buddhists, diet is essential in Buddhist practice as it involves an experiment for the body and mind. From cooking to eating, the process is all part of the practice. Starting with having the food in our mouth, we first purify our body, after which we go further to reflect on our speech, and finally we contemplate our mind and feel the joyful energy we take in through eating.



Related articles:

Growth of Vegetarianism among the Young

Common Questions about Vegetarianism

Interview with Huang Yan-mei, the Volunteer Chef of DDM Yunlai Monastery

Interview with Veggie Deer, Taiwanese YouTuber: Changing Diets, Transforming the World

Interview with Ven. Yan Duan: Plant-based Diet as an Experiment for the Body & Mind



Resource: Issue 478 of Humanity Magazine (June 2023), Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation
Translation: Li Siang-ling
Editing: Keith Brown, Chang Chia-cheng (張家誠)