Rather than slipping another prawn on the barbie, it seems increasing numbers of Australians are more likely to be adding an extra slice of pineapple or red pepper, as a new survey reveals “meat reducer” to be the country’s most popular diet this year.
According to a consumer survey by Food Frontier, an alternative protein think tank, the more planet-friendly diet was the most popular down under in 2024, adopted by more than a fifth of people (21 per cent). It also found that 79 per cent of Aussies have at least one meat free day a week and 34 per cent consume plant-based milks at least once a week.
The survey of 2,000 respondents across the country followed on from a similar one carried out in 2021 and asked about what people liked to eat, how much meat they consumed a week, as well as what dietary changes they had made and why. They were also asked which of 13 choices best described their diet. Intermittent fasting and organic came second and third.
Almost two thirds of people said health was the main reason behind their dietary choice, while more than half (54 per cent) said it was for financial reasons and more than a third (37 per cent) said environmental concerns. Simon Eassom, the chief executive of Food Frontier, highlighted the impact on diet of high prices, saying: “The cost-of-living crisis may be affecting meat consumption. Over the past four years, the importance of budget as a motivator for reduced meat consumption has increased significantly, rising from 40 per cent in 2021 to 54 per cent in 2024.”
That finding will be grist to the mill for those promoting the idea of a meat tax, to make the price of animal products more accurately reflect their environmental cost and thus drive down demand. In 2017 an investor network said a “sin tax” on meat was inevitable to discourage shoppers from buying planet-damaging products. Oxford University research has calculated that such a move would cut 1 billion tonnes of harmful greenhouse gas emissions a year and save half a million lives.
The survey also underlined the importance of signing up to campaigns such as Meat Free Monday and sharing news and recipe ideas with your nearest and dearest. Food Frontier found that for the respondents interested in meat reducing, vegetarianism and veganism, friends and family were their most common source of diet information. In a report last year it also found that sales of plant-based meat had increased by 47 per cent between 2020 and 2023 in Australia, while consumption per capita had climbed by 28 per cent. More than a third of Britons have cut back on their meat consumption.
Pointing out that 13 per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gases last year were down to methane emissions from livestock, Eassom said: “It appears that some Australians are making a connection between animal agriculture and climate change.” But since climate concerns rated only third on the list of reasons to choose a diet, he added: “This would indicate that, despite growing awareness amongst some consumers, more than half of Australians are either unaware or not concerned about the relationship between food production and climate change.”