Can you imagine a world where no one eats meat?

No peri-peri chicken, no cheeky 3am lamb doner kebab and certainly no topside of beef for a Sunday roast.

According to a fifth of young adults, this could be a reality in the next 12 years.

A study conducted by YouGov for the tech company ThoughtWorks questioned 2,000 people about how they expected shopping habits to change in future.


One in five (18%) adults between the ages of 18 and 24 said that they thought people would have stopped eating meat completely by 2030.

The number of vegans in the UK has certainly increased, with 7% of the population – 3.5 million people – forgoing all animal byproducts.



According to the survey, three key issues will define how we shop for our food in the future; environmental awareness, ethics and health.

The number one concern will be packaging, with 62% of people naming the reduction of packaging as the biggest issue for the future – even bigger than the price of food.

An impressive 48% of those surveyed said that cutting down on food waste would be a top issue in years to come.

Vegan meat alternatives mean that you don’t even have to forego that meaty taste anymore. (Picture: Getty)

Results also showed that making better ethical choices when shopping is becoming a priority, with 32% of people saying that they would seek ‘assurance’ that their food was ethically sourced and from a sustainable supply chain.

With one in four UK adults believed to be affected by obesity, health was an important issue for respondents.

Tackling the obesity crisis was named as a top priority by 41% of people, while 38% said that the nutritional value of food would influence their purchasing decisions in the future and 30% predicted a greater interest in food as an intrinsic part of health and well-being in the future.

Whether we will become a world of vegans remains to be seen, but there’s certainly more interest in ethical eating and sustainable purchasing decisions than ever before.

Dawn Carr, PETA’s Director of Vegan Corporate Projects, told Metro.co.uk: ‘These young people are savvy, and they’re on to something: the United Nations has stated that a global shift to a vegan diet is necessary to combat the worst effects of climate change.

‘And eating vegan is as easy as rhubarb pie –.Almost every high-street eatery now offers tasty vegan options, and supermarkets like Iceland and Waitrose are rushing to stock innovative plant-based products.

‘Perhaps it’s unlikely that humans will have entirely stopped eating animals by 2030, but we can certainly say that over the next decade, millions of cows, chickens, pigs, sheep, fish, and other animals will be spared pain, suffering, and slaughter because compassionate consumers are choosing to go vegan today.’

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