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British Columbia appears to be leading a dietary revolution as nearly 40 per cent of British Columbians 35 and under say they follow a vegan or vegetarian diet, according to national survey data.

That’s more than three times higher than the average for all Canadians.

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“It’s quite astonishing,” said Sylvain Charlebois, dean of the faculty of management at Dalhousie University in Halifax. “These numbers are the highest in the country.”

Among Canadians of all ages, 7.1 per cent identify as vegetarian and 2.3 per cent as vegan, said Charlebois. Those rates show no signs of growth, he said.

Photo by Brian Van Wyk

In B.C., about 8.6 per cent are vegetarian and 3.9 percent are vegan, according to the poll of 1,049 Canadians. That makes us about 35 per cent more likely to go meat-free than the average Canadian.

But the numbers for young British Columbians stunned Charlebois. More than 28 per cent of British Columbians 35 and under are vegetarian and 9.2 per cent are vegan.