Meat consumption averages don’t tell the whole story
A team of economists in America analysed tens of thousands of households’ grocery purchases from 2005 to 2020 to see how meat consumption had changed over time. Their findings expose a generational “chasm” where some households are eating less meat while most are consuming more. A key finding is that age and demographics may signal a long-term trend as younger households, especially those headed by people born after 1980, are significantly more likely to avoid meat or animal products.
Grocery receipt data (2005–2020) show a slight rise in meat-avoiding households (4.1% to 4.6%), and a doubling of those avoiding all animal products (0.5% to 1%). Meanwhile, meat purchases among other households increased by 15% by weight. In America, meat remains relatively cheap due to deregulation and subsidies, keeping consumption high.
One of the dominant drivers of changing consumption was found to be rising meat prices, which account for two-thirds of the increase in meat avoidance, with media coverage on factory farming and animal advocacy playing a smaller, less consistent role. Plant-based meat alternatives haven’t yet significantly displaced meat, unlike plant-based milks, which have replaced cow’s milk on a nearly 1-to-1 basis.