However, the report, conducted by The Vegan Society, also found that concerns around the taste of vegan food, nutrition, and lack of support from family and friends are potential barriers to the lifestyle. Men also experience gender specific barriers due to the perceived link between meat eating and notions of what it means to be “masculine”. In addition to this, 47% of men who were interested in veganism said that they were concerned about unsupportive family and friends.
The purpose of the report was to identify what kind of support would be useful for these men, learn what the vegan journey was like for current vegan men and develop new supportive strategies.
The Vegan Society’s Research and Policy Officer, Alexander Huntley, commented on the findings of the research:
“We know that women are more likely to be vegan than men, but our recent research suggests that there are more men open to the idea of going vegan than previously thought. This finding highlights the importance of encouraging men, specifically, to adopt a vegan lifestyle and providing resources to help them overcome potential barriers.
The report calls attention to factors preventing men from adopting a vegan lifestyle, which gives us a great foundation of knowledge to support our work and inform our creation of resources that can tackle misconceptions around vegan food and help provide a sense of community for those considering veganism.
We encourage any men who are interested in veganism to visit our Vegan and Thriving pages which are full of information, advice and words directly from vegan men about their vegan journey and how their veganism relates to their masculinity.”
Read the report in full: Veganism and Masculinity: Challenging Stereotypes and Embracing Change
