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Interview Offer: vegetarian eating up 30 per cent in NSW

Announcement posted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Australia 17 Aug 2016

Have you noticed that more and more people you know have stopped eating meat? The official numbers are in: during the past four years, vegetarian eating has boomed in Australia – and especially in New South Wales, where it has jumped more than 30 per cent.
 
A poll released this week by Roy Morgan revealed that between 2012 and 2016, the number of Australian adults who eat "all or almost all vegetarian" foods rose from 1.7 million people (9.7 per cent of the population) to almost 2.1 million (11.2 per cent) – and vegetarian eating in New South Wales rose from 9.5 per cent to 12.4 per cent!
 
Researchers also found that while more than 60.7 per cent of Australian adults are overweight or obese, the same is true for only 45.4 per cent of vegetarians, who tend to have a lower body mass index. And it seems that word is spreading about the health benefits associated with giving meat the chop, as more than half (53.4 per cent) of Aussies agree that they're "eating less red meat these days".
 
Besides a slimmer waistline, there are many other benefits to eating vegetarian. Meat has been linked to heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, and the World Health Organisation has classified processed meat as carcinogenic and red meat as probably carcinogenic to humans. In addition to being bad for our health, animal agriculture is a leading contributor to "the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global", according to the United Nations, which has also said that a global shift towards vegan eating is vital to combat the worst effects of climate change. And of course, there's the inexcusable suffering endured by the 600 million animals who are killed annually in Australia for their flesh. 
 
We'd be happy to arrange for a spokesperson to talk with you about the rise of vegetarian eating in Australia, so please let me know if you're interested.
 
Warm regards,
 
Laura Weyman-Jones
Press Officer
PETA Australia
0415 889 419
LauraWJ@peta.org.au