Veganism: has the vegan revolution stalled amongst audiences?

Veganism: has the vegan revolution stalled amongst audiences?

Nikita Gundala 

25th June 2024

Veganism has been a global cultural phenomenon in the 21st century, attracting a community with a shared language, set of behaviors and even aesthetic.  If it’s a cultural phenomenon, however, then it’s also one that fewer and fewer audiences are participating in.

We delved into the global veganism conversation on X over the past five years, across the US, UK, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia, to view how it has been evolving. By visualizing over 50 million posts, we looked to reveal the shape of conversation around the trend - and how this differs across global regions.

 

Viewed through a global lens, the trend appears to be cooling. Audiences are talking about veganism less online. Why? 

One reason suggested by social posts is a move towards flexitarianism. Analysis of the conversation suggest that audiences retain many of the concerns that helped drive mass take-up of veganism - including sensitivity towards animal suffering and sustainability concerns. 

In recent years, however, there is a growing school of thought that a more flexible approach might be sufficient to address - or at least alleviate - some of those sustainability concerns in particular.

Audiences don't necessarily want to discomfort themselves knowing they can’t change the world alone. A diet with reduced meat intake is understood to tick many of the same boxes for a large swathe of the population; individuals feel that they do not need to necessarily compromise their likes to quite the same extent as was prevalent prior to the pandemic.

There is additionally a sense within the conversation of the lifestyle change not ‘taking’ for some individuals, who might have adopted veganism for health, fashion or interpersonal reasons that either no longer felt pertinent or they were unable to sustain.

One thing that becomes very clear is that different global audiences talk about the topic very differently.

Singapore is gradually becoming a hub for lab-grown meat with Singaporeans, big consumers of beef and pork, increasingly open towards vegan gastronomy.

A good number of online conversations are Singapore Noodles pictures that are hashtagged vegan, vegetarian or gluten-free that are made using only vermicelli and veggies.

One potential reason for the level of interest in veganism within Singapore not falling to the degree that it has globally may be that the city-state has been less impacted by the cost of living crisis that enveloped much of the world in 2023-24.

As living standards have plateaued or declined globally, we have seen elsewhere the audience's focus shifts away from decisions made for purely ethical reasons.

In Malaysia however, audiences often feel conflicted at the thought of abandoning aspects of their traditions in favor of veganism. There are communities actively campaigning for veganism in public spaces, but these incidents are met with significant backlash and even ‘revenge’ meat-eating.

The death of a vegan influencer and an active promoter of raw vegan food sparked a controversy amongst local audiences. Non-vegans quickly jumped to commenting on how anything should be done in moderation. 

But it remains to be seen whether Malaysia will see its culture around veganism impacted by its proximity to Singapore’s gastronomic and production hub.

Within the UK, Veganuary (cutting out animal products in the month of January) remains a popular cultural moment, causing a spike in conversation and interest. Outside of the spike, however, we see a gradual decline in audience interest.

Even as consumers cool on the trend, driven in part by the cost of living crisis and growing concern as to health risks, there is still a string philosophical grounding for the movement within the UK.

Ethical veganism, a plant-based diet that sees total avoidance of animal-derived products, has become a belief protected by the UK law - based on the fact that it’s compatible with upholding human dignity and does not conflict with the fundamental rights of others. In direct opposition to this trend, meanwhile, there’s ethical carnivory.

Conversations around veganism are gendered in the UK. Meat still signals masculinity for some communities (largely older generations or the 'new right'), which has seen the proliferation of gendered insults like ‘soy boys’, directed at vegan (or vegetarian) men.

In Australia, again, the conversation around veganism is in decline - for all that, it has seen  its fair share of controversy.

A community of vegan influencers blamed meat eaters for the forest fires and called them ‘flesh fetish’ meat eaters. They essentially call out meat, dairy and eggs consumption as the sole reason for the bush fires.

Away from direct conflict, we also see instances where vegan values and practices have been seamlessly embedded into society and culture.

For instance, Vegemite - the famous Australian pantry staple - made the decision to attain vegan certification. There was no alteration in the original recipe and it successfully passed strict processes conducted by Vegan Australia.

It reflects another global trend, in which veganism is simply being less spoken about because some of the cultural and lifestyle impact is now taken as standard. This doesn't account for the diminishing occurrences of vegan recipes, of course, but does reflect how some of the issues around lack of choice or stigmatisation, have progressed over the past decade.

 

Conversations in the US mirrored the global trend and significantly contributed to the overall decrease in volume.

What stands out within the US conversation are the peaks driven by communities that were potentially overlooked in previous iterations of the vegan trend. 'Black veganism' became a talking point representing an intersection of black culture with veganism. It re-emphasized how racial injustice contributed to dietary choices by black Americans and became a way of infusing one’s own identity with choice of cuisine/diet.

 

Elsewhere, even though Burger King’s “Impossible Whopper” or “Beyond Meat” are vegan options, this has not really stopped meat eaters from buying beef burgers. The brands have widened their customer base to more vegans and vegetarians, but have not really encouraged major lifestyle changes among meat eaters. 

The momentum of veganism has shifted to emerging markets in Asia, amidst a broader global decline. There appear myriad different reasons why the decline is taking place, from the rise of flexitarian lifestyles, to health concerns, attrition amongst adopters and a sense that some of the political momentum has passed. With Singapore quickly emerging as a vegan experimental hub, however, it remains to be seen if the trend can accumulate new momentum and regather it's cultural significance from an Asian epicentre. 

 


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