TEMPTED TO try it yet?
Ireland has been ranked as one of the top countries in the world for interest in veganism and plant-based diets, a new report has revealed.
Food and recipe outlet Chef's Pencil compiled and analyzed data from Google Trends to research the popularity of veganism worldwide by using common vegan search phrases such as 'vegan restaurants near me' and 'vegan recipes'-- and found that the people of the Emerald Isle had a huge interest in eating green.
But it's not just in Ireland-- incredibly, the popularity of vegan-based searches is at an all time high all over the world, possibly down to the coronavirus pandemic causing people to change their lifestyle, or the long months of lockdown giving people the chance to try things they had always been interested in.
The United Kingdom was named the country where veganism is mos popular-- thanks in part to the massive Veganuary campaign which saw popular chains like Greggs, Burger King and KFC adding plant-based goods to their menu.
KFC's vegan burger proved popular with customers when it was introduced earlier this yearAustralia came in second, with Chef's Pencil suggesting the severe wildfires and conversations around climate change in the country may have caused more people to reduce their carbon footprint by not eating animal products.
Israel came in third place, followed by Austria and New Zealand-- whose number of vegetarians rose by 15% in 2019 alone.
Ireland, meanwhile, came in at 10th place, with Cork, Dublin and Galway named as the best cities to visit for a huge selection of vegan food and restaurants.
Veganism in Ireland has soared in popularity lately as the conversation around animal cruelty and climate change shows no signs of quietening down.
A recent study by Wellwoman suggested that almost half of Irish people said they would be willing to go vegan for environmental and ethical reasons, with 37% claiming they would change to a plant-based diet permanently.
So, if you've been thinking about cutting out meat and dairy from your diet-- permanently or just to try it-- there's never been a better time.
And if you're not currently in Ireland, here are the rest of the top countries for veganism...
Chef's Pencil Top Most Popular Countries for Vegans:
1 United Kingdom
2 Australia
3 Israel
4 Austria
5 New Zealand
6 Germany
7 Sweden
8 Switzerland
9 Canada
10 Ireland
11 Netherlands
12 United States
13 Denmark
14 Finland
15 Chile
