Towards a sustainable diet: the profile of vegan and vegetarian Italian consumers

The actual pandemic has made more evident the balance between health, ecosystems, global supply chain and resources. Numerous studies have showed that diets based on plant origin food are less impacted on the environment than those of animal one; therefore, consumer choices can affect the sustainable development of the agri-food sector. In this paper, the profile of Italian vegan and vegetarian consumers was investigated to understand the role that environmental sustainability and other issues plays in the choice of these diets. The data of the Eurispes Italy 2020-2021 report relating to vegan and vegetarian consumers were analyzed. From 2018 to 2021, the trend of vegan consumers showed positive values, since it improved from 0.9% to 2.4%; vegetarians showed a discontinuous trend, from 2018 onwards between 5.4% and 6.7%. The results reveal the main reasons that push consumers to adopt these diets, which are inherent to the health issue (23.2%) and respect for animals (22.2%). Environmental sustainability, on the other hand, is still a minor driver for orienting consumers’ choice towards a vegan/vegetarian diet (only 5.1% of the total sample); however, there is a growth in awareness among young people (18-24 years) in attributing to environmental protection issue a reason for being vegan/vegetarian.