Essential Report

Dietary preferences

Feb 11, 2020

Q. Which, if any, of the following best describes your diet?

		Age			Federal Voting Intention
	Total	18-34	35-54	55+	Labor	Coalition	Greens	NET: Other
Vegan	3%	7%	2%	1%	3%	3%	7%	1%
Vegetarian	5%	8%	6%	1%	5%	3%	12%	4%
Pescatarian	5%	7%	5%	3%	5%	3%	7%	7%
Flexitarian/Semi-vegetarian	7%	8%	8%	6%	9%	7%	7%	5%
I try to limit my meat consumption	24%	22%	25%	26%	27%	19%	32%	22%
None of the above	56%	48%	55%	64%	50%	64%	34%	62%
Base (n)	1,056	341	366	349	354	320	113	155

44% of participants are reducing their meat consumption in some way, most commonly by trying to limit their meat consumption (24%).
18-34 year olds are more likely to be vegan (7%) or vegetarian (8%) than those aged over 55 (both 1%).
12% of Greens voters are vegetarian, compared to 4% of all other voters.

Q. And which, if any, of the following are reasons why you choose to follow this diet?

		Age
	Total	18-34	35-54	55+
Improve or maintain personal health	51%	40%	50%	65%
Limit processed food, additives or chemicals in diet	32%	21%	36%	40%
Assist with weight loss	29%	29%	27%	32%
Environmental reasons	29%	34%	27%	24%
Ethical reasons of animal welfare	27%	34%	27%	18%
Reduce the cost of food bills	25%	18%	25%	35%
Dislike the taste of meat	11%	13%	13%	7%
Manage an illness (e.g. diabetes)	8%	7%	10%	8%
I have food allergies	7%	9%	7%	4%
Religious beliefs and teachings	4%	6%	5%	0%
None of the above	4%	4%	4%	5%
Base (n)	470	177	166	127

The most commonly selected reason for choosing to follow a meat restrictive diet is to improve or maintain personal health (51%), followed by limiting processed food, additives or chemicals in diet (32%), assist with weight loss and environmental reasons (both 29%).
25% of participants are chose to follow a meat restrictive diet in order to reduce the cost of food bills while 11% dislike the taste of meat.
Participants over 55 are more likely to say ‘improve or maintain personal health’ (65%), ‘limit processed food, additives or chemicals in diet’ (40%) or ‘reduce the cost of food bills’ (35%), than those 18-34 years old (40%, 21% and 18% respectively).
Women are more likely than men to say they dislike the taste of meat (15% women, 7% men).
Greens voters are more likely to say environmental (54%) or ethical (45%) reasons than any other political group (both 24%).

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