Britons are ditching meat, becoming more eco-friendly and enjoying homemade meals

More and more Britons are now ditching meat and eating veggies five days a week, claims a recent report by a leading supermarket, suggesting a shift in the eating habits in the country that is now influenced largely by social media. 

As per annual Waitrose food & drink report, middle class Brits are ditching meat and adopting a “climatarian diet” in a move to reduce their carbon footprint. Dubbed as “new 5:2 diet” – a reference to a popular weight loss method where people only diet two days a week – eco-conscious Britons are eating veggies five days a week veggie and treating themselves to meat only on weekends.

Apart from bringing changes in dietary habits, shoppers are also looking for other ways to be more eco-friendly, including minimising food waste by donating excess food and not buying groceries wrapped in excess packaging. 

Pandemic also seems responsible for this paradigm shift as more and more Britons rediscovered the joy of intimate dinner parties and enjoyed homemade feasts while working from home, says the report, adding that even though “we are allowed to socialise once again, the country is embracing staying at home and entertaining loved ones”.

Social media is also playing a role in molding the eating habits of Britons. The report points out that how platforms such as Instagram and TikTok have driven sales of everything from feta and tortillas to pesto and potatoes due to viral food trends.

While a quarter of Waitrose shoppers bought groceries online for the first time in 2021, a third of people polled have been using on-demand food delivery apps during the pandemic, says the report.

Waitrose predicts  the rise of ‘potato milk’ as an alternative to dairy, boom for canned fish, sushi sales, among a batch-made bottles of popular cocktails.

 “The majority of the people we surveyed told us the pandemic has fundamentally changed their outlook: they’re more conscious of their mental and physical health, they’re enjoying life’s simple pleasures, and they’ve embraced the importance of family and friends,” media reports quoted James Bailey, Waitrose executive director, as saying.