VEGETERIANISM AND VEGANISM: PRO ET CONTRA: VCIOM: Russia Public Opinion Research Center

Photo: Антон Новодережкин/ТАСС

VEGETERIANISM AND VEGANISM: PRO ET CONTRA

Vegetarianism and veganism are still not quite popular in Russia. Three-quarters of respondents support the initiative to ban minors from vegetarianism and raw food diet. The main reasons behind that are concerns over children’s and adolescents’ health.

07.11.2023

IN BRIEF

• Every second Russian sticks to a diet (51%, 53% in 2018).;

• 1% of Russians call themselves vegetarians (1% in 2018). ;

• 50% are confident that avoiding meat is bad to health, 13% consider it healthy.;

• 74% support the idea to legally ban minors from vegetarianism and raw food diet.

MOSCOW, 7 November 2023. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a monitoring survey about vegetarianism.

What is vegetarianism?

Half of respondents keep track of what they eat (51%), including 18% of those who stick to a physician-recommended or self-directed diet; every third tried to eat healthy foods (33%). Since 2014 the share of those Russians who keep track of what they eat has been at the same levels (49-53%). Every fifth respondent eats any kind of food and does not complain about health (22%, +7 p.p. compared to 2018). About a quarter of respondents do not have an opportunity to pay attention to the food quality (26%, −6 p.p. compared to 2018).

Young respondents under 25 do not only keep track of what they eat (63% vs. 51% of total respondents), but also stick to a certain diet (25% vs. 18% of total Russians).
Women are more likely than men to keep track of what they eat (55% vs. 47%), whereas men often eat what they want (27% vs. 17%).
Of Russians with poor financial situation, every second does not keep track of what he/she eats and eats what he/she can afford (53%). This percentage is four times as small among those with good income (14%).

Vegetarianism is one of the most popular diets. Nine out of ten Russians could define this type of diet (92%; 96% in 2018). According to Russians, this diet excludes meat and fish (45%; 50% in 2018) as well as animal-based foods including dairy products and eggs (31%; 45% in 2018). Over the recent five years the attitudes towards vegetarianism started to change. Previously this diet was associated with a refusal to eat meat and animal-based products. Today it is more associated with eating plant-based foods and vegetables (19%, 1% in 2018).

How many of us are vegetarians?

According to the findings, vegetarianism cannot be treated as a popular diet among Russians. Only 1% of respondents consider themselves vegetarians, whereas a majority do not stick to this diet (98%). Over the five years this number has not changed.

Among the inhabitants of North-Western federal district, 5% consider themselves vegetarians, which is five time as big compared to all the Russians (1%).

Russians have ambiguous attitudes towards vegetarianism; more Russians have been criticizing this diet. Today every second respondent thinks that refusal to eat meat is harmful to health (50%; +11 p.p. compared to 2018). Simultaneously, there has been a decrease in the shares of those who consider plant-based food to be healthy (13% in 2023; 20% in 2018) or not impacting health (19% in 2023; 27% in 2018).

The older the Russians, the more often they consider vegetarianism a healthy diet (15% of those aged 60+ vs. 8% of young respondents under 25).
Those who think that giving up meat has no impact on health are primarily young respondents under 25 (33%).

Law is served

In October 1993, the State Duma proposed to legally ban minors from vegetarianism and raw food diet. A vast majority of Russians support this initiative (74%, including 55% who fully support it). The idea is mainly shared by women (79%) and Russians aged 45-59 (79%). Twenty percent of Russians do not support the initiative (25% of young respondents under 25). The share is also high among those who opt for a self-directed diet (27%).

VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide telephone survey was conducted October 22, 2023. A total of 1,600 Russians aged 18+ were surveyed. Survey method: telephone interviews, stratified random sample based on a complete list of mobile phone numbers in use in Russia. The data were weighted for socio-demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey of October 22 2023.

Key effectiveness indicators: cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.7956; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0171; response rate (RR)*** = 0.1164. calculations are based on corporate standards: https://profi.wciom.ru/principy_standarty/korporativnyj-standart-po-izmereniyu-rezultativnosti-oprosov-sputnik-vciom/

Do you keep track of what you eat, stick to a diet, or not? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	2014	2015	2017	2018	2023
Yes, I stick to a physician-recommended diet regime	4	5	7	7	7
Yes, I follow a self-directed diet	9	10	10	12	11
Yes, I try to eat healthy food	36	36	32	34	33
I eat what I want, I don’t complain about my health	23	27	20	15	22
I don’t have an opportunity to think about the food quality; I eat what I can afford	25	20	30	32	26
Don’t know	3	2	1	0	1

Do you keep track of what you eat, stick to a diet, or not? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	Total	Men	Women	Ages 18-24	25-34	35-44	45-59	60 +
Yes, I stick to a physician-recommended diet regime	7	5	9	7	3	6	8	11
Yes, I follow a self-directed diet	11	12	10	18	14	10	7	10
Yes, I try to eat healthy food	33	30	35	37	36	40	34	24
I eat what I want, I don’t complain about my health	22	27	17	20	27	19	24	18
I don’t have an opportunity to think about the food quality; I eat what I can afford	26	25	27	16	18	23	25	36
Don’t know	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	1

Did you hear or do you hear for the first time about vegetarianism? If you did, can you describe it in a couple of words? (open-ended question, up to 3 answers, % of total respondents)
	2018	2023
Without meat (fish)	50	45
Without animal food (including daily products)/ only vegetable food/ fruits and vegetables	45	31
More vegetables / vegetable diet / grass-eating	1	19
Negative perception / nonsense / harmful / stupid	3	7
Healthy food / healthy / healthism	2	2
No proteins	3	2
I heard only this word but have no I idea what it means	1	2
This is the first time I hear this word	1	2
Other	1	5
Don’t know	2	4

Vegetarianism is a dietary practice to eat plant-based foods rather than meats. Are you a vegetarian or not? (close-ended question, one answer, % those who heard about vegetarianism)
	2018	2023
I am a vegetarian (including vegan)	1	1
I’m not a vegetarian	98	98
Don’t know	1	1

In your opinion, is vegetarianism good for health, harmful, or does it have no effect on health? (close-ended question, one answer, % of those who heard about vegetarianism)
	2018	2023
Likely good for health	20	13
Likely harmful	39	50
No effect	27	19
Don’t know	14	18

In your opinion, is vegetarianism good for health, harmful, or does it have no effect on health? (close-ended question, one answer, % of those who heard about vegetarianism)
	Total	Men	Women	Ages 18-24	25-34	35-44	45-59	60 +
Likely good for health	13	12	13	8	11	12	13	15
Likely harmful	50	47	52	49	46	52	51	50
No effect	19	19	19	33	23	20	14	16
Don’t know	18	22	16	10	20	16	22	19

In Russia a law banning minors from vegetarianism and raw food diet, especially during kid’s first years, was introduced in Russia. Do you support this ban, or not? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	Total	Men	Women	Ages 18-24	25-34	35-44	45-59	60 +
Fully support	55	50	59	34	51	60	59	56
Likely to support	19	19	20	35	23	15	20	16
Unlikely to support	9	11	8	16	13	8	7	8
Fully oppose	11	12	9	9	10	11	8	13
Don’t know	6	8	4	6	3	6	6	7

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