10 facts about vegan eating and living

Do you know what day it is? November 1st, yes. But do you know what kind of dày that is? No? It’s World Vegan Day. A market that has long remained a niche for woolly socks is entering the mainstream in 2020. Time for some facts.

1. There are no exact figures on how many people in the Netherlands eat vegan. In 2019, it was estimated that there are more than 120,000. In 2016, the Social and Cultural Planning Office estimated the number of vegans in the Netherlands at 70,000.

2. It is known that twice as many women as men do not eat meat (8 percent compared to 4 percent).

3. Oh, and if you find it interesting: with the vegancalculator http://thevegancalculator.com you can calculate how much you approximately save by eating plant-based.

4. Founder Jaap Korteweg (the brilliant man behind ‘De Vegetarische Slager’) expects his company to grow in revenue by one hundred percent every year for the next five years. How do you mean right place, right time?

5. Did you know that of the 100 Dutch people who intend to reduce their meat consumption, 69 succeed in actually reducing it? 9 no longer eat any meat.

6. This is quite a sad fact… Three-quarters of the world's fisheries are overexploited or depleted. For every kilo of fish caught, up to five kilos of sea creatures are also caught and then discarded as ‘bycatch’. Industrial fishing literally empties our oceans…

7. In Israel, 5 percent of the population is vegan, while the global average is 1 percent. Why such a large percentage? Well, the population is simply used to thinking about food this way.

8. The production of a steak costs 7,500 liters of water. Producing the same amount of pasta costs… only 925 liters. You do the math.

9. Residents of Okinawa in Japan are living proof that you live longer if you maintain a healthy and vegan lifestyle. A 30-year study shows that people from Japan, particularly Okinawa, live the longest of all of us. (By the way, Floortje Dessing made a cool report about the people on this island. Check it out here.)

10. P.S.: The vegan McKroket is totally the shit. You didn't hear it from me. Sssst.