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

The pandemic has made the balance between health, ecosystems, the global supply chain, and resources more evident. Numerous studies have shown that diets based on plant-origin food have less impacted the environment than those of animal-origin food; therefore, consumer choices can affect the sustainable development of the agri-food sector. In this chapter, the profile of Italian vegan and vegetarian consumers was investigated to understand the role that environmental sustainability and other issues play in choosing these diets. The data of the Eurispes Italy 2020–2021 report relating to vegan and vegetarian consumers were analysed. 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 health issues (23.2%) and respect for animals (22.2%). Environmental sustainability 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 issues a reason for being vegan/vegetarian.