How many vegetarians are there?
Polling data differ. In a 1994 Roper Poll of 1,978 men and women 18 years and older, 6 % said they never eat meat (compared with 75% who said they eat everything). An earlier Gallup Poll in 1991 conducted for the National Restaurant Association found that about 20 % of the population looks for a restaurant with vegetarian items when they eat out. Compare this to a 2000 report by the market research firm Opinion Research for the leading producer of refrigerated foods called Lightlife, which conducted a random sampling of 1,000 American adults. They found that 44 % of Americans now eat vegetarian foods as part of a daily diet because they know how healthy vegetarian food is for them. Among teens and college students. The market research series The U.S. Market for Wellness Foods and Beverages published in August 2003 by Packaged Facts, claimed that a growing percentage of teens are calling themselves vegetarian or are open to it. Among college students, a 2004 survey conducted by a compan
