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One In Ten Brits Has Pretended To Be Vegan, Study Finds

One In Ten Brits Has Pretended To Be Vegan, Study Finds

Even more people have pretended to be vegetarian

Jake Massey

Jake Massey

We might like to think of ourselves as honest people, but we all lie - and that's the truth. Don't believe me? Go read one of your old CVs, then we'll talk.

But while pretending to be hardworking, organised or good at listening may seem like logical things to do, pretending to be vegan may not. Yet, a recent study has found that one in 10 Brits has pretended to be vegan at some point.

So why might someone pretend not to consume animal products? Well, for the same reason that someone might pretend to go to the gym, enjoy musicals or speak Italian - to impress a potential love interest.

The study - conducted by Money Saving Heroes - found that a quarter of Brits had lied about being vegetarian too, while only a third of the veggie and vegan liars said they would ever even consider the dietary switch.

Truly, they are wolves in sheep's clothing... Or wolves in plant-derived textile clothing.

via GIPHY

The results were collated after quizzing 2,409 Brits over the age of 18, with 32 percent of the veggie and vegan fakers citing the need to impress a honey or a hunk as their reason for doing so.

The second most popular reason was to 'stand out', with 22 percent of the fibbers clearly thinking that pretending to not eat meat is a better way to get noticed than say, wearing those trainers that flash every time you take a step.

The third reason was to gain social media popularity - 19 percent of the fakers have boasted of the virtues of not eating meat on Facebook and Instagram while tucking into a bargain bucket. As if we needed telling that all is not as it seems on social media.

Of these people, 42 percent said they would be likely to use the ruse again, while 66 percent said they wouldn't actually consider going veggie or vegan; 27 percent said they liked meat too much, 24 percent said it seemed too hard and 19 percent said it was too expensive.

However, George Charles, a spokesman for Money Saving Heroes, refuted this last reason and condemned the phoney veggies and vegans.

He said: "The amount of vegetarians and vegans in this country is expanding year on year and it shows no signs of slowing down. It has gotten to a point now where people are willing to lie about whether their diet just to impress others which is honestly quite a shock.

"If you want to be vegan or vegetarian you should commit to it and not live a lie, especially as many made this change for good reasons - like animal welfare.

"It's also important to note that being vegetarian or vegan does not necessarily mean it'll be more expensive to eat. There are definitely cheap options out there for non-meat eaters."

Though if you do manage to lie your way into a vegan meal for two on Tinder, it will obviously be more expensive than your usual Rustlers burger for one.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Food, UK News, News, Interesting, Vegan