Could sustainable diets be the next lockdown casualty?

As with its cousin, Dry January, this Veganuary has proved more difficult than most.  

With our joys limited to the ring of the doorbell when Nando’s come calling, or the whiff of bacon on the hob on a Saturday morning, it seems many of us have upped our intake of processed meat products during the pandemic. And, when after-work drinks, clubbing and meals out are off the table, it’s unsurprising that people may be reaching for this one inexpensive and easy-to-access vice.  

A record 500,000 people may have signed up to take part in Veganuary this year, but a new report by retail analysts Mintel suggests that we’ve also been eating more bacon, sausages and burgers since the pandemic began. The value of the processed poultry and red meat market spiked by 18 per cent last year, reaching an estimated £3.7bn.  

Sales of burgers rose by 26 per cent in 2020, while sausages increased by 20 per cent and sales of bacon went up 18 per cent.  

Researchers also polled 2,000 Brits on their meat-eating habits, and found that the number of people not eating meat, or reducing their meat consumption, had dropped from over half in 2019 to four in 10 in 2020.  

The analysts believe that this change in shopping habits results from a combination of factors, including an increase in home-working (and, therefore, home lunches), people seeking to replace their meals out, and associations of products like burgers with comfort.  

Processed meat products were described as having “strong emotional associations” for consumers, and 58 per cent of people surveyed saw meals which incorporate them, such as sausages and mash, as “comforting”.

Dietician and director of CityDietitans Sophie Medlin told The Independent that many people she has worked with in her online clinics during the pandemic have been using food as a coping mechanism.  

She pointed out that much of the increase will result from people buying foods from the supermarket that they might previously have bought in cafes and restaurants but also said that there can be an emotional aspect to choosing processed foods.  

“When we are eating for emotional reasons, we are typically more drawn to processed foods which may also account for some of these differences,” she said.

As well as emotional comfort, cost is likely to be having an impact on our shopping habits too. More than 800,000 people have been made redundant during the pandemic so far, according to the latest government figures, and the UK is edging towards a double-dip recession, suggests Bank of England data.  

Brits admitted that their personal values became less of a priority when they’re strapped for cash, with 47 per cent saying that the ethical standards of the meat they consume (eg animal welfare) are less important to them when they’re short of money. Almost 60 per cent viewed homemade lunches that included processed meat products (e.g. sandwiches) as a good way to save cash.  

The spike in processed meat consumption isn’t expected to be a permanent trend and Mintel forecasts that, as hospitality businesses reopen and people become more health conscious in the wake of the pandemic, sales of processed meat products will decrease.  

Edward Bergen, Mintel’s global food & drink analyst, said: “Although lapsing during the Covid-19 pandemic, the meat reduction movement is expected to rebound. However, meat substitutes must really deliver on the perceived benefits of not eating meat to reap the rewards from this trend.”

Perhaps now is the time for supermarkets to further beef up their offerings of vegetarian and vegan junk food so that, next Veganuary, it’s even easier for consumers to indulge without falling off the wagon.