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Veganism as a practice is growing in the UK. In the last decade veganism has had increased visibility in mainstream media and there has been a rapid expansion of vegan-friendly products in the marketplace.‘Celebrity vegans’, media coverage and public information about the relationship between animal agriculture and climate change, health issues linked to meat and dairy consumption, food scares and the treatment of animals in the animal agriculture system have all contributed to changing attitudes towards veganism.

In a move welcomed by some vegan advocacy organisations, Public Health England advice on eating healthily changed in 2016 to highlight non-meat sources of protein and to emphasise food products that are considered more environmentally sustainable. NHS public guidance states that a well-planned vegan diet can meet the nutritional needs at all life stages, a position echoed by the British Dietetic Association (BDA) in 2017. Recent polls suggest that the number of people in the UK who identify as vegan continues to grow although there is a marked difference in terms of gender, with women accounting for around two thirds of the vegan population in the UK.