Adrift in the mainstream: Challenges facing the UK vegetarian movement

Abstract

Assesses how the mainstream availability and acceptability of vegetarian food has impacted on the organised vegetarian movement in the UK. Presents data collected during an ethnographic case study to show the dilemmas facing the leading UK vegetarian organisation during the mid‐1990s. In order to understand these dilemmas distinguishes between vegetarian food and the ideology of vegetarianism, using existing evidence about variability in diets, motives and organisational politics. When reflecting on the implications of the case study suggests that mainstream acceptance is a double‐edged sword that facilitates the adoption of the diet but threatens the moral foundations of the ideology.

Citation

Smart, A. (2004), "Adrift in the mainstream: Challenges facing the UK vegetarian movement", British Food Journal, Vol. 106 No. 2, pp. 79-92. https://doi.org/10.1108/00070700410516775