It’s bad for the health of America, it’s bad for the planet as meat production is one of the most non-environmentally practices on earth and it’s certainly bad for the treatment of animals. But there is a silver lining in all of this bad news. The demand for veggie burgers is also up, and that demand is being fueled by a younger and presumably healthier demographic.

Younger consumers, ages eighteen to thirty-four, are driving the demand for meat-free burgers. Twenty-three percent of those consumers responded that it was important for restaurants to at least offer a vegetarian option.

Consumers have also become more conscious of the quality of meat and meat issues, which is also a plus. Nearly half of consumers surveyed said that they wanted their fowl or bovine burgers to be drug free. Whether that would actually be a purchasing decision, or whether they even knew how to find that information out was another story entirely.

Not surprisingly, cost and cheapness in a recession is part of what’s driving the burger frenzy increase. We’ve all seen the behavior statistics and read the articles about how cheap fast food is part of the reason for the health crisis in the United States. Said Sara Monnette, Director of Consumer Research at Technomic, “The value menu is certainly a big part of this increase in burger consumption.”

We want you to be healthy, so please be part of the movement to order veggie burgers instead of the movement to eat more and more cheap meat!

Also, please be a part of the movement to like Tiny Green Bubble on Facebook for more healthy eating, vegetarian and vegan updates.

Photo Credit: Robert Banh from Flickr Creative Commons