When I was at school there were two choices for lunch: hot or cold food. If we queued up for a hot lunch, we would get what we were given – usually some combination of meat and two veg. Back then, I didn’t know anyone with dietary preferences or limitations, such as allergies. I also didn’t think much about where food came from or what it did to my body.
At home, things were much the same: dinner would be meat or fish with potato in various guises or, occasionally, rice, plus a few different types of veg. Dairy and gluten were definitely on the menu, and whether or not either of these aggravated our digestive system wasn’t a consideration.
In my late teens, I started to become aware of vegetarianism and knew a few people who adopted that lifestyle, but it wasn’t until I was in my mid-20s that I came across anyone who was vegan. At first, it seemed so extreme. So complicated. It was all about what you couldn’t eat, not what you could.
Yet, in the 10 years since, I and most of my friends have, for environmental reasons, moved towards either a more flexible diet where dairy and meat consumption is limited or are fully fledged vegans. So what happened?
The plant-based movement is what happened, and it’s far bigger than just us as a nation. Around the world, notions of what constitutes a healthy diet have changed rapidly. Meanwhile, our access to different foods has exploded over the past 20 years, adjusting our idea of what is “normal” when it comes to diet.
According to a study for Oatly, a company that creates dairy alternatives from oats, 23% of those who responded believe the term “normal” has lost its meaning and relevance, and 29% believe they don’t live a “normal lifestyle” (compared with 61% who say they do). At the same time, 39% think a plant-based diet is now “normal”, and 73% think they themselves have a normal diet – which most respondents classify as “a combination of meat, fish, dairy and veg”.
Basically, the thing that has changed most – more so than even our actual diets – is our perception of what is considered normal. Growing environmental concerns and eco-anxiety are in part responsible for this shift. A 2021 study by YouGov shows that 17% of Britons believe that the threat of a climate crisis is exaggerated, while 68% believe it’s genuine. And 72% of us now believe the climate is changing as a result of human activity, compared with just 49% in 2013.
Against this backdrop, it’s not hard to see why so many people are changing their behaviours around food and eating, with more people moving towards a flexitarian diet – which is centred around plant-based foods with the occasional inclusion of meat.
Food allergies are also playing a part, being far more common than they once were, and affecting between 6% and 8% of children up to the age of three, according to the National Allergy Research Foundation. While there are various possible explanations for this, allergies mean that many people who may hope to eat a “normal” diet simply can’t.
In addition, as many as two in 10 people develop an inability to digest lactose (lactose intolerance) later in life, making ingesting dairy products uncomfortable. For these people, as well as those suffering from more acute allergies related to dairy, a proliferation of non-dairy products over the past few years – such as nut and oat drinks – has given them far more choice in what they eat.
Whichever way you look at it, we are all thinking differently about our diet, whether it’s for health reasons or concerns about the environment. Most families these days have had to adapt their previous eating habits to cater to specific dietary requirements. In my family alone, we have one vegan, two people with dairy allergies, and at least one person with lactose intolerance. And doesn’t everyone think their family is more or less normal?
Change can sometimes feel overwhelming, but it also presents great opportunities to experiment and branch out with food, which can probably only be a good thing for our health and that of the planet. And there has truly never been a better time to do so with thousands of different products and recipes to help us diversify what we put on our plates. So why not give it a try?
Looking for dietary advice from a puppet? Watch THE NEW NORM&AL SHOW. Season 1 streaming now. Find out more at oatly.com
