More than 40% of households in Britain won’t be eating turkey this Christmas, according to a new survey.
Research commissioned by Whole Foods Market, as featured on News Yahoo, revealed that people are questioning their dietary habits over the festive period.
Reasons for ditching turkey included concerns about the environment (23 percent), health (22 percent) and animal welfare (19 percent).
‘Meatless Christmas Day’
The survey also showed that one in ten households (10 percent) will have a completely meatless Christmas Day.
According to News Yahoo, it is predicted that around 10 million turkeys will be consumed in the UK during the festive season.
Turkey farming
Last year, an undercover exposé revealed ‘horrifically deformed’ turkeys at a major factory farm in the UK. The footage, from animal-rights charity Surge, shows some turkeys who are so malformed they’re unable to walk.
“Undercover investigators working for Surge have discovered turkeys suffering horrifically in a standard UK turkey farm,” Ed Winters – aka Earthling Ed – Co-Director of Surge, told Plant Based News.
“These animals, treated as nothing other than commodities, were shown to be severely lame and in terrible pain – a consequence of consumer demand for their flesh.
“This is the bleak reality of what life is like for farmed animals in the UK, a country that preaches to have the highest welfare standards in the world.
“What this proves is that welfare regulations will never be able to safeguard these animals and as long as there is demand, there will be exploitation. The only way to truly end animal suffering is to live a vegan lifestyle.”