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The number of vegan residents in UK care homes has almost trebled over the last five years, according to new research.
Research commissioned by Vegetarian for Life (VfL), a charity dedicated to supporting older vegans and vegetarians living in care homes as well as independently, polled a representative sample of 1,000 care homes across the UK, concluding that residents following a vegan diet in UK residential care homes have risen by 167 per cent since 2014.
According to VfL, there are more than 11,000 care homes for older people in the UK, and more than 7,000 vegetarians and vegans in those homes. The organization says the ‘rapid rise in vegan residents in particular has sparked VfL to urge care facilities to be prepared if a vegan resident moves into the care facility’.
Vegan meals
Amanda Woodvine, Chief Executive at VfL, told Plant Based News that there is now more need than ever to ensure there is adequate vegan meal options available to those in care homes.
“It’s great that more people are choosing a vegan lifestyle, but it just goes to show that we have a lot of work to do to ensure that there are adequate meal and snack options at care homes nationwide,” she added.
“It can be daunting for catering staff at care homes to plan meals if only one resident is plant-based. But VfL has a vast amount of resources available to make this as easy as possible; there are recipes on our website for mealtimes as well as special occasions such as birthdays and barbecues. We also offer fully-funded live cooking demonstrations from our team of roving chefs.”?
Vegetarian for Life has launched a Dietary Diversity in the Care Sector guide to help equip care caterers with information, tips and recipes to cater for a raft of dietary requirements, which you can download here or by calling 0161 257 0887.
