Vegetarianism and gender identity: parallels and contrasts between gender- and diet-choices in the EU

Purpose A growing number of publications about vegetarians and/or vegans (henceforth “veg*ns”) report the (very small) number of people who make gender choices other than the binary options (henceforth “gender-diverse”) but drop them from the analysis. This creates a gap in our knowledge about intersections of food and identity, which we aim to fill. Design/methodology/approach Our work brings small numbers of gender-diverse people into current research by carefully examining potential parallels and contrasts between the identity development of veg*ns and binary genders as minorities. To demonstrate our approach, we analyzed an existing survey in the 27 EU countries (Eurobarometer 79.1) and country-level data. Findings Percentages of both gender-diverse persons and veg*ns were higher in countries with higher national income and cultural values that allow individuals to choose their own paths. Focusing on the nine highest-income countries, we identified 7.1% (655) veg*ns and 0.2% (17) gender-diverse persons and we found that gender diversity and veg*nism were similarly related to age category, length of education, being a student, left–right political position and living in cities. Also, being a gender-diverse person and, in particular, being a vegan co-occurred more often than might be expected by chance. Originality/value The sheer consistency of the results leads to the tentative conclusion that our knowledge about veg*nism and gender is incomplete without considering the situation of small groups (e.g. gender-diverse persons) who might be frontrunners and allies in the pursuit of healthy and sustainable diets.