This year has seen lots of us change our routines and habits in the kitchen. With more time on our hands, fewer restaurants to visit, increasing health concerns and food shortages, many of us may have seen the food we eat in a slightly different light. There is increasing evidence that this shift has caused people in the UK to follow plant-based diets. It comes as no surprise - meat-free food sales are expected to be more than £1.1 billion by 2024!

We know that talkhealth members love their food, that’s why we wanted to ask you how your diet may have changed, or not, over the last year. This is what you told us:

• 56% do their main food shop in store, with 19% opting to do their food shop online instead
• With 22% saying they do a mixture of in-store and online food shopping, 41% reported that the pandemic has impacted on how and where they do their food shopping
• Despite this, 75% said that the pandemic has not had an impact on their food choices 
• 77% of talkhealth members said they have their 5-a-day either 'every day' or 'usually'
• 67% said they were either 'very unlikely' or 'unlikely' to eat 'processed' alternative such as Quorn
• 86% would change their diet if advised by a healthcare professional
• The majority of our members who took the survey eat a mixture of meat and fish (58%), with the most popular alternative dietary choices being flexitarian (11%), vegetarian (5%), pescatarian (4%) and plant-based/vegan (2%), with the most common reason for following these alternative food choices being due to health (75%)