Is it just me or has anyone realized that women are more likely to be vegan/vegetarian than men are. I've only known two guys who were vegetarian, one is a long distance runner and said it was for his physique or something and the other is Hindu but he now eats meat with the exception of beef. On the other hand, 5 women that I've met in the 2 years I've been in college are vegetarian/vegan simply by lifestyle choice. I've notices this disparity and always wondered why guys were less likely to be vegetarian.

The school that I go to has several dining halls which each have their own theme to them. But there are one of them in particular that helped me come up with an explanation for this issue. This dining hall has a focus on organic, healthy foods. Most of the ingredients are grown locally and sustainably. We'll call it the Kitchen.

When my friends and I get dinner, I've noticed that the women overwhelming vote to go eat at the Kitchen and the guys are more evenly spread out among the other options. For the most part at least half of the stations in the Kitchen are vegetarian friendly and only meats they serve are dry chicken breasts, fish, and the occasional tri tip. Now I have absolutely no problem with eating healthy foods every now and then but I find it increasingly difficult to stomach the vegetarian options which mainly consist of soy, kale, seeds, and other "new agey" health ingredients.

Just this morning I was grabbing breakfast at the Kitchen and this thought again crossed my mind. I was standing in line with 5 women in front of me when I began counting, I was almost at the front and some may have left before I noticed, and ~10 more behind me. I was the only guy for a pretty large section of the line with a couple other guys be scattered in small pockets in the back. This isn't just a phenomenon in my friend group, but the female student population in general overwhelming seems to prefer the kitchen while there is a greater balance at the other dining halls.

Now you can call it convenience sampling or whatever but coupled with the fact that a large part of of the ingredients contain high amounts of estrogen, I checked 13 foods out of 20 on this list are regular served at the Kitchen, guys just seemed to be turned off.

So this leads me to some questions.

  1. Why are men less likely to be vegan/vegetarian?

  2. Why are health foods overwhelming marketed to women?

  3. Why are there few options for healthy eating that are in line with the male lifestyle?

  4. Could this association of health foods and feminine diet be a part of why men are less healthy?