Martin Freeman has revealed why he quit being a vegetarian after 38 years.
The actor, best known for his roles in Sherlock and The Hobbit franchise, has recently revealed that he has quit his long-term dedication to vegetarianism after almost four decades - but not everyone agrees with his reasons for doing so.
The 52-year-old initially admitted that he stopped eating meat as a teenager because he was “never comfortable” with eating animals but while appearing on the Dish podcast recently, he opened up about leaving that life behind.
While eating an Italian bolognese with British radio presenter Nick Grimshaw and professional chef Angela Hartnett, he said: "I’ve now come off being a vegetarian. I started being a vegetarian in January 1986.”
“It’s really new going back to being an omnivore, just sort of eating what I like," he continued. "It’s a funny one, because I like meat replacement things, but my reservation about them is they can be very, very processed and I’m trying to eat less processed food.”
The comments seem to have divided social media users with some claiming that meat is as equally processed, if not more.
"Martin Greeman [sic] gives up being vegetarian because 'processed food' so he can eat heavily processed dead animals instead. It's the complete and utter stupidity for me," wrote one user on X, formerly Twitter.
"Actor, Martin Freeman dumps a vegetarian diet after 38 years because of processed junk veggie food...& tucks into a processed pig pie. Not sure what his point is, there's more processed junk food made out of animals than plants &it's not obligatory to eat it," added another.
Elsewhere, the actor praised scotch eggs and pork pies as “food of the gods”, stating that he had missed out on “good, honest staple” meat dishes for decades.
While some companies, including Beyond Meat, announced that the demand for plant-based substitutes fell in 2023, Future Market Insights reported that "plant-based food sales are poised to surge at a stupendous CAGR of 12.2% between 2023 and 2033."
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