More vegetarians than ever: surveys indicate that there is a clear trend toward vegetarianism.

The attitude toward vegetarianism over the past 20 years has certainly changed. In the 1970s and early 1980s when vegetarian group members staffed exhibition booths, often people would ask, "Why be a vegetarian?" We almost never receive that question now. Instead, people come by and say, "I wish I could do that." They are looking for information on how to eat more vegetarian meals. At a vegetarian lifestyle booth today it's not surprising to have pleasant conversations with lawyers, bankers, CPAs, construction workers, or men and women in motorcycle jackets.

This trend extends into the grocery store. Heinz used to be the only brand of vegetarian baked beans available; now there are several varieties on the shelf, ranging from Campbell's to the store brands. Archer Daniels Midland and Green Giant are introducing the vegetarian (vegan) Harvestburger in about half the supermarkets across the country. Where you once couldn't find Mexican food, cakes, or breads without lard, almost all supermarkets now have choices that are animal-free. If you think back a few years, you realize the magnitude of this change.

For those over 30, eating yogurt as a child was unimaginable. Few then even knew what it was. Today yogurt, 1 percent milk, and skim milk are as commonplace as high-fat whole milk was a few years ago. Most stores in major metropolitan areas carry tofu. And some supermarkets even have their own brand of dairy-free ice cream.

The change taking place are obviously because of people's demand for more vegetarian foods. According to a 1991 Gallup poll conducted for the National Restaurant Association, about 20 percent of the population looks for a restaurant with vegetarian items when they eat out. About one third of the public will order nonmeat items if they are on the menu.

In Vegetarian Journal's Guide to Natural Food Restaurants in the U.S. and Canada (Avery Publishing Group, $11.95), more than 2,000 vegetarian inns, spas, camps, and vacation spots are included. A previous guide in 1990 had only 1,000 listings.

For businesses interested in marketing vegetarian products, there is information about the number of people interested in vegetarianism. However, the Vegetarian Resource Group wanted to know how many actual vegetarians are out there.

Polls tracking the number of vegetarians are important because they indicate that currently there is a very positive image about vegetarianism. More and more people want to be called vegetarian. The drawback in most polls is that you are asking people to define vegetarian. So the answer is not really indicative of the people who do not eat any meat, fish, or fowl.

In the Vegetarian Resource Group 1994 Roper poll we asked, "Please identify the items on this list, if any, that you never eat: Meat. Poultry. Fish/Seafood. Dairy Products. Eggs. Honey." Please note that the key word was never. The numbers could be very different if the word never was omitted.

As a result of this latest poll we can be 95 percent sure that .3 percent to 1 percent of the population are truly vegetarian, that is, they never eat meat, fish, or fowl. This is lower than the 3 to 7 percent who consider themselves vegetarians, or the 20 to 30 percent market share for vegetarian products, but still a pretty high number, which translates into approximately a half million to 2 million vegetarians.