Mia Kelly, 17, decided to become vegetarian after marching in last fall鈥檚 climate strike in Ottawa.

鈥淎fter that, climate change was really on my mind a lot,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd then I realized that switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet was the biggest thing I could do as an individual.鈥�

Her friend Nelson Oser-Small, 17, has also adopted vegetarianism.

鈥淗onestly it鈥檚 like a trend now to become vegan or vegetarian,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 lot of my friends are taking a bigger interest in climate change and they know that eating less meat will help.鈥�

Both teens say being vegetarian has been easy so far.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 really miss meat all that much. But the other day was the Super Bowl and I really missed having chicken wings to watch the game. I guess I also missed the turkey and stuffing at Christmas dinner,鈥� Kelly said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more like tradition, than the actual meat itself.鈥�

According to a 2018 Dalhousie University study, people under the age of 35 are three times more likely to consider themselves vegetarian or vegan than people 49 or older. This translates to almost two out of every three vegans in Canada being millennials or from Generation Z. Similar results are found in other studies conducted in Canada and the United States.

鈥淚n 2018 we estimated that 6.4 million Canadians already follow a diet that restricts meat partially or completely,鈥� notes the principal investigator of the study Sylvain Charlebois from the Agri-Food Analytics Lab. 鈥淏ut now we鈥檝e already revised this number to 10.2 million. Things are changing really fast, faster than ever really.鈥�

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And Charlebois says these numbers could continue to grow as young people end up passing their diets down to their own kids. He explains that this would then change expectations for greenhouse gas emissions, health indicators such as heart disease, as well as the food industry itself.

Teen idols, including climate activist Greta Thunberg and singer-songwriter Billie Eilish, have taken to social media to encourage kids to go vegan.

Eilish recently asked her millions of Instagram followers to take responsibility for climate change, including by giving up meat, dairy, and plastic.

Thunberg says her key efforts to combat climate change include a vegan diet, not flying, and no longer buying unnecessary new things.

鈥淚n the last few years there鈥檚 been a dramatic increase in the kids who go vegan, with climate change rapidly gaining speed as the reason they give,鈥� says Susan Hargreaves, 60, the Toronto native who runs Animal Hero Kids, a Florida animal rights organization.

鈥淜ids are now way more aware of the link between the climate crisis and animal farming.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 not only for the animals but for our health and for climate change,鈥� said 15-year-old vegan Kingston Walters, one of the Animal Hero Kids from Vancouver. 鈥淏eing vegan is the best way to save our planet. It鈥檚 not going to be here anymore if we all just stand back and watch.鈥�

About 15 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions are related to livestock, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. And last year鈥檚 special report on climate change and land by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change cited reduced meat consumption and shifts to plant-based diets as opportunities for mitigating climate change.

The Canadian red meat industry was worth $21.1 billion in 2018. But Canadians have decreased their beef and pork consumption over the last two decades, looking to other protein sources including chickpeas and other legumes, algae, or fungal protein to mimic meat and poultry products.

鈥淏uying food is like voting,鈥� said Charlebois. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e basically telling the food industry that this is what matters to me 鈥� with health and environment as two of the top concerns.鈥�

Companies such as Maple Leaf and Cargill are embracing meatless alternatives, with more vegan protein options available in grocery stores.

鈥淭he important thing is to make sure kids get the nutrients and energy they need for growth and development,鈥� said Brooke Bulloch, a spokesperson for Dietitians of Canada.

鈥淥f course, mom and dad are saying 鈥榦h my gosh, how do we meet their protein needs?鈥欌�� Bulloch said, noting that she has seen more families and youth looking for advice about plant-based diets over the last year.

鈥淏ut the evidence really points to protein not at all being an issue with well-planned plant-based diets.鈥�

The Canadian Paediatric Society says a well-balanced vegetarian diet can provide for the needs of children and adolescents. But it cautions that strict vegan diets may need vitamin and mineral supplements, such as calcium fortified food.

鈥淚 think a lot of children and families are just sort of removing things out of their diet, but often not thinking about what should be added back in to prevent micronutrient deficiency,鈥� said Nita Sharda a Winnipeg dietitian, who points to the importance of proper planning.

But Nelson Oser-Small鈥檚 mother, Michelle Oser, is not worried about her son鈥檚 vegetarian conversion.

鈥淚鈥檝e done my research,鈥� she said. 鈥淎s we all know, you get protein and iron from lot of places 鈥� and if you鈥檙e really worried there鈥檚 always iron and vitamin supplements.鈥�

鈥淗e鈥檚 doing it for good reasons, and so hopefully he can stick to it.鈥�

Katherine Monahan , The Canadian Press

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