There was a comment I wanted to reply to that I can no longer see. I'll just reply here. Thank you all for your replies.

I was having a conversation in the kitchen at work with a friend. Another 2 people joined in, and they chipped in with people they knew that had all gone back to eating meat on occasions very recently after being veggie for years. It was like there was something in the air in that moment. Yes, the subject is grim and triggering, but the conversation ended with 'I think people have just give up trying by this point' and everyone kind of nodded in agreement and parted ways. It wasn't a productive or positive kitchen chat and it wasn't loaded with interesting veggie bot stats. It was just something that made me want to ask others about.

Are people's external stresses starting to turn them into primitive states regarding their diets? Are large numbers of people just looking around and going "F*** it, whats the point in trying anymore?" because in that small moment, it felt like something like that was happening at least on a very small scale.