Reducing meat consumption in today’s consumer society: questioning the citizen-consumer gap
Erik de Bakker,Hans Dagevos +1 more
TLDR
In this paper, the authors argue that consumers can and should be considered as partners that must be involved in realizing new ways of protein consumption that contribute to a more sustainable world, and propose a pragmatic approach that explicitly goes beyond the standard suggestion of persuasion strategies and suggests different routes of change, coined sustainability by stealth, moderate involvement, and cultural change respectively.Abstract:
Our growing demand for meat and dairy food products is unsustainable. It is hard to imagine that this global issue can be solved solely by more efficient technologies. Lowering our meat consumption seems inescapable. Yet, the question is whether modern consumers can be considered as reliable allies to achieve this shift in meat consumption pattern. Is there not a yawning gap between our responsible intentions as citizens and our hedonic desires as consumers? We will argue that consumers can and should be considered as partners that must be involved in realizing new ways of protein consumption that contribute to a more sustainable world. In particular the large food consumer group of flexitarians offer promising opportunities for transforming our meat consumption patterns. We propose a pragmatic approach that explicitly goes beyond the standard suggestion of persuasion strategies and suggests different routes of change, coined sustainability by stealth, moderate involvement, and cultural change respectively. The recognition of more routes of change to a more plant-based diet implies that the ethical debate on meat should not only associate consumer change with rational persuasion strategies and food citizens that instantiate “strong” sustainable consumption. Such a focus narrows the debate on sustainable protein consumption and easily results in disappointment about consumers’ participation. A more wide-ranging concept of ethical consumption can leave the negative verdict behind that consumers are mainly an obstacle for sustainability and lead to a more optimistic view on modern consumers as allies and agents of change.read more
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Sustainable food consumption: an overview of contemporary issues and policies
TL;DR: In the face of demographic change and a gr... as mentioned in this paper argues that contemporary food production and consumption cannot be regarded as sustainable and raises problems with its wide scope involving diverse actors, and furthermore, it cannot be considered as sustainable.
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Consumer perception and behaviour regarding sustainable protein consumption: A systematic review
TL;DR: In this paper, a systematic review identified 38 articles to answer the following three research questions: 1) are consumers aware that meat consumption has a large environmental impact? 2) Are consumers willing to reduce meat consumption or substitute meat with an alternative? 3) Are they willing to accept meat substitutes and alternative proteins, such as insects or cultured meat?
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Flemish consumer attitudes towards more sustainable food choices
TL;DR: This study investigates consumer opinions towards a series of food choices with a lower ecological impact, which range from well-known meat substitutes to alternatives which are more radical or innovative and that require an adaptation of food habits and cultural patterns.
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“Meatless days” or “less but better”? Exploring strategies to adapt Western meat consumption to health and sustainability challenges
TL;DR: The results show that strategies to change meat eating frequencies and meat portion sizes will appeal to overlapping but partly different segments of consumers and that these strategies can be applied to address consumers in terms of their own preferences.
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Segments of sustainable food consumers: a literature review
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide an overview of published studies that have segmented consumers with regard to sustainable food consumption, focusing on three levels of abstraction: personality characteristics, food-related lifestyles and behaviour.
References
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors assess the full impact of the livestock sector on environmental problems, along with potential technical and policy approaches to mitigation, and suggest that it should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity.
Journal ArticleDOI
Sustainable Food Consumption: Exploring the Consumer “Attitude – Behavioral Intention” Gap
Iris Vermeir,Wim Verbeke +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the impact of involvement, perceived availability, certainty, perceived consumer effectiveness, values, and social norms on consumers' attitudes and intentions towards sustainable food products is analyzed. But, behavioral patterns are not univocally consistent with attitudes.