A Novel Model to Predict Plant-Based Food Choice-Empirical Study in Southern Vietnam

Thanh-Lam Nguyen,Phan Ngoc Son,Doan Manh Quynh,Do Huu Tai,Lam Thanh Hien

doi:10.3390/su12093847

Abstract

The beneficial advantages of plant-based diets towards human beings have been well addressed over the last few decades. More and more people are now enjoying plant-based diets for their physical health, psychological health, animal rights, environment protection, etc. However, there are still many stereotypes about the lifestyle. Hence, this study aims at identifying key factors affecting the plant-based food choices so that we can propose feasible implications to widely promote plant-based diets across communities for their better health, eudemonic well-being and life satisfaction as well as the sustainable survival of our beloved planet—“Mother Earth”. Based on statistical analysis results of data collected from 1477 participants in 10 out of 19 provinces/cities in Southern Vietnam, the plant-based food choice is found significantly affected by not only gender and marriage status but also by a so-called SHOULD Model, where: (1) S refers to Spirituality and Social relationships; (2) H refers to Health concerns; (3) O refers to Opulence of plant-based foods and Outlook on life; (4) U refers to Understanding of human body structures; (5) L refers to Love towards animals; and (6) D refers to Diet knowledge. Among the identified factors, “understanding of human body structures” and “outlook on life” are two new factors proposed in this study, fulfilling the existing literature about the determinants of plant-based food choice. From such findings, some managerial implications are proposed to not only promote plant-based lifestyle but also help to develop plant-based food business in practice.

Highlights

In the past few decades, plant-based (PB) diet has become more and more popular as people take more concerns on their health, environment protection, animal rights, ethics, spiritual beliefs, among others [1,2,3,4,5]
We listed some factors obtained from the literature reviews, including: health, spirituality, diet knowledge, love towards animals, environment, social relationships and opulence of PB foods and conducted a qualitative research with people having their lunches at vegetarian restaurants and some visiting temples in August 2019 in order to validate the appropriateness of the factors and discover other potential ones in the current context of Vietnam
This study aims at exploring the determinants of plant-based (PB) food choice to promote PB diets across communities because the diets have proved to bring several benefits in terms of human physical health, psychological health, animal rights, environment protection, etc

Summary

Introduction

In the past few decades, plant-based (PB) diet has become more and more popular as people take more concerns on their health, environment protection, animal rights, ethics, spiritual beliefs, among others [1,2,3,4,5]. Existing literatures clearly confirm that PB diets fully provide enough energy and nutrients for a healthful eating [3,12,14,15], and consuming vegetable protein, fat as well as fiber is effective in preventing some cancers, diseases, and other risk factors [16] and treating several diseases [12,17]. From a thorough review of existing literature, PB diet has brought several benefits in improving human well-being, ethics, health, spirituality, quality of life [10,14,21,22,23], supporting the rapid growth and expansion of food industries [16] as shown in the recent report by Food Revolution Network [24]. The PB diet has been formally approved in Senate Bill 1138 by the California State Governor on 18 September 2018 [26]

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Discussion

Conclusion