Is Eating Less Meat Possible? Exploring the Willingness to Reduce Meat Consumption among Millennials Working in Polish Cities.

Agata Szczebyło,Joanna Kaczorowska,Ewa Halicka,Krystyna Rejman

doi:10.3390/foods11030358

Abstract

Reducing the consumption of meat constitutes an important part of the global shift towards more sustainable food systems. At the same time, meat is firmly established in the food culture of most human beings, and better understanding of individual behaviors is essential to facilitate a durable change in contemporary eating patterns. To determine the level and nature of attachment to meat among consumers, the Meat Attachment Questionnaire (MAQ) in relation to the phases of behaviour change in the meat consumption reduction process was utilised. Data collected through a survey carried out among Poles aged 25–40 years living in cities were analysed with the use of Spearman’s correlations and one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post-hoc tests. The biggest share of the studied group of millennials (N = 317) never considered reducing their meat consumption (Phase 1–41%) and was described by the highest level of MAQ score in all its categories: hedonism, affinity, dependence, and entitlement. More than half of the respondents in Phase 2 participants (“planners”) declared a willingness to cut down meat consumption but had not yet put their intentions into practice. Respondents qualified in Phase 3 declared the highest willingness to reduce meat consumption and were significantly less attached to meat regarding all MAQ categories than respondents in Phase 1. The 9% of the study participants (Phase 4) had already limited the frequency of their meat consumption to “several times a week”, this however still remains insufficient compared to the ambitious goals of sustainable healthy diets. Results indicated that meat attachment categories, especially hedonism and dependence, were identified as predictors of willingness to reduce meat consumption. Research exploring the determinants of change and possibilities of effective communication about meat reduction on an individual level in different cultural settings are needed.

Highlights

The urgent need to change current dietary patterns has achieved a consensus around the world in the light of the global syndemic of obesity, undernutrition and climate change [1]
The biggest share, 41% (n = 129) of the sample was in Phase 1 (Ph1)
Respondents in Phase 2 (Ph2) constituted 27% (n = 87) of the sample, 23% (n = 73) of individuals were in Phase 3 (Ph3) and 9% (n = 28) in Phase 4 (Ph4)

Summary

Introduction

The urgent need to change current dietary patterns has achieved a consensus around the world in the light of the global syndemic of obesity, undernutrition and climate change [1]. Meat came only from hunting wild animals and could be named as an element of evolutionary heritage [11]. In this perspective livestock production is key to global food security. The main source of meat is intensive and industrial livestock farming, where special farming conditions and feeding systems are used. This leads to environmental and ethical concerns. As a food product, meat is a condensed source of high biological value proteins and other nutrients, among them absorbed heme iron, zinc, vitamin

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