The global food system, and the agricultural production of food, is currently responsible for 70% of water use and 30-35% of greenhouse gas emissions, and is a key driver of loss of biodiversity, deforestation, and several forms of pollution. Are today’s consumers receptive to the assertion that they should rethink their overall diets to reflect such an impact to the environment?
 
A new survey of UK consumers published in the Nutrition Journal highlighted some of the most well-received aspects of environmentally sustainable dieting, along with the primary barriers and less favorable aspects of sustainable eating, as told by consumers residing in the UK.
 
Given that the UK recently pledged to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions to 20% of 1990 levels over the next 30 years, it’s more than likely that the country’s agricultural system and supply chain, along with animal products as opposed to certain plant-based ones, will be implicated in the country’s emissions reduction efforts.
 
“Plant-based diets are generally perceived by consumers to be beneficial for health and the environment,” the authors said. “However, reducing meat consumption is perceived to have a small environmental benefit compared with other behaviors such as reducing food and packaging waste. A small-scale study of UK consumers highlighted a willingness to reduce meat consumption by up to 20% but a reluctance to eliminate meat from the diet or to limit food choices to only those which are in season. To our knowledge there has been no comprehensive study of engagement with sustainable diet recommendations amongst a UK population. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the perceived environmental benefit of a range of sustainable dietary recommendations and readiness to adopt these behaviors.”
 
While dietary guidelines that outline how to consume food in a more ecologically-sustainable way have been identified, these guidelines have not yet been incorporated by the UK’s national recommendations.
 
The online survey recruited 442 participants, 66% female, 80% aged 25-54 years, and 85% with a higher education degree, who identified the recommendations that they considered to have high environmental benefit. The survey showed that the leading measures consumers considered to have the most value in this goal include reducing the consumption of air-freighted foods (79%), reducing food waste (75%), and buying locally grown produce (78%).
 
A smaller portion of the participants perceived prioritizing plant-based proteins (42%) and choosing organic produce (27%) to have high environmental benefit.
 
In terms of readiness to adopt sustainable dietary behaviors, women were significantly more likely than men to be in the action/maintenance stages of dietary change for prioritizing plant proteins (OR 0.54), and younger participants were more likely to be in the pre-contemplation/contemplation stages of change for ‘choosing organic produce’ or ‘choosing organic fish’ than older participants. More than three-quarters of all participants were already in the action/maintenance stage of establishing sustainable dietary behaviors, and at least 50% of participants perceived a high environmental benefit in these changes.
 
Health, cost, sustainability, and taste were identified as the top motives for choosing foods that were more environmentally sustainable. However, reporting environmental sustainability as a food motive was not associated with a readiness to adopt sustainable diet recommendations on the whole.
 
Compared to other sustainable behaviors, the observation that consumers perceived plant-based proteins and choosing organic produce to have a lower environmental benefit led researchers to conclude that “consumers are aware that the food system impacts the environment but may not understand the impact of specific dietary behaviors as their perceptions are not in line with actual environmental benefit,” according to studies cited in the article.
 
“The conclusions of this study are that participants are aware of the environmental benefit associated with adopting various sustainable dietary recommendations, although they may not fully understand which behaviors offer the largest environmental benefit,” the researchers concluded. “Differences in perceptions and reported behaviors were observed between gender, age, and education groups. This data could be used as a starting point for further research into this topic or to identify potential target groups for future campaigns and interventions addressing environmentally sustainable diets.”