Plant-forward diets and the social cultural milieu
Creators: name: Gregson, Rebecca
Publisher: name: Lancaster University
Year: 2024

description: Humanity’s window for climate action is closing rapidly (Tollefson, 2022).
 Given the ecological footprint associated with animal husbandry, scholars
 and non-governmental organisations have called for a transition to a more
 sustainable food system: an increased focused on plant-derived proteins
 (Clark et al., 2022; Willett et al., 2019). Such a transformation will
 require the collaboration of many actors both in- and outside of academia
 (e.g., social scientists, food technologists, businesspeople, and
 advocates). The field of Psychology has a unique role to play in studying
 human behaviour and cognition as it pertains to societal eating norms and
 the acceptance of plant-forward diets. Research of this kind has
 demonstrated that decisions to forgo animal-derived foods constitute a
 social eating norm violation and as such ought to be understood against
 the wider context in which they exist. Indeed, food-related
 decision-making occurs at various levels of society and food systems –
 including at the micro- (e.g., an individual’s own attitudes, motivations,
 and capabilities), meso- (e.g., family roles, relational dynamics) and
 distal-level (e.g., societal, and cultural norms around food; Boulet et
 al., 2021). Yet, to the authors knowledge, there is limited psychological
 literature that has considered these processes as they relate to
 plant-forward diets, specifically. Accordingly, the current thesis
 presents a rich exploration into the influence that one’s social-cultural
 milieu has on their food-related cognitions and decision making as they
 pertain to plant-forward eating. 
 
 
 Study 1 employed smartphone-based experience sampling methodology and
 engaged in a micro-level analysis, investigating an individual’s
 commitment to reducing their meat consumption as influences by the
 experience of social support. In summary, we were unable to demonstrate
 the facilitative effects of social support in study 1. The results of this
 study highlighted the need to differentiate between types of social
 support (incl. structural, functional, and enacted means of support) and
 prompted a progression of our research focus: a move from studying food
 decision-making at the micro- to the meso-level. Study 2 and 3 employed a
 mix of survey and experience-sampling methodology with an elevated focus
 on the meso-level (i.e., the household), where we considered the influence
 of one’s primary social units (i.e., family members and romantic partners)
 on decisions pertaining to plant-forward diets. Here we demonstrated that
 micro-level food decision-making takes place within the broader context of
 intra-family negotiations and is subject to the established leadership
 style and emotional connection of the relationship. Finally, study 4 and 5
 considered the intergroup and social-cultural context of plant-forward
 diets at the distal-level. Specifically, we employed a mix of survey
 methodology, text, and behaviour analytics to investigate the collective
 identity and ideological motivations of individuals actively engaged in
 overt antagonism or opposition towards vegan ideology. Together, this body
 of research advances current knowledge of the social and cultural milieu
 of plant-forward by demonstrating how decisions around plant-forward diets
 depend upon the relational climate of cohabiting units and highlighting
 the importance of identity and inter-group processes in the wider societal
 debate about sustainable diets.