A new study has found that a simple change in the menu to include more plant-based meals can significantly reduce meat consumption. The research found that if you tilt the menu towards plant-based meals, people will eat less meat. The study also reported that people who are not used to eating plant-based meals are willing to try them and they were satisfied with the dishes they were served.
The experiments in work and university cafeterias showed making it easier to choose meat-free food can be effective and could be a more acceptable approach than other proposals, such as taxing meat or banning it on certain days.
The production of meat is a significant driver of climate change. The World Health Organization has found that processed meats are carcinogenic and red meats are linked to heart disease. The consumption of meat in rich nations is increasing, not decreasing. If this continues, our planet will suffer substantial falls in temperatures and ill health for billions of people.
The new research, published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, involved three separate experiments, including the first scientific online study of plant-based menu choices. This used a representative sample of 2,200 UK adults and found that when three of four meal options were meat-based, 12% chose the plant-based option. But when three of four meal options were vegetarian, 48% chose the vegetarian meal. The effect was the same whether the participants were female or male, rich or poor.
A similar result was found in an Oxford University cafeteria, which had chosen to switch from a mostly meat-based menu to one that was mostly plant-based. No change was seen in other university cafes during the study, although meat consumption is falling in the UK, by 17% in the last decade.
The third experiment was in workplace cafeterias, including warehouses and factories. Sales data showed a 5% swing to plant-based meals in 10 sites, the analysis was more complicated as the menus varied between
In this experiment, they looked at how to make workplaces healthier by changing what they offer for lunch. They found that there is a 5% swing towards plant-based meals when they offer healthy options for lunch. They also look at how to keep people healthy by providing them with better food choices.
The study is proposing a shift to plant-based diets, which would have huge implications for the food industry and society at large.
The study says that if replicated across society, the changes could deliver a 20% cut in meat-eating by 2035.
The government published a study on how behavior change can reduce meat eating and flying in October. This was just one of the many studies that they have been publishing recently on this topic. However, they withdrew the study within a few hours, saying that they have no plans to dictate consumer behavior.
Other studies have found the idea that simple environmental messages on menus can double plant-based choices. It also talks about how placing these menus in ways that highlight their flavor, rather than the lack of meat, can also have a positive effect.
Researchers are now examining the impact of labelling the green footprint of meals on menus.
It is not always easy to offer a variety of vegetarian options on the menu. However, it is important to do so in order to cater for different dietary needs and preferences.
If you’ve just got one vegetarian option on your menu, that could be perceived as the dish choice just for the vegetarians. This can lead to people feeling like they are being left out and can lead to social and cultural norms around meat-eating.
But if you start having more options, it might start giving the idea that these options are in demand and things that other people choose.”
A government-commissioned food strategy published in 2021 called for big cuts in meat consumption, while a powerful coalition of the UK’s health professions called in 2020 for a climate tax on food with a heavy environmental impact by 2025, unless the industry had taken voluntary action on the impact of its products.
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