Social sustainable diets: Supporting the transition to plant-based foods through close relationships

社会可持续饮食：通过密切关系支持向植物性食品的过渡

• 批准号: ES/Y01040X/1
• 负责人: Tess Davis
• 金额: $ 14.21万
• 依托单位: University of Glasgow
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FY01040X%2F1
• 关键词: Social; sustainable; diets; Supporting; transition

Global meat production has a significant negative impact on the environment. Livestock agriculture is responsible for 12 - 18% of total global greenhouse gas emissions (IPCC, 2019) and contributes significantly to biodiversity loss, deforestation and antibiotic resistance (Godfray et al., 2018). Switching to plant-based diets is a high-impact behaviour that can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts by 29-56% (Springmann et al., 2018). Despite this, many consumers are reluctant to reduce their meat consumption (Bryant, 2019). During my PhD, I found that meat foods were presented to others in more favourable ways than plant-based foods, even by vegans. In addition, there were indicators of dietary polarisation, where plant-based foods triggered strong socio-political and identity-focused reactions.During an era of increasing social divide, how can societal resistance towards plant-based foods be reduced? The main aim of this Fellowship is to prepare a grant proposal that focuses on whether close social relationships can make the switch to sustainable diets easier for consumers. To support this, I will first conduct a final experiment related to my PhD findings (Project 4), examining whether omnivores and vegans describe plant-based foods in more rewarding ways when they imagine communicating to a close partner, compared to a stranger. Does focusing on a close partner emphasise the potential reward experience of eating a plant-based food, and thus make it more appealing? I will also measure whether this changes dependent on the dietary preferences of the stranger or close other. This pilot data will be essential for my grant applications to understand the role of close relationships in altering how people think and communicate about sustainable foods.Then, I will develop a 5-year plan for an effective complex behaviour change intervention (Skivington et al., 2021) that promotes immediate and long-term sustainable food choices through trusted social relationships. Previous work has shown that focusing on relationships can boost health behaviour change (Umberson et al., 2010; Latkin & Knowlton, 2015), and the same may be true for sustainable behaviours. I will design several mixed-methods studies that investigate whether adopting a plant-based diet is easier with a close friend, romantic partner or family member. This could be for practical reasons (e.g. cooking, shopping), social reasons (e.g. shared focus on rewarding eating experiences), or identity reasons (e.g. forming a new dietary identity together).I will first conduct a qualitative study, interviewing individuals who live with someone taking part in Veganuary, to establish how exposure to plant-based consumption practices may bridge the vegan-omnivore divide. Another study will examine whether giving a plant-based meal subscription (e.g. allplants) to a couple versus an individual can lead to long-term reductions in meat consumption. A further longitudinal study will measure the processes involved in dyadic relationships and behaviour change are the same for romantic partners as for close friends, flatmates or family members. Additional studies will take a social-network approach to measure the scope of influence from a couple's sustainable dietary choices, and will measure how couples communicate about food during their dietary transition. The final set of studies will form a complex intervention measure to motivate plant-based consumption via encouragement from a close partner.This grant proposal will incorporate interdisciplinary methodologies to directly assess the climate impact of the intervention. For example, I will work with a modeler to estimate the carbon emissions saved by a consumer adopting a plant-based diet with the support of a close partner. This proposed research will tackle resistance to plant-based diets by treating couples as a whole social entity, doubling the reduction in carbon emissions if successful.

全球肉类生产对环境有重大的负面影响。畜牧业占全球温室气体排放总量的12 - 18% (IPCC, 2019)，并对生物多样性丧失、森林砍伐和抗生素耐药性造成重大影响（Godfray等人，2018）。转向植物性饮食是一种高影响行为，可以帮助减少29-56%的温室气体排放和其他环境影响（Springmann et al., 2018）。尽管如此，许多消费者仍不愿意减少肉类消费（Bryant, 2019）。在我读博士期间，我发现肉类食品比植物性食品更受欢迎，即使是素食主义者。此外，还有一些饮食两极分化的指标，植物性食物引发了强烈的社会政治和以身份为中心的反应。在社会分化日益加剧的时代，如何才能减少社会对植物性食品的抵制？该奖学金的主要目的是准备一份拨款提案，重点关注密切的社会关系是否能使消费者更容易转向可持续饮食。为了支持这一点，我将首先进行一个与我的博士研究结果相关的最后实验（项目4），研究杂食动物和素食主义者在想象与亲密伴侣交流时，是否会以更有益的方式描述植物性食物，而不是与陌生人交流。关注亲密的伴侣是否会强调吃植物性食物的潜在奖励体验，从而使其更具吸引力？我还将测量这种变化是否取决于陌生人或近亲的饮食偏好。这些试点数据对我的拨款申请至关重要，可以帮助我了解亲密关系在改变人们对可持续食品的看法和交流方面所起的作用。然后，我将制定一个有效的复杂行为改变干预的5年计划（Skivington等人，2021），通过可信任的社会关系促进即时和长期可持续的食物选择。先前的研究表明，关注人际关系可以促进健康行为的改变（Umberson et al., 2010; Latkin & Knowlton, 2015），可持续行为可能也是如此。我将设计几个混合方法的研究，调查与亲密的朋友、恋人或家庭成员一起采用植物性饮食是否更容易。这可能是出于实际原因（例如烹饪、购物）、社会原因（例如共同关注有益的饮食体验）或身份原因（例如共同形成新的饮食身份）。我将首先进行一项定性研究，采访那些与参加素食月活动的人住在一起的人，以确定接触以植物为基础的消费习惯如何弥合素食者和杂食者之间的鸿沟。另一项研究将检查是否给一对夫妇和一个人提供植物性膳食订阅（例如所有植物）可以导致长期减少肉类消费。一项进一步的纵向研究将测量二元关系中涉及的过程，以及恋人与亲密朋友、室友或家庭成员的行为变化。其他研究将采用社会网络方法来衡量夫妇可持续饮食选择的影响范围，并将衡量夫妇在饮食转变期间如何就食物进行沟通。最后一组研究将形成一个复杂的干预措施，通过亲密伙伴的鼓励来激励植物性消费。这项拨款提案将采用跨学科的方法来直接评估干预措施对气候的影响。例如，我将与建模师合作，在亲密合作伙伴的支持下，估算消费者采用植物性饮食所节省的碳排放量。这项拟议中的研究将通过将夫妇视为一个整体的社会实体来解决对植物性饮食的抵制，如果成功，碳排放量将减少一倍。