Culture, meat and climate change: The role of culture in dietary practices and how this affects the meat and dairy consumption of individuals in response to climate change

Abstract

Animal agriculture is responsible for 14–20% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which contribute to the global problem of climate change (Graham & Abrahamse, 2016; Hansan, 2018; Macdiarmid et al., 2016; Peace, 2008; Seves et al., 2016; Stoll-Kleemann & Schmidt, 2016). The personal reduction of meat and dairy consumption has been suggested as a way for individuals to lower their GHG emissions, thus helping to mitigate the effects of climate change. So far, implementation of this mitigation strategy has proven unsuccessful, due to an unwillingness to reduce personal consumption. This research considers the role of culture on individuals’ dietary practices, to understand how this might affect their willingness to reduce their meat and/or dairy consumption as a climate change mitigation strategy. A web-based questionnaire was used to determine how culture affected the dietary practices of New Zealanders, and their perception of changing these practices in the face of climate change. Following this, 10 semi-structured interviews were used to explore the interactions between culture and diet. The theory of planned behaviour was used to unpack the values and beliefs held by different cultural groups to consider the beliefs that facilitated and discouraged dietary changes. This research concluded that meat and dairy are an entrenched norm in many food cultures, including New Zealand’s. Although participants expressed an interest in reducing their consumption of animal products, the presence of barriers, most notably social norms, prevented most people from doing so. This research also found that ethical considerations were the strongest motivators for dietary change. Going forward, this research could be used to inform interventions that target a particular cultural group to more effectively motivate a personal reduction of meat and/or dairy products.