Consumer Attitudes Towards Environmental Concerns of Meat Consumption: A Systematic Review
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Centro de Excelencia en Psicología Económica y del Consumo (CEPEC), Núcleo Científico y Tecnológico en Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4811230, Chile
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School of Public Health. Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(7), 1220; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071220
Received: 1 March 2019
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Revised: 28 March 2019
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Accepted: 29 March 2019
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Published: 5 April 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards More Sustainable Food Systems)
Meat consumption is a major contributor to global warming. Given the worldwide growing demand of meat, and the severe impact of meat production on the planet, reducing animal protein consumption is a matter of food security and public health. Changing consumer food behavior is a challenge. Taste preferences, culinary traditions and social norms factor into food choices. Since behavioral change cannot occur without the subject’s positive attitude based on reasons and motivations, a total of 34 papers on consumer attitudes and behavior towards meat consumption in relation to environmental concerns were examined. The results show that consumers aware of the meat impact on the planet, willing to stop or significantly reduce meat consumption for environmental reasons, and who have already changed their meat intake for ecological concerns are a small minority. However, environmental motives are already appealing significant proportions of Westerners to adopt certain meat curtailment strategies. Those who limit meat intake for environmental reasons are typically female, young, simply meat-reducer (not vegan/vegetarian), ecology-oriented, and would more likely live in Europe and Asia than in the U.S.
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Keywords:
consumer attitudes; meat avoiders; meat reducers; environmental concerns; global warming; climate change; sustainability; ecology; planetary health
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MDPI and ACS Style
Sanchez-Sabate, R.; Sabaté, J. Consumer Attitudes Towards Environmental Concerns of Meat Consumption: A Systematic Review. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 1220. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071220
AMA Style
Sanchez-Sabate R, Sabaté J. Consumer Attitudes Towards Environmental Concerns of Meat Consumption: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16(7):1220. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071220
Chicago/Turabian StyleSanchez-Sabate, Ruben, and Joan Sabaté. 2019. "Consumer Attitudes Towards Environmental Concerns of Meat Consumption: A Systematic Review" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 7: 1220. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071220
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