Eighteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Meat avoidance is becoming a food trend among a growing population. People adopt reducetarian diets for different reasons, intrinsically or extrinsically oriented. The vegetarian identity channels ethical, ecological, and health commitments. Vegetarianism positively relates to pro-environmental behavior, nature connectedness, and also associates with political ideology. Western vegetarians manifest higher liberal values, concern well-being, sustainability, and animal welfare than omnivores who tend to be right-winged and less open to vegetarianism. This research focuses on people’s political orientation and environmental commitment. Therefore, accounting for ecological-political facets of following a reducetarian diet – a dietary pattern avoiding meat either partially (flexitarians) or totally (vegetarians and vegans) – may explain why individuals opt for a sustainable diet. We tested if pro-environmental behavior mediates the links between political orientation and reducetarian status and between political ideology and dietary pattern. Also, the predictive role of animal welfare on Spanish reducetarian identity was studied since this motivation is heightened in strict reducetarians. The main findings reveal that pro-environmental behavior explains why politically liberal individuals exhibit higher engagement in reducetarian status and follow a meat-restricted diet stronger than conservatives. In addition, people with higher concern for animals identify stronger with vegetarian rather than flexitarian profiles in Spain. Above animal motivation, taste preference, and gender; pro-environmental behavior uniquely predicts reducetarian dietary pattern. Therefore, targeting pro-environmental behavior parallel to animal concern could provide promising perspectives on responsible dieting and contribute in reducing human footprint on the planet by addressing personal and ecological aspects of identity that intertwine in reducetarian profiles.