Red and processed meat consumption and purchasing behaviours and attitudes: Impacts for human health, animal welfare and environmental sustainability
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OBJECTIVE: Higher intakes of red and processed meat are associated with poorer health outcomes and negative environmental impacts. Drawing upon a population survey the present paper investigates meat consumption behaviours, exploring perceived impacts for human health, animal welfare and the environment. DESIGN: Structured self-completion postal survey relating to red and processed meat, capturing data on attitudes, sustainable meat purchasing behaviour, red and processed meat intake, plus sociodemographic characteristics of respondents. SETTING: Urban and rural districts of Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, UK, drawn from the electoral register. SUBJECTS: UK adults (n 842) aged 18-91 years, 497 females and 345 males, representing a 35·6 % response rate from 2500 randomly selected residents. RESULTS: Women were significantly more likely (P60 years) were more likely to hold positive attitudes towards animal welfare (P<0·01). Less than a fifth (18·4 %) of the sample agreed that the impact of climate change could be reduced by consuming less meat, dairy products and eggs. Positive attitudes towards animal welfare were associated with consuming less meat and a greater frequency of 'higher welfare' meat purchases. CONCLUSIONS: Human health and animal welfare are more common motivations to avoid red and processed meat than environmental sustainability. Policy makers, nutritionists and health professionals need to increase the public's awareness of the environmental impact of eating red and processed meat. A first step could be to ensure that dietary guidelines integrate the nutritional, animal welfare and environmental components of sustainable diets.
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A more powerful reason for change of habits in meat consumption is concern about safety and health.
“On the other hand, a more powerful reason for the change of habits in meat consumption is the concern about safety and health (Clonan, Wilson, Swift, Leibovici, & Holdsworth, 2015).”
From Emerging trends in European food, diets and food industry (2018) · cites this paper as Clonan et al., 2015
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Emerging trends in European food, diets and food industry
Santeramo, F. G., Carlucci, D., De Devitiis, B., Seccia, A., Stasi, A., Viscecchia, R., & Nardone, G. (2018) · Food Research International · doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2017.10.039 · Cited by 231 · see citing works
Consumer willingness to pay for environmentally sustainable meat and a plant‐based meat substitute
Katare, B., Yim, H., Byrne, A., Wang, H. H., & Wetzstein, M. (2023) · Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy · doi:10.1002/aepp.13285 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
- Authors
- Clonan, A., Wilson, P., Swift, J. A., Leibovici, D. G., & Holdsworth, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Sheffield (GB)
- University of Nottingham (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Wilson, Paul
- Venue
- Public Health Nutrition
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2015-03-13
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 13
- Pages
- 2446-2456
- ISSN
- 1368-9800 (ISSN-L)
- 1475-2727
- PMC
- PMC10271490
- OpenAlex
- W2143238819
- Cited by
- 179
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 0.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Public Health Nutrition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
- Nottingham ePrints (University of Nottingham) (acceptedVersion)
- Repository@Nottingham (University of Nottingham) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- University of Nottingham
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling
- Keywords
- red meat consumption, processed meat consumption, sustainable diets, environmental sustainability, climate change, human health, gender differences, dietary guidelines, public awareness
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Animal Welfare, Conservation of Natural Resources, Consumer Behavior, Dairy Products, Eggs, England, Female, Food Preferences, Food Supply, Humans, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Male, Meat, Meat Products, Nutrition Surveys, Patient Compliance, Sex Characteristics, Nutrition Policy, Climate Change, Environmental Policy
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