The report Let's Talk About Meat: changing dietary behaviour for the 21st century is launched alongside a new YouGov survey, commissioned by the Eating Better alliance and Friends of the Earth, which looked into the awareness and attitudes on meat among the among the public in Britain. The survey found that around one in three people (35%) in Britain say they are willing to consider eating less meat, with one in five (20%) saying they have already cut back on the amount of meat they eat over the last year. Only 5% say they are eating more.
The report identifies ten potential drivers for motivating behaviour change towards more plant-based diets and ‘less and better’ meat eating. It concludes that despite strong evidence of the benefits for health and climate change - as well as public willingness to eat less meat - the public's efforts are not yet supported by governments and most food companies. Eating Better and Friends of the Earth intend to use the findings of this report to stimulate engagement with policy makers, practitioners, researchers, businesses and civil society to encourage further discussion, and stimulate research and practical initiatives.
The latest YouGov survey found low levels of awareness that meat-eating has such impacts – only 28% of people agree that livestock production has significant impacts on the environment. Eating Better’s findings are echoed by a new 12 country survey from Chatham House (also included in this newsletter) which found a lower level of awareness of the livestock sector’s contribution to climate change compared to other factors.
Read the full report here.
You can also find many resources related to the sustainability of meat and dairy on our website. Look in our research library for resources related to livestock emissions in the meat category or the category on dairy. Or search the website by keywords “meat + dairy + GHGs”, the results can be found here. The FCRN has also collected resources on sustainable healthy diets which you can find here.
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