Trends in Food Science & Technology 114 (2021) 530–539 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Trends in Food Science & Technology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tifs Finding flexitarians: Current studies on meat eaters and meat reducers Hans Dagevos * Wageningen Economic Research, Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Background: Much scientificevidence has been found about positive effects of lowering meat consumption on the Meat reduction environment, human health and animal welfare. Nevertheless, particularly in developing economies demand for Sustainable diet meat is rising whereas in high-income countries meat intake remains at high levels. Although many of today’s Protein transition Western consumers are unwilling to cut their meat consumption, it appears that a fraction is receptive to limit Consumer culture meat consumption by abstaining from eating meat occasionally. This is called flexitarianism.A great deal of hope Dietary change has been placed lately on a flexitarian diet to help solving food-related environmental sustainability and human health problems. To determine whether flexitarianismcan meet such high hopes, it is – to begin with – important to get an idea about the extent of contemporary food consumers’ shift towards more meat-restricted diets. Such an overview has so far been lacking. Scope and approach: This study collected recent consumer research on meat eaters and meat reducers conducted in various affluent countries to explore the state of play in the field of flexitarianism. Key findings and conclusions: The present work demonstrates that multiple studies point to the existence of a group of flexitarians that is distinct from consumers who are deeply attached to meat eating and have no intention whatsoever to limit their meat intake, let alone are already changing meat-eating behaviours. Flex­ itarians not only differ from meat lovers but they also differ from each other. Against the backdrop of numerous devoted meat eaters, and flexitarianswho frequently reduce their meat consumption only slightly, the question is raised whether flexitarianism is enough to tackle the pressing environmental and human health problems. 1. Introduction (reduction of GHG emissions, land required, biodiversity impact). In other words, diets with a high proportion of animal-based foods threaten Shifting away from meat-heavy diets towards diets containing more planet’s carrying capacity and people’s health. plant-based foods is broadly considered to be beneficial to both plane­ Nevertheless, consumers around the world seem to be attracted to tary and personal health. Although adverse impacts on environmental such unsustainable diets. Since the middle of the twentieth century the sustainability and human health are often considered the main argu­ animal protein consumption (meat, eggs, dairy, fish) has drastically ments for the need for a significant reduction in meat production and increased whereas plant-based foods (vegetables, fruits, pulses, nuts, consumption, essentially the same applies to animal welfare (Allievi, grains, seeds) have reduced in percentage. This tendency is part of a Vinnari, & Luukkanen, 2015; Mathur et al., 2020) and global food se­ broader process known as the nutrition transition. The concept of curity (de Boer & Aiking, 2011; Morris et al., 2021). In the past few nutrition transition has been developed by Popkin (e.g. Popkin, 2004) decades a vast amount of research has provided overwhelming scientific and refers to worldwide changes in physical activity patterns and dietary evidence about the urgent need to rebalance plant and animal ratios in behaviours. With respect to the first, the concept points more specif­ Western diets. This has culminated recently in a number of prestigious ically to a rise in sedentary lifestyles. With respect to the latter, rising studies (Godfray et al., 2018; Poore & Nemecek, 2018; Springmann meat intakes are an important aspect of the nutrition transition. Popkin et al., 2018; Tilman & Clark, 2014; Willett et al., 2019). Their common himself stated that meat and meat products are main sources of animal denominator is that switching to diets with lower animal source foods – source foods (ASF) and higher ASF consumption plays a major role in the particularly meat consumption is a contentious issue – has both public diet shifts covered by the concept of nutrition transition (Popkin & Du, health benefits (reduction of disease risks) and environmental gains 2003). This “meatification of the diet” has taken place at first in the * Wageningen Economic Research, Prinses Beatrixlaan 582 – 528, 2595, BM The Hague, the Netherlands. E-mail address: [email protected]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2021.06.021 Received 16 December 2020; Received in revised form 1 June 2021; Accepted 10 June 2021 Available online 12 June 2021 0924-2244/© 2021 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). H. Dagevos Trends in Food Science & Technology 114 (2021) 530–539 Global North, followed by a worldwide proliferation in the course of dietary framework remains open for interpretation about the degree of time. In the past decades the meat-rich consumption pattern has meat reduction, a low-meat flexitarian diet is recently considered most advanced not so much in high-income countries but especially in helpful to bring co-benefits to the tall environmental and health chal­ non-Western countries, such as China and Indonesia (Whitnall & Pitts, lenges we are facing. After an earlier study by Hedenus, Wirsenius, and 2019; Sahlin, Ro¨os,¨ & Gordon, 2020). This dietary transition is fuelled Johansson (2014), more recently Springmann et al. (2018; see also IPCC, by a growing number of people in the middle classes who can afford to 2019) refer explicitly to a flexitariandiet as an important dietary change purchase and eat meat regularly for functional (nutritional), sensory that significantlycontributes to reducing the environmental footprint of (taste) and symbolic (status) reasons. Diets change with increased the food system and providing more healthy eating patterns and nutri­ wealth. More specifically, when people become more wealthy, meat tional benefits to food consumers. These studies define a flexitarian di­ intakes change. As a result, in growing economies a convincing dietary etary pattern as predominantly plant-based complemented with modest change in accordance with the nutrition transition is evolving featuring amounts of animal foods (meat, dairy, fish).Both Hedenus et al. (2014) increasing demand for animal-based foods. and Springmann et al. (2018) also explicitly and firmly conclude that A reverse and more reluctant dietary shift (“a second nutrition ambitious human dietary change towards reduced meat and dairy con­ transition” – Vranken, Avermaete, Petalios, & Mathijs, 2014) arises in sumption is required. In other words, agrotechnology and productivity high-income countries away from animal protein products towards improvements are important but supply-side measures alone will not be plant-based foods. Given that the first-mentioned nutrition transition enough to solve food-related ecological and health problems of today applies to approximately 70 per cent of the world population, this one is and tomorrow – a position that has gained much momentum in recent not only much bigger than the latter but also dramatically faster. The years (see e.g. Bianchi, Garnett, Dorsel, Aveyard, & Jebb, 2018; Bier­ counterbalancing trend towards reducing meat consumption in Europe mann & Rau, 2020; de Bakker & Dagevos, 2012; Ekins, Gupta, & Boil­ and North America is a slowly emerging one – by itself insufficient to eau, 2019; Garnett, Mathewson, Angelides, & Borthwick, 2015; Graça, solve the problem of worrisome levels of global meat demand exceeding Godinho, & Truninger, 2019; Gwozdz, Reisch, & Thøgersen, 2020; planetary boundaries or to downplay the estimated high increases in Mason & Lang, 2017; Verain et al., 2015). At present, broad agreement global demand for animal sourced proteins. This is neither to negate the exists within the research community that major demand-side change is utter importance of moderating the Western (over-)consumption of both crucial and indispensable. More specifically, a shift away from animal-based foods nor the need to make concomitant changes towards meat-heavy to more plant-rich, more flexitarian, diets is deemed ur­ more plant-rich diets and food patterns containing more alternative gently needed, and critically important to – as mentioned above – proteins overall (Onwezen, Bouwman, Reinders, & Dagevos, 2021; environmental sustainability, human health, animal welfare and global Taufik,Verain, Bouwman, & Reinders, 2019; van der Weele, Feindt, van food security. Mason and Lang (2017) par excellence point out that der Goot, van Mierlo, & van Boekel, 2019). On the contrary, there is a consumption should not be ignored in making the food system more strong case for a reverse nutrition transition – or protein transition, as it sustainable. They emphasise that tackling food-related ecological and is currently known (Aiking & de Boer, 2020; Tziva, Negro, Kalfagianni, health problems is particularly a consumption challenge in which cur­ & Hekkert, 2020). The protein transition is about respecting environ­ tailing meat intake is regarded as a vital step towards a sustainable diet. mental limits rather than outpacing