Consumers consistently rank sustainability as a top priority for making purchasing decisions. However, there is no evidence that consumers associate the consumption of animal proteins with climate change, according to a new report from the Center for Food Integrity (CFI).
There is growing interest in the role greenhouse gas emissions generated during animal production plays in climate change, the report said.
CFI collected data on climate change conversations using an innovative research tool, digital ethnography, that analyzes online conversations across social media platforms in real time.
Meat consumption gets a bad rap
Sustainability is a top issue for consumers – especially younger consumers who have consistently said they’d prefer to buy a product marketed as green when given the choice.
As a result, the term flexitarian – a group of consumers cutting down, but not totally eliminating meat consumption – has become popular. A quarter of US consumers said they were planning on cutting down their meat consumption in a recent survey, citing environmental impact as the reason why.
In reality, households with high carbon footprints were more likely to consume sweets, alcohol and food from restaurants than meat, revealed a new study published in the journal One Earth.
The research, which analyzed the carbon footprints of more than 60,000 households in Japan, found that meat consumption explained less than 10% of the differences in carbon footprints seen.
Shifting focus
The focus of consumer climate change conversations will shift within the next two years, CFI predicts. Currently, most online conversations focus on whether climate change is man-made.
According to the report, 52.2 million people online are engaged in conversations about climate change. Fewer than half currently focus on causes and solutions.
However, while the debate over climate change is only expected to grow 3.6% in the next two years, conversations on causes and solutions are predicted to increase 260% and 202% respectively.
“The findings aren’t surprising, given the rapidly growing interest in sustainability,” Terry Fleck, CFI executive director, said in a press release. “Those interested in causes and solutions want to bring about change by taking action on a personal level and being the change. They also fear making uninformed choices, want to protect the American way of life, and look to science and innovation to provide solutions.”
Like what you just read? Sign up now for free to receive the Poultry Future Newsletter
