Plant-based Foods and Sustainability: Perceptions of Farmers Market Consumers


Serena Girard, Thompson Rivers University

Anthropocentrism tends to be at the center of human perceptions of food, which neglects the needs of nonhuman living beings. When considering impacts on humans, animals, and the environment (e.g., greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and water use), plant-based (PB) foods tend to be more sustainable than animal-based (AB) foods (Poore and Nemecek, 2019; Van Kernebeek et al., 2014; Van Mierlo et al., 2017; Wickramasinghe et al., 2021). The solution might appear to be simple: Minimizing harm from food may be done by reducing AB food consumption and increasing PB food consumption. Both micro- and macro-level factors need to be considered. As there are various barriers for consumers ‘choosing’ more sustainable foods, the onus to simply ‘do better’ cannot only fall on individual consumers. However, the challenge of transparency being in question at a macro-institutional level, including on sustainable foods, complicates the issue. Alternative foods, including PB foods and lab-grown (LG) meats, tend to lack a degree of consumer acceptance for numerous reasons related to concerns and skepticism about taste, texture, health, and social norms, amongst other factors (Arango et al., 2023; Onwezen et al., 2021). Typically, those consumers who identify as women, are younger in age, have more education, live in urban spaces, are left-leaning politically, and are already PB tend to be most acceptant of PB foods (Bryant and Sanctorum, 2021; Deliens et al., 2022; Onwezen et al., 2021). Exploring consumer reasons for consuming or not consuming certain foods may help address how sustainable foods can be better promoted. Consumers at a farmers market ( n = 94) were surveyed to determine their perceptions of PB foods, AB foods, and LG meats. The survey included both quantitative and qualitative sections. The goals were to determine (1) consumer respondent relationships with and differences in food perceptions based on sociodemographic factors; and (2) what consumer respondents think of and how they feel about different foods. The aims are to provide (1) ways to challenge food consumption-related hate and discrimination based on intersectional factors (e.g., species, socioeconomic status, gender, and education) and related social norms (e.g., animal consumption and toxic masculinity); and (2) policy implications to help increase the acceptance of, consumption of, and access to sustainable foods, including PB foods. This study’s implications on sustainable foods takes an ecocentric and power-relation-informed perspective. Macro-level actors (e.g., stakeholders, organizations, governments, and educational institutions) have the responsibility to promote and educate the public on sustainable foods. Micro-level actors (e.g., consumers) may face food-related barriers based on various intersectional factors. Considering the power dynamic between institutions and individuals, it is imperative that both micro- and macro-level actors collaborate in order to move toward the acceptance, consumption, and availability of sustainable foods. Policy reform (e.g., in terms of legislation and education), is needed for the well-being of humans, animals, and the environment which are all interconnected. As the planet does not belong only to humans, we must collectively move toward sustaining our shared planet for not only current generations of human and nonhuman beings, but also for future generations.

Non-presenting authors: Michael Mehta, Thompson Rivers University; Rochelle Stevenson, Thompson Rivers University

This paper will be presented at the following session: