Which Midwest College Students Are Trying Plant-Based Meat?

What percentage of college students have tried plant-based meat? At Iowa State University, 55 percent. That’s according to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.

The study administered surveys to 1,400 students, along with a series of demographic questions. The study found that “positive environmental attitudes were predictive of plant-based alternative consumption.” It also found that out-of-state students were more likely to eat plant-based products. By contrast, views the researchers found to be negatively associated with having eaten plant-based meat were: “agreement that dinner did not seem right without meat, [agreement] that vegetarians are a bit different, and disagreement that the balance of nature is very delicate and easily upset.”

Unsurprisingly, students who care about the environment are more likely to eat plant-based. Raising and slaughtering animals for food is destroying the environment, and the more this information spreads, the more we should see environmentalists become willing to try meat alternatives. And it’s unsurprising that local students at Iowa State were more opposed to trying plant-based meat, given that Iowa is a leading producer of pigs, chickens, and livestock feed, and Iowa State University is known for its agriculture degree programs. Taking these considerations into account, the researchers suggest that “education on environmental issues can lead individuals to take action to change.”

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But a skeptical reader would ask, “what kind of action?” One large study in the Food Policy journal suggested that “providing information about environmental and animal welfare benefits might pull more consumers into the market for plant-based and lab-grown meat, rather than damaging demand for conventional meat.” So openness to plant-based products may not be entirely synonymous with ethical consumption.

Cynically, perhaps the study’s most telling finding was that overall when choosing food, students prioritized (in order from most to least important): taste, price or cost, nutrition, healthfulness, familiarity, convenience, and finally, environmental sustainability. Certainly, different people have different motivations for becoming ethical consumers, and it’s helpful to understand these motivations.

For example, one large study published in Current Developments for Nutrition reviewed 56 publications and found that “vegans and vegetarians tended to endorse ethical motivations, whereas semivegetarians tended to endorse health motivations.” Educating consumers about environmental and animal issues with factory farming can only help create more ethical vegans and foster change. But the research certainly suggests that ethics needs a big boost from market forces and regulation if there’s hope for changing broad consumer patterns.

Or, perhaps education has to start much younger than college. On that note, you can help by signing this petition to get vegan options for a pilot school program.

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• Nestle’s DiGiorno and Stouffer’s to Debut Pizza and Lasagna with Plant Based Meats!
• This Company is Developing Red Microalgae that Makes Plant-Based Meat Bleed

Easy Ways to Help the Planet:

• Eat Less Meat: Download Food Monster, the largest plant-based Recipe app on the App Store, to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy. You can also buy a hard or soft copy of our favorite vegan cookbooks.
• Reduce Your Fast Fashion Footprint: Take initiative by standing up against fast fashion Pollution and supporting sustainable and circular brands like Tiny Rescue that raise awareness around important issues through recycled zero-waste clothing designed to be returned and remade over and over again.
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