Smaller meat portions contribute the most to reducing meat consumption in the United Kingdom

2024/11/01 by Alexander Vonderschmidt, Lindsay M. Jaacks, Peter Alexander +3 · 1 voice · 3 citations
Environmental Science · Medicine · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact #Nutritional Studies and Diet #Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability

paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s43016-024-01070-2

openalex publication_date 2024/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

Reducing meat consumption can help improve environmental and health outcomes, yet the effect of specific meat-reducing strategies is context dependent. Here, using decomposition analysis of National Diet and Nutrition Survey data (2008-2009 to 2018-2019), we found that in the United Kingdom, reduced meat portions had the largest impact on total meat consumption decline (52%), followed by fewer meat-eating days (24%), fewer meat consumers (17%) and fewer meat-eating meal occasions (7%). Understanding meat consumption behaviour patterns is key for more effective policies.

Citations

• Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers
• Health effects associated with consumption of unprocessed red meat: a Burden of Proof study

Cited by

• It's bean too long: Interventions to reintroduce legumes to the <scp>UK</scp> palate and plate
• Key action areas for transforming the UK food system: insights from the Transforming UK Food Systems (TUKFS) Programme project portfolio
• Plant-based diets among young women in Scotland: ‘Unless it's affordable, convenient, healthy, and familiar, it's a no’

Discussions

• Smaller meat portions contribute the most to reducing meat consumption in the UK. "...reduced meat portions had the largest impact on total meat consumption decline (52%), followed by fewer meat-eati [bsky, 3 points, 0 comments]

Related

• From hamburgers to holidays: Modelling the climate change impact of reducing meat consumption according to UK consumer preferences
• Reducing meat consumption: Results from a German survey on attitudes, behaviour and willingness to change among adults
• Reducing meat consumption with consumer insights and the nudge by proxy: the anomaly of asking, the power of protein, and illusions of insufficiency and availability
• From Meat to Plant‐Based Products? The Enduring Impact of BSE on Beef Consumption
• Animal food products: policy, market and social issues and their influence on demand and supply of meat