A shift toward plant-based proteins is vital for the environment, public health and animal welfare issues. There has been slow progress towards plant-based diets in the Netherlands, where animal proteins still make up 61% of the diet. Consumer diets are not changing drastically the past decades and the food environment seems to support unsustainable choices.
This project seeks to answer the key question: how can long-term behavior change toward plant-based diets be fostered? The research will focus on understanding the drivers behind long-term sustainable food choices, exploring behavioral patterns across different consumer groups, and developing effective interventions to encourage repetitive plant-based choices. Additionally, the project will investigate how to create actionable guidelines for stakeholders within the food environment, enabling a more supportive food environment for plant-based consumption.
The project thereby contributes to prominent scientific and societal questions by developing insights in interventions that support long-term behaviour change and by trying to close the gap between science and practice by developing practical, scalable insights that will guide the transition toward a 40:60 animal-plant protein ratio in the Dutch diet, promoting sustainability, public health, and animal welfare. Ultimately, the project aspires to influence both individual consumer behavior and broader food environment policies.
