A Meat and Dairy Article from All-Creatures.org



Share

The Value of Actual Sales Data for Understanding Meat Consumption

From PHAIR Society
March 2024

The Society for the Psychology of Human-Animal Intergroup Relations (PHAIR)

In this blog post, Rakefet, Chris, and Katharina provide an overview of their recent, open-access article, “Every little helps: Exploring meat and animal product consumption in the Tesco 1.0 dataset“, available here. They delve into the findings of their study, highlighting the benefits of using actual sales data and its implications for future research on meat reduction.

shopping basket
Photo by Bruno Kelzer - Unsplash.com

In this blog post, Rakefet, Chris, and Katharina provide an overview of their recent, open-access article, “Every little helps: Exploring meat and animal product consumption in the Tesco 1.0 dataset“, available here. They delve into the findings of their study, highlighting the benefits of using actual sales data and its implications for future research on meat reduction.

The Need for Behavioural Data on Meat Consumption

Meat and animal product consumption has been linked to several ethical, health, and environmental issues that affect our planet. The industry contributes to various environmental problems, such as climate change, deforestation, and the overuse of freshwater (Clark et al., 2020, Eshel et al., 2014, Theurl et al., 2020). Animal agriculture is a key contributor to global human-induced GHG emissions, emitting approximately 8.1 gigatons (Gt) carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq) (FAO, 2010), corresponding to 14.5% of global anthropogenic GHG emissions in 2013 (Gerber et al., 2013). According to the World Bank report, animal agriculture is also responsible for a large share of deforestation, for example, in the Amazon. Compared with 1970, 91% “of the increment of the cleared area has been converted to cattle ranching” (Margulis 2004, p. 9).

Animal agriculture also poses a threat to public health, exacerbating antibiotic resistance while constituting one of the most common sources of food-borne illness and zoonotic disease (Aiyar & Pingali, 2020; Canica et al., 2019; Fosse et al., 2008). Furthermore, animals bear the brunt of the impact, with, for example, 99% of U.S.-based farmed animals being raised on factory farms (Reese-Anthis, 2021). As factory farms are focused on efficiency and profit, they often disregard the natural needs and behavioural tendencies of animals (Broom, 1991), since the costs of raising animals humanely are often deemed economically unviable (Webster, 2001).

Although a great deal of recent research has focused on reducing meat consumption and promoting meat alternatives, most studies have relied on self-reported dietary data (e.g., see the review by Kwasny et al., 2022). This is where the importance of actual sales data for meat consumption research comes into play. Compared to self-reported data, actual sales data have an edge as they are more reliable and provide a better representation of dietary habits.

Compared to self-report data, actual sales data have an edge as they are more reliable and provide a better representation of dietary habits.

....

Please read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE, including:

  • The Tesco 10.0 Dataset
  • Regional and Seasonal Variations
  • Sociodemographic Factors
  • Benefits and Limitations



Return to Meat and Dairy Articles
Read more at Animal Rights/Vegan Activist Strategies