Community engagement and the promotion of sustainable diets
Decreasing the consumption of meat and dairy has been identified as an effective strategy for protecting the health of humans and the planet. More specifically, transitioning to diets that are lower in animal-source foods and higher in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains offers a promisi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/934 |
| _version_ | 1797723745204305920 |
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| author | Rebecca Ramsing Kenjin Chang Zoé Hendrickson Zhe Xu Madison Friel Ellen Calves |
| author_facet | Rebecca Ramsing Kenjin Chang Zoé Hendrickson Zhe Xu Madison Friel Ellen Calves |
| author_sort | Rebecca Ramsing |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Decreasing the consumption of meat and dairy has been identified as an effective strategy for protecting the health of humans and the planet. More specifically, transitioning to diets that are lower in animal-source foods and higher in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains offers a promising opportunity to better align consumer behaviors with contemporary nutritional and ecological goals. However, given the limited understanding of how these changes in dietary behaviors can be best promoted, there is a need to explore the merits of community-based approaches to meat reduction and their capacity to advance more sustainable practices of eating at the individual, household, and community levels. To address this gap in the literature, we surveyed more than 100 American households participating in a communitywide, 12-week-long Meatless Monday challenge and tracked the changes in their knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and food choices over a nine-month period. The case study provided herein highlights a number of key findings from our evaluation. Most notably, our results demonstrate the value of community-based efforts in initiating and maintaining dietary behavior change and provide preliminary insights into the unique roles of multilevel interventions and diverse stakeholder engagement in promoting healthier, more sustainable diets. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T10:06:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-29c4b9cee6b14993a5263b8f5617c0fe |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2152-0801 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T10:06:07Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
| spelling | doaj.art-29c4b9cee6b14993a5263b8f5617c0fe2023-09-02T11:11:26ZengLyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food SystemsJournal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development2152-08012021-03-0110210.5304/jafscd.2021.102.026Community engagement and the promotion of sustainable dietsRebecca Ramsing0Kenjin Chang1Zoé Hendrickson2Zhe Xu3Madison Friel4Ellen Calves5The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable FutureThe Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable FutureThe Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthThe Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthThe Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthBedford 2020Decreasing the consumption of meat and dairy has been identified as an effective strategy for protecting the health of humans and the planet. More specifically, transitioning to diets that are lower in animal-source foods and higher in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains offers a promising opportunity to better align consumer behaviors with contemporary nutritional and ecological goals. However, given the limited understanding of how these changes in dietary behaviors can be best promoted, there is a need to explore the merits of community-based approaches to meat reduction and their capacity to advance more sustainable practices of eating at the individual, household, and community levels. To address this gap in the literature, we surveyed more than 100 American households participating in a communitywide, 12-week-long Meatless Monday challenge and tracked the changes in their knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and food choices over a nine-month period. The case study provided herein highlights a number of key findings from our evaluation. Most notably, our results demonstrate the value of community-based efforts in initiating and maintaining dietary behavior change and provide preliminary insights into the unique roles of multilevel interventions and diverse stakeholder engagement in promoting healthier, more sustainable diets.https://foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/934Behavior ChangeCapacity BuildingCommunity EngagementCommunity-Based InterventionClimate MitigationDietary Change |
| spellingShingle | Rebecca Ramsing Kenjin Chang Zoé Hendrickson Zhe Xu Madison Friel Ellen Calves Community engagement and the promotion of sustainable diets Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development Behavior Change Capacity Building Community Engagement Community-Based Intervention Climate Mitigation Dietary Change |
| title | Community engagement and the promotion of sustainable diets |
| title_full | Community engagement and the promotion of sustainable diets |
| title_fullStr | Community engagement and the promotion of sustainable diets |
| title_full_unstemmed | Community engagement and the promotion of sustainable diets |
| title_short | Community engagement and the promotion of sustainable diets |
| title_sort | community engagement and the promotion of sustainable diets |
| topic | Behavior Change Capacity Building Community Engagement Community-Based Intervention Climate Mitigation Dietary Change |
| url | https://foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/934 |
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