this article is Republished from Conversation under one Creative Commons License,
Humans have long struggled with their conscience about killing and eating animals. “The Meat Paradox” (There may be a conflict between people's liking for meat and their concern for animals) inspired cave paintings From 37,000 years ago. Since then, many leading thinker Many people have given up meat, including Pythagoras, Leonardo da Vinci, Mary Shelley and Mahatma Gandhi.
Today, Half of America's adults And Three-quarters of British adults oppose factory farming almost all about their flesh, yet only about one out of 10 Follow a meat-free diet.
Plant-based diets are becoming increasingly tasty and affordable in many countries. Adopting these will save the lives of many people 80 billion animals One more year will be due 75 percent less environmental damage Compared to non-vegetarian diet.
Benefits of being plant based Health And live long are becoming increasingly well established and have propelled a distinguished cardiologist To comment, “There are two types of cardiologists: vegetarians and those who haven't read the data.”
Despite these proven benefits of a vegetarian diet, most people continue to eat meat using such strategies “Defensive Argument” Or moral disengagement and avoidance To reduce any psychological discomfort.
Every January since 2014 Vegetarian The campaign – which encourages people to eat a plant-based diet in January – has attempted to break down these psychological defenses with pictures of cute piglets, fluffy chicks and an invitation to take on the challenge. Last year, approx 25 million peopleincluding about 4 percent of Britain's populationjoined in.
Veganuary's research shows that more than 80 percent of participants make major reductions in meat consumption, cutting their intake in half or more. after six months,
At the University of Exeter, we have independently conducted three online studies of vegetarian participants (with a fourth underway) and found that when people reduce or avoid meat they begin to view meat and themselves differently.
meat hatred
On average, people like meat less, some even feel that DisgustingThis is our complement earlier research It shows that 74 percent of vegetarians and 15 percent of flexitarians find meat disgusting.
Another study of ours (under peer review) suggests that this “meat aversion” runs deep. Those who report this (primarily vegetarians) react to the idea of eating meat in the same way as meat eaters react to the idea. eating feces, or human or dog flesh,
Picture
Caption: The hatred of meat runs deep.
Credit: Philippe Obre/ Alamy Stock Photo
If such negative feelings emerge when people abstain from meat during veganism, then giving up meat in the long term may not be as much of a sacrifice as many would expect. We're now collecting 12 months of data from 100 people who took part in our Veganuary study last year and will see whether negative feelings towards meat predict long-term changes in meat consumption.