Environmentally friendly diets : perceptions and behaviours of sustainability students

Abstract: The food sector has massive consequences on the environment as it causes, among others, GHG emissions, deforestation, water scarcity and climate change. Therefore, it is essential to transform the food sector and the related diets of individuals. For transforming diets, it is necessary to understand food behaviour which is why food choices should be investigated. However, only a few broad definitions exist on how an environmentally friendly diet can be constituted without providing a blueprint. This study aims to look closer into food choices of sustainability students in order to understand their perceptions and behaviour of environmentally friendly diets. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted to examine how Sustainable Development and Rural Development and Natural Resource Management master students perceive an environmentally friendly diet and the influences on the food choices they actually say they make. This research uses the Theory of Planned Behaviour as the theoretical framework as the theory variables help explain how individuals’ dietary behaviour is influenced. The results show a broad consensus on what constitutes an environmentally friendly diet. The main difference concerns the degree of meat consumption and how meat is produced. In general, the interviewees try to eat as ecologically friendly as possible but are restricted by personal and external factors. The findings indicate the need for further research on why personal restrictions is more significant to certain individuals than others. Also, it would be interesting to compare the behaviour of sustainability students to non-sustainability students to investigate if it differs.