Transitioning towards a more sustainable diet: red and processed meat consumption in Italian households

Abstract

Food-consumption habits are central to both the health and environmental debates. In particular, meat production and consumption are major concerns due to the impact of livestock on global warming and environmental degradation. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that livestock farming accounts for a significant share of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, highlighting the need to shift diets to limit these emissions. Promoting healthier, more sustainable diets is seen as a way to mitigate climate change and global temperature rise, making red and processed meat a key factor. In this contribution, we measure changes in red and processed meat consumption in Italy over the decade 2012-2022 and examine the socio-demographic and household factors associated with these eating behaviours. We use data collected by the Italian National Institute of Statistics through the Aspects of Daily Life Multipurpose Survey. We first assess the effects of age and individual propensity on variation in red and processed meat consumption using the Kitagawa decomposition. We then define two indicators to capture the individual environmental sensitivity and explore how these, along with household and other behavioural factors, relate to individual propensity. We identify several significant household-level factors, such as household size, and individual-level characteristics, including environmental sensitivity.