Report · Feb 13, 2020
Climate Change and the American Diet
By Anthony Leiserowitz, Matthew Ballew, Seth Rosenthal and Jillian Semaan
2. Motivations for Purchasing and Eating Plant-Based Foods
2.1. Health, taste, convenience, and price are most important to Americans when choosing to purchase or eat plant-based foods.
When asked about reasons (i.e., “motivations”) for purchasing or eating plant-based foods (fruit, vegetables, meat/dairy alternatives), Americans generally indicate that individual motivations, including health, taste, convenience, and price, are more important to them than environmental motivations such as the environmental impacts of food products.
Nine in ten Americans (91%) say their health is at least a “moderately” important reason to purchase or eat plant-based foods, and about eight in ten (83%) say that taste is at least moderately important. Other reasons that are at least moderately important include how quick or easy plant-based foods are to prepare (77%), the price of plant-based food (75%), how food companies affect the environment (71%), helping to reduce global warming (64%), and protecting animals (64%). Only about one in four Americans (27%) say that what other people (family, friends) think is at least moderately important when they choose to purchase or eat plant-based foods.
