Portraits of Veganism: A Comparative Discourse Analysis of a Second-Order Subculture

Development of the VEGANScreener, a Tool for a Quick Diet Quality Assessment among Vegans in Europe

BACKGROUND

Plant-based diets are not inherently healthy. Similar to omnivorous diets, they may contain excessive amounts of sugar, sodium, and saturated fats, or lack diversity. Moreover, vegans might be at risk of inadequate intake of certain vitamins and minerals commonly found in foods that they avoid. We developed the VEGANScreener, a tool designed to assess the diet quality of vegans in Europe.

METHODS

Our approach combined best practices in developing diet quality metrics with scale development approaches and involved the following: (a) narrative literature synthesis, (b) evidence evaluation by an international panel of experts, and (c) translation of evidence into a diet screener. We employed a modified Delphi technique to gather opinions from an international expert panel.

RESULTS

Twenty-five experts in the fields of nutrition, epidemiology, preventive medicine, and diet assessment participated in the first round, and nineteen participated in the subsequent round. Initially, these experts provided feedback on a pool of 38 proposed items from the literature review. Consequently, 35 revised items, with 17 having multiple versions, were suggested for further consideration. In the second round, 29 items were retained, and any residual issues were addressed in the final consensus meeting. The ultimate screener draft encompassed 29 questions, with 17 focusing on foods and nutrients to promote, and 12 addressing foods and nutrients to limit. The screener contained 24 food-based and 5 nutrient-based questions.

CONCLUSIONS

We elucidated the development process of the VEGANScreener, a novel diet quality screener for vegans. Future endeavors involve contrasting the VEGANScreener against benchmark diet assessment methodologies and nutritional biomarkers and testing its acceptance. Once validated, this instrument holds potential for deployment as a self-assessment application for vegans and as a preliminary dietary screening and counseling tool in healthcare settings.

Veganism, cuisine, and class: exploring taste as a facilitator in adopting a vegan lifestyle in Santiago, Chile

Introduction

Veganism is a movement that avoids consuming animal products. This lifestyle is commonly represented as elitist despite the broad range of people who follow it. Using Bourdieu's taste theory, this study analyzes how personal culinary tastes of different social classes generate favorable (or unfavorable) dispositions to adopting veganism.

Methods

We analyzed 73 biographical interviews with 40 young vegans in three different waves.

Results

The findings reveal that all social classes exhibit favorable dispositions towards veganism. In upper-class individuals, dispositions to embrace healthy and exotic food facilitate the adoption of new flavors and reflexivity in eating practices. Conversely, lower-class individuals have traditional meatless culinary practices rooted in their restricted budget, facilitating the transition to a plant-based diet.

Discussion

These results demonstrate the relevance of social class in understanding the diversity of vegan practices, and they contribute to breaking stereotypes around this movement.

Psychological differences and similarities between vegans, prospective vegans, and vegetarians. Motivation, knowledge, vegan literacy - and cheese

Introduction

Although vegan and vegetarian diets and lifestyles differ significantly from each other, among other things, notably in their respective consequences regarding animal welfare and their ecological impact, vegans and vegetarians are often grouped together and usually compared to omnivores in psychological research. Considering that vegans and vegetarians often share similar motives for their lifestyle choices, namely animal and environmental issues, the question arises why similar motives lead to different conclusions and correspondingly different behaviors, most notably, of course, that vegetarians consume animal-derived foods such as cheese or milk while vegans do not consume animal-derived products (e.g., food, cosmetic products). This is why this study explored the psychological differences between vegans, vegetarians, and prospective vegans - the latter group being located in an intermediate, transitionary position. Focusing on the motivational, affective and cognitive components of dietary transition and participants' adherence to eating patterns, reasons for said patterns, possible hinderances to becoming vegan, the role of participants' social environments, and the impact of various misconceptions regarding the feasibility of a vegan diet in everyday life were all explored.

Methods

An observational study was conducted via online questionnaire (1420 participants).

Results

Significant differences were found between vegans, prospective vegans, and vegetarians, especially concerning their knowledge of issues pertaining to their respective lifestyles.

Discussion

The critical role of knowledge is invoked as an explanation as to why vegans and vegetarians display different behaviors although they share a similar motivation. Thus, in this study the concept of vegan literacy is introduced. Additionally, the distinctive role of cheese is explored, discussing possible indications of its potentially addictive nature and, consequently, the importance of cheese as a hindering factor for pursuing a vegan diet.

Health Properties of Plant Bioactive Compounds: Immune, Antioxidant, and Metabolic Effects

In recent decades, people in the industrialized world have increased the demand for meat-free foods motivated by health, environmental, and animal welfare reasons [...].

Vegan food geographies and the rise of Big Veganism

Veganism is the subject of an increasingly diverse body of social scientific research, yet it remains relatively understudied in geography. Meanwhile, contemporary cultural commentaries note how veganism has gone mainstream, with critics warning of veganism's corporate nature - expressed in the rise of what we term 'Big Veganism'. We argue that food geographers are well placed to examine these trends. We first review vegan studies work beyond geography that examines and critiques the mainstreaming of veganism. We focus on literature that explores multiple contested modes of veganism, veganism as praxis in place and the rise of corporate veganism as useful foundations for geographers to build on, particularly in light of currently unfolding developments in vegan cultures and practice. Taking this work forward, we identify four conceptual traditions from research in food geographies - following foodways, alternative food networks and the cultural and material politics of eating - to develop a 'vegan food geographies' programme that aims to advance critical geographic work on veganism and the emerging implications of its contemporary mainstreaming.

We Are What We Eat: Assessing the Use of a Documentary Film as an Educational Tool to Change Students’ Nutritional Attitudes and Behaviors

Background: Identifying effective educational strategies to change lifestyle behaviors related to eating habits is imperative for health professionals providing education related to disease management and prevention. The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of mass media as a tool for improving dietary habits. Methods: 151 Undergraduate students participated in a quasi-experimental control group design at a midsize liberal arts university. The treatment group watched the film Forks Over Knives and was assessed on their dietary habits, locus of control, and current stage of change before and after viewing the film. Results: Results showed differences to current stage of change in reducing animal-based food consumption in the treatment group but did not show significant changes in increasing plant-based food. Discussion: This study provides evidence that use of the documentary Forks Over Knives affects students’ intake of animal-based foods but is not an impactful enough tool to increase intake of plant-based foods. Translation to Health Practice: Professionals who utilize the film Forks Over Knives to encourage dietary changes should do so as part of a more structured, long-term behavior change intervention program. Additional research is needed to compare Forks Over Knives with other documentary films that encourage plant-based dietary habits.

The inter-relationship between diet, selflessness, and disordered eating in Australian women

Personality traits and diet can be used to predict if a person is predisposed to disordered eating. Results of this study demonstrate a strong significant relationship between the personality trait of selflessness, diet group, and disordered eating. Vegans were most likely to display selflessness tendencies associated with disordered eating; however when selflessness was controlled for, vegans displayed substantially less disordered eating pathology than non-vegetarians.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the relationship between diet group (non-vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, true-vegetarian, and vegan) and disordered eating while investigating to what extent personality trait of selflessness mediates the relationship between diet group and disordered eating.

METHOD

Cross-sectional data from 634 Australian nonclinical women who completed a series of online questionnaires including measures of diet group, disordered eating, and selflessness were used to examine associations between diet, personality (selflessness), and disordered eating.

RESULTS

Selflessness was found to be a significant positive predictor of disordered eating. Results confirm that selflessness played a suppressing role in the relationship between the vegan diet group and disordered eating, when compared to non-vegetarians. Surprisingly, vegans displayed significantly less disordered eating than non-vegetarians and semi-vegetarians.

DISCUSSION

Results of the current study imply that the role of selflessness on disordered eating, when broken down across diet group, may be more complex than first thought. If replicated, these results suggest that targeted treatment of selflessness in different diet groups may improve treatment outcomes for disordered eating. Further research should explore why diet groups differ in terms of selflessness and how this impacts disordered eating.