Meat Consumption and Availability for Its Reduction by Health and Environmental Concerns: A Pilot Study

Abstract

In Portugal, dietary imbalances are evident [1–3], where the consumption of meat, sugar, fat, and salt is much higher than recommended [4]. Changes in eating habits over the years have been remarkable [5]. According to recent data, just 26% of the Portuguese population adheres to the Mediterranean diet [6], indicating a noteworthy divergence from this dietary pattern known globally as a health promoter. Some studies have suggested a link between frequent and high meat consumption and noncommunicable diseases (such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease) [7–10]. Indeed, food choices, together with other lifestyle behaviors such as smoking and lack of physical activity, have been identified as risk factors for one-third of all fatalities in Portugal [11]. More recently, environmental concerns have also been raised about excessive meat consumption [1,4,12], especially when referring to red meat, which appears to have the higher ecological footprint [13]. The emission of greenhouse gases is 57 times higher in beef when compared with tofu, while for poultry it is 4 times higher [13]. Even though there are no statistics on public knowledge of these data, this information is freely available to the public via the Our World in Statistics website. Also, the results of Sanchez-Sabaté and colleagues (2019) have shown that meat consumers are not willing to change their dietary habits for environmental reasons [12]. In Portugal, the Food Balance report published by the National Institute of Statistics for the period 2016–2020 showed an increase in meat consumption in this period, despite a decrease during the pandemic, but still 8.7% higher than the previous analysis period of 2012–2015 [1]. Currently, Portuguese society is undergoing a transformation; Europe is experiencing an energy crisis, which will certainly affect food supply, with predicted increases in meat prices and a grain shortage [14]. The pressure to modify eating habits for economic reasons is great, and this could be a chance to promote public knowledge about the need to reduce meat consumption, which has obvious health and environmental benefits. The theme of the current piece is highly timely, given the current economic downturn, social unrest, energy problem, and environmental consciousness [15]. According to current knowledge, this is the first study in Portugal that aimed to assess the frequency of meat consumption and willingness to reduce consumption due to concern about the impact on health and the environment in residents of the Lisbon metropolitan region