To Meat or to Plant-Based Meat: The Impact of Consumer Resistance of Substitute Animal-Based Meat with Plant-Based Meat

Americans continue to consume large amounts of animal-based meat in their diet. Nonetheless, the traditional meat-based diet is no longer sustainable due to the health-related problems associated with consuming large quantities of animal based-meat. In fact, heart failure is the number one killer in America. The production of meat is also impacting the environment in an unsustainable fashion due to release carbon in the air. This has led consumers to develop negative perceptions of meat consumption and production. To help reduce the negative impact of producing and consuming animal-based meat on human health and the environment, some food companies have substituted it with plant-based meat. Plant-based meat has been shown to be a healthier alternative to animal-based meat and does not release the same level of carbon. Despite the positive impact of plant-based meat on human health and the environment, some consumers remain resistant to this substitution. Research is needed that will reshape consumers’ apprehensive perception of a plant-based diet. Therefore, the goal here is to identify the reasons customers are reluctant to adopt plant-based meat. This study will focus on measuring nutrition illiteracy, level of carbon sustainability, carbon footprint and cost. The expectation in the present investigation, is that consumers who have less nutrition literacy, less knowledge and experience with the plant-based meat and who are not aware of the implication of unsustainable food production practices will more resistant to substitute animal-based meat with plant-based meat. The findings, implications, limitations and future areas of research will be also discussed.