Beyond the Choice of What You Put in Your Mouth: A Systematic Mapping Review of Veganism and Vegan Identity

Abstract

In recent years, and in the current climate crisis, the interest in veganism and sustainable diet/lifestyle has increased. This growing interest can also be seen within academia. Therefore, we set out to systematically document and organize the social psychological literature on veganism and vegan identity to identify where the field currently is, and what we need to do next. Following PRISMA guidelines we identified a data set of 26 academic papers published between 2010 and 2021. Through a thematic analysis of the data, we created four categories of study focus and content: (1) vegans as a disadvantaged/stigmatized group, (2) the role of ideology in negative attitudes toward vegans, (3) the role of moral and ethical beliefs in changing or sustaining dietary preferences, and (4) veganism as a social movement and vegan activism. Our analysis emphasizes issues with merging all non-meat eaters, reduction of veganism into dietary or lifestyle choices neglecting the politicized content and movement, lack of processes underlying emergence and endurance of veganism, and decontextualization of vegan identity. What is needed is a more fine-grained exploration that addresses the identified issues to account for the content of vegan identity. This would expand, for example, the motives literature to include and emphasize intersectionality in a vegan identity context. Specifically, to facilitate a more sustainable lifestyle, the content of social dimensions needs to be qualitatively explored.

Algae as a potential source of protein meat alternatives

“…Due to the health issues related to meat intake, there is also a growing trend toward reducing meat consumption through a shift to consuming more plant-based or plant-forward diets and foods ( 11 ). In fact, veganism is gradually becoming a widespread phenomenon not only in Western societies but across cultures around the world ( 12 ). Among the potential alternatives to animal protein sources, algae have important advantages over terrestrial vegetables, as they do not require arable land, freshwater, or artificial fertilizers, and have high productivity ( 13 ).…”

Vegan – Lösung oder Irrweg?

“…Befeuert wird die vegane Ernährung durch Aktionen wie den Veganuary, bei dem man sich einen Monat (Januar) lang komplett ohne Produkte tierischen Ursprungs ernährt 2 5 6 .…”

Non-speciesist language conveys moral commitments to animals and evokes do-gooder derogation

“…Recent work suggests that those who identify as vegetarian may differ in important ways compared to those that identify as vegan. For example, although both groups tend to share similar ethical motives to abstain from meat consumption, only vegans apply these ethical values consistently to other consumption and lifestyle choices, which can be understood within the context of their stronger anti-speciesist ideology and politicised identity (rath er than being a dietary identity; Dhont & Ioannidou, 2021;Vestergren & Uysal, 2022). Given this, it seemed fruitful to explore differences between specific dietary subgroups that make up those who eat meat (omnivores vs. semi-vegetarians) and those who do not (lacto-and ovo-vegetarians vs. strict vegetarians vs. vegans).…”