Meat and masculinity in the Norwegian Armed Forces

Abstract

In 2013, the Norwegian Armed Forces decided to introduce a meat reduction scheme in its military mess halls, for both health reasons and environmental concerns. This article explores Norwegian soldiers' reactions to the introduction of Meat free Monday, and their attitudes towards reducing meat consumption. As of yet, Meat free Monday has not been implemented due to both structural and contextual challenges. We explore both the process and potential of the Norwegian military's Meat free Monday initiative to promote sustainable and climate friendly diets. We found significant barriers preventing the military from implementing Meat free Monday. The main reason behind the resistance to reduce meat consumption among Norwegian soldiers was meat's associations with protein, masculinity and comfort. Our results underline the importance of acknowledging the social and cultural role of food. The study is qualitative and uses focus group interviews as its main methodology.

Reducing meat consumption and following plant-based diets: Current evidence and future directions to inform integrated transitions

“…Disliking the taste of meat, holding general negative or ambivalent representations, as well as negative feelings such as worry, fear and guilt towards eating meat, was associated with reduced meat consumption and willingness to follow more plant-based diets (Berndsen & van der Pligt, 2004de Boer & Aiking, 2011;Rothgerber, 2014Rothgerber, , 2015aRothgerber, , 2015bZur & Klockner, 2014). In contrast, individuals who ate meat more often, derived more pleasure and identified more strongly as meat eaters, held positive attitudes towards meat consumption, or perceived plant-based meals as incomplete and unsatisfactory, were less willing to change their eating habits (Bohm et al, 2014;Carfora et al, 2017;de Boer et al, 2016;Dowsett et al, 2018;Ensaff et al, 2015;Graça et al, 2016;Kildal & Syse, 2017;Lea et al, 2006a;Leah & Worsley, 2003a;Macdiarmid et al, 2016;Mullee et al, 2017;O'Keefe et al, 2016;Vainio et al, 2018;Zur & Klockner, 2014). Meat attachment (i.e., a positive bond towards meat consumption comprised of hedonism, affinity, entitlement, and dependence) also showed negative associations with willingness and intentions to reduce meat consumption and to follow more plant-based diets (Dowsett et al, 2018;Graça et al, 2016;.…”

Meat Reduction by Force: The Case of “Meatless Monday” in the Norwegian Armed Forces

“…Some of the chefs believed that announcing vegetarian meals would make the soldiers turn away from the military kitchen and instead eat at the fast food restaurant also located at the camp. The soldiers' skepticism was confirmed in an empirical study [47,52]. Through focus group interviews with soldiers, it was found that the soldiers indeed were reluctant to reduce their meat intake, and that the military mentality enforces the need for meat, as soldiers need to stay strong and need the motivation of a warm, filling meal.…”

“…In addition, serving in the military is often physically demanding, and this makes soldiers particularly concerned about having enough filling meals and proteins for building muscles [52]. Eating meat may also serve as a symbolic means to maintain masculine identity [47]. When it was made voluntary for each camps' kitchen chef to implement the project, it is not surprising that only approximately one-third chose to do so.…”

“…These are factors which reduces the likelihood of finding positive effects of the Meatless Monday scheme on the soldiers' attitudes. Furthermore, there were also indications that lack of knowledge about vegetarian food made it difficult for some cooks to make it attractive and tasty, and the qualitative study with soldiers found that of those who were exposed to vegetarian food, many were highly negative [47]. Given this, one could even expect a backlash result: that the military's Meatless Monday schemes had left the soldiers more negative to vegetarian food than before.…”

“…Meat plays a central role in the Western diet, and it is associated with ideas of power and masculinity [34,46]. These last aspects may explain why the Armed Forces, where power and masculinity have a stronger value than elsewhere in society, could be a particularly challenging setting for introducing vegetarian food [47].…”