Restructuring physical micro-environments to reduce the demand for meat: a systematic review and qualitative comparative analysis

Abstract

SummaryBackgroundReducing meat consumption could help to protect the natural environment and promote population health. Interventions restructuring physical micro-environments might help to change habitual behaviour. We synthesised the scientific evidence pertaining to whether, and which, interventions restructuring physical micro-environments effectively reduce the demand for meat.MethodsWe did a systematic review of quantitative studies evaluating the effectiveness of interventions restructuring physical micro-environments to reduce the demand for meat. We identified relevant records by searching six electronic databases (CAB Abstracts, Embase, PsycINFO, Science Citation Index, MEDLINE, and Dissertations & Theses) on Aug 31, 2017, contacting experts, screening publicly accessible online resources, and searching references. We included studies that evaluated the effectiveness of interventions restructuring physical micro-environments to reduce the demand for meat, defined as the actual or intended consumption, purchase, or selection of meat in real or virtual environments. We extracted data pertaining to the study samples, the interventions, and meat demand at the follow-up closest to intervention completion and at the longest follow-up, with the former representing our primary outcome. We synthesised data narratively and did a qualitative comparative analysis to identify configurations of intervention characteristics associated with, and those not found to be associated with, significant reductions in meat demand. Our Systematic Review is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42017081532.ResultsOf 10 733 titles and abstracts screened for eligibility, we assessed 60 full papers and included 14 papers reporting on 18 studies with 22 intervention conditions. Three interventions reducing the portion size of meat servings reduced meat consumption in randomised trials. Three interventions providing meat alternatives with supporting educational material were associated with reduced meat demand in pre-post design studies. Three of four interventions altering the sensory properties (eg, visual presentation) of meat or meat alternatives at point of purchase reduced meat demand in randomised trials. Four interventions repositioning meat products to be less prominent at point of purchase were associated with lower meat demand, but only two such interventions reached statistical significance in a randomised trial and a multiple treatment reversal design. Only one of five interventions manipulating the description of meat or meat alternatives at point of purchase was associated with lower meat demand in a multiple treatment reversal design. Evidence from randomised trials evaluating a pricing intervention or interventions restructuring several aspects of micro-environments was too scarce or inconsistent to be conclusive. The results from our qualitative comparative analysis supported the findings of this narrative synthesis.InterpretationSome interventions restructuring physical micro-environments could help to promote lower d...

Impact of increasing vegetarian availability on meal selection and sales in cafeterias

“…Our results indicate that meal selection is neither fixed nor random, but rather is partially determined by availability. These results suggest that increasing the proportion of vegetarian options may have a larger effect than many other choice architecture interventions included in a recent systematic review on meat selection and consumption (13): In previous studies, neither restructuring food menus with different meal descriptions nor positioning meat in less prominent positions reduced meat uptake. Providing US and UK participants with meat substitutes, recipes, and educational materials led to large reductions in meat consumption (13): a 40% reduction in red and processed meat (31), a 54% reduction in spending on meat (32), and a 70% reduction in meat consumed (33).…”

“…While many recent papers have stressed the importance of reducing meat consumption (1)(2)(3)36), very few studies have tested which interventions might work. For example, a recent systematic review found only 18 studies with 11,290 observations that tested how changing some aspect of choice architecture could reduce meat consumption (13). Our studies have 94,644 observations from months of robust, individual-level data.…”

“…Models suggest that taxes on the most polluting foods would result in savings of 1 gigatonne of GHGE worldwide (4), but these taxes can be regressive and are politically unpopular given their lack of public support (8). A third group of interventionschanging the physical, economic, and social context (the socalled choice architecture) in which decisions are made-could potentially deliver improved environmental outcomes at a low cost and with little controversy, but this group has received relatively little empirical attention to date (10)(11)(12)(13).…”

“…Turning to reducing meat consumption, a recent review found no studies on the effects of changing the availability of plant-based meals (13). The likely patterns are hard to anticipate: At 1 extreme increasing relative availability might have a directly proportional…”

Interventions targeting conscious determinants of human behaviour to reduce the demand for meat: a systematic review with qualitative comparative analysis

“…A protocol for this systematic review was published on PROSPERO [ 21 ]. This review includes studies evaluating interventions targeting conscious determinants of human behaviour to reduce the consumption, purchase, or selection of meat, and that fulfilled the eligibility criteria outlined in Table 1 .…”