Permanently Changing Habits? A Case Study of Plant-Based Diets

This paper explores the associations between household determinants of dietary change — characteristics, circumstances, and particularly also the changes thereof — with particular focus on changing towards a more plant-based diet. Three analyses are under-taken to address three questions: what are the characteristics of 1) households making a change to a more plant-based diet, temporary or more permanent? 2) households not sustaining their more plant-based diet? 3) households being most likely of a certain changer-type (not, short or long)? These questions are answered using the Nielsen HomeScan Consumer Panel data. I find certain characteristics are positively associated with diet change: being vegetarian, being a one-person household, working less than 30 hours per week, changes in education, changes in income, and moving home; negatively associated characteristics include: having children at home, being of white ethnicity or stop working. These associations can be used to better understand the costs and benefits associated with diet changes