Can family traditions make it harder to quit eating meat?

By Stephen Beech

Family traditions and nostalgia are major barriers to people quitting meat and adopting plant-based diets, according to a new study.

Scottish researchers found that links to childhood, cultural identity and a sense of home can make dietary changes feel like a loss of self or tradition for many people.

The study showed that people's attachment was less often about meat itself – and more about links to personal experiences and cultural traditions.

Lead author Aga Kosla said: "Our research shows that dietary change is not just a practical or nutritional issue.

"Food is tied to identity, belonging, and family life, so vegan advocacy, activism, and public health messaging needs to engage with those emotional and cultural attachments.

Kosla, from the University of Stirling, added: "This study highlights that resistance to plant-based diets is not simply about taste or convenience, but about maintaining continuity with the past and preserving meaningful traditions.

"Interestingly, participants often realized that it was the shared experience, not the specific ingredient, that mattered most."

The Stirling team interviewed 24 regular meat eaters to explore their attitudes and memories related to food.

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Can family traditions make it harder to quit eating meat?

The data was then analyzed using a technique called "reflexive thematic analysis" to identify patterns in the data.

The researchers then developed themes to explain their findings.

Nostalgic foods – such as turkey at Christmas – were strongly linked to family gatherings, celebrations, and cultural identities, and this initially acted as a barrier to change.

But when participants were asked to reflect more deeply, many became more open to vegan alternatives - especially if those foods could recreate the same social experience or emotional meaning.

The study also found that friends were seen as more flexible and accommodating of plant-based diets or vegan lifestyles than family, where traditional food practices appeared harder to change and had a greater potential for conflict.

Efforts to encourage people to adopt either a plant-based diet or a vegan lifestyle often focus on health, ethics, animal rights or the environment – overlooking personal and social connections to food.

The research team believe that their findings, published in the journal Psychology of Human-Animal Intergroup Relations, could help producers, campaigners and public health organizations make plant-based options feel less like a loss, by recreating nostalgic or culturally significant dishes using vegan ingredients.

Psychologist Carol Jasper, a committed vegan and primary supervisor for the project, said: "Recreating nostalgic or culturally significant dishes using vegan ingredients can make dietary change feel more accessible.

"This could also help reduce the social barriers people face, particularly in family settings."

She added: "Like culinary traditions from the past, the food of the future, crafted without the inclusion of meat and other animal-derived ingredients, may also evoke a sense of nostalgia and encourage the creation of new customs that can resonate with and enrich future generations."