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

Anna Birgitte Milford and Charlotte Kildal
Additional contact information
Anna Birgitte Milford: NIBIO (Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research), Thormøhlens gate 55, 5006 Bergen, Norway2 Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), University of Oslo, Postboks 1116 Blindern, 0317 Oslo, Norway
Charlotte Kildal: NIBIO (Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research), Thormøhlens gate 55, 5006 Bergen, Norway2 Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), University of Oslo, Postboks 1116 Blindern, 0317 Oslo, Norway

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-13

Abstract: Despite the scientific evidence that more plants and less animal-based food is more sustainable, policy interventions to reduce meat consumption are scarce. However, campaigns for meat free days in school and office canteens have spread globally over the last years. In this paper, we look at the Norwegian Armed Forces’ attempt to introduce the Meatless Monday campaign in their camps, and we evaluate the implementation process as well as the effect of the campaign on soldiers. Qualitative interviews with military staff indicate that lack of conviction about benefits of meat reduction, and the fact that kitchen staff did not feel ownership to the project, partly explain why vegetarian measures were not fully implemented in all the camps. A multivariate regression analysis with survey data from soldiers indicate that those who have experienced meat free days in the military kitchen are more prone to claim that joining the military has given them a more positive view on vegetarian food. Furthermore, the survey gives evidence that stated willingness to eat more vegetarian food is higher among soldiers who believe in the environmental and health benefits of meat reduction.

Keywords: sustainable diets; meat reduction; Meatless Monday; policy implementation; attitudes to vegetarian food; multivariate regression analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/10/2741/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/10/2741/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:10:p:2741-:d:230904

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().