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Research Spiritual family traditions are major barriers to adoption of plant-based diets - Printable Version

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Spiritual family traditions are major barriers to adoption of plant-based diets - C C - Jul 21, 2026

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1136959

INTRO: Nostalgia is a major barrier in preventing more people from adopting plant-based diets, according to a new University of Stirling study. Research led by Aga Kosla of the University’s Faculty of Natural Sciences 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. 

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

Lead author Ms 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. 

“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 realised that it was the shared experience, not the specific ingredient, that mattered most.” 

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. Researchers believe that the findings could help producers, campaigners and public health organisations make plant-based options feel less like a loss, by recreating nostalgic or culturally significant dishes using vegan ingredients... (MORE - no ads)

RE: Spiritual family traditions are major barriers to adoption of plant-based diets - Syne - Jul 21, 2026

So... more attacks on family and traditions?

RE: Spiritual family traditions are major barriers to adoption of plant-based diets - Magical Realist - Jul 22, 2026

Another one of many ways traditionalism clashes with secularism and the values that each promotes. While I detest the fact that we slaughter and mistreat so many living creatures just to fulfil our carnivorous appetites I still can't make the change myself. Meat satiates me like no other food does and so I cherish it as a form of convenient nutrition. It's everywhere and really easy to obtain, though with my luck I'll be reincarnated as a cow in a slaughterhouse.

RE: Spiritual family traditions are major barriers to adoption of plant-based diets - Syne - Jul 22, 2026

There's no luck in karma.

RE: Spiritual family traditions are major barriers to adoption of plant-based diets - Magical Realist - Jul 22, 2026

(Jul 22, 2026 04:27 AM)Syne Wrote: There's no luck in karma.

If you believe in karma..Did you convert to Hinduism recently?

RE: Spiritual family traditions are major barriers to adoption of plant-based diets - Syne - Jul 22, 2026

(Jul 22, 2026 04:45 AM)Magical Realist Wrote:
(Jul 22, 2026 04:27 AM)Syne Wrote: There's no luck in karma.

If you believe in karma..Did you convert to Hinduism recently?

You do know that you can believe in reincarnation without being Hindu, right? @_@

RE: Spiritual family traditions are major barriers to adoption of plant-based diets - Magical Realist - Jul 22, 2026

Quote:You do know that you can believe in reincarnation without being Hindu

And karma as well? No..I've never heard of that.

RE: Spiritual family traditions are major barriers to adoption of plant-based diets - Syne - Jul 22, 2026

(Jul 22, 2026 04:58 AM)Magical Realist Wrote:
Quote:You do know that you can believe in reincarnation without being Hindu, right? @_@

And karma as well? No..I've never heard of that.

Reincarnation and karma are not exclusive to Hinduism. These concepts are foundational to all major Dharmic religions, which include Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. While they share the same core ideas, each tradition understands and applies them slightly differently.
- gemini

For years I have said that I am syncretic (the combining or merging of various distinct beliefs or schools of thought, particularly religious ones).
Yes, a form of karma as well.

Even so, it's not like you have to believe something to understand it... like knowing that karma does not involve luck.

RE: Spiritual family traditions are major barriers to adoption of plant-based diets - Magical Realist - Jul 22, 2026

The statement is a satirical comment on my bad luck that reincarnation might be true and thus cause me to come back as a cow. Nothing more and nothing less. But relax. No one here expects you to have a normal human grasp of casual self-deprecating bon mots.

RE: Spiritual family traditions are major barriers to adoption of plant-based diets - Syne - Jul 22, 2026

I know exactly what you meant. I implied that there would be good reason for such a reincarnation (not for eating meat)... and you got defensive.