EA - Faunalytics Analysis on Reasons for Abandoning Vegn Diets by JLRiedi

Link to original articleWelcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Faunalytics Analysis on Reasons for Abandoning Vegn Diets, published by JLRiedi on February 22, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum.Nonprofit research organization Faunalytics has released a new analysis on reasons people abandon vegan or vegetarian (vegn) diets, looking at the obstacles former vegns faced and what they would need to resume being vegn.Although causes for lapsing have been analyzed to an extent, a deeper analysis that considers people’s reasons in their own words is necessary to not only understand why people give up their vegn goals, but to find the best ways to help people stick with their commitment to vegnism and even lure back some of the lapsers.Read the full report here:BackgroundPeople have a variety of motivations for switching to plant-based diets, yet not all people who begin the transition to a vegan or vegetarian (collectively called vegn) diet maintain it long-term. In fact, Faunalytics’ study of current and former vegns (2014) found that the number of lapsed (former) vegans and vegetarians in the United States far surpasses the number of current vegns, and most who lapse do so within a year. Are these people the low-hanging fruit for diet advocates? They could be—there are many of them and they’re clearly at least somewhat willing to go vegn, so maybe more attention should be paid to the lapsers.That’s one possibility. The other, more pessimistic possibility, is that when we as advocates think our diet campaigns are successful, these are the people we think we’re convincing. That is, we see the part where they go vegn, but not the part where they later lapse back. This interpretation is one that a lot of people made when our study of current and former vegns released, but we don’t have strong evidence either way.This analysis, in which we looked at the obstacles faced by people who once pursued a vegn diet and what they would need to resume being vegn, aims to shed a bit more light on these questions. Although causes for lapsing have been analyzed to an extent, a deeper analysis that considers people’s reasons in their own words is necessary to not only understand why people give up their vegn goals, but to find the best ways to help people stick with their commitment to vegnism and even lure back some of the lapsers.Research TeamThis project’s lead author was Constanza Arévalo (Faunalytics). Dr. Jo Anderson (Faunalytics) reviewed and oversaw the work.ConclusionDiets Are More Than FoodFood plays an important role in our lives. More than just nutrition, food is a very personal yet social experience, a cultural identity, and at times, a religious or spiritual practice or symbol. Naturally, a good-tasting diet is important—especially when the idea is to maintain it long-term. However, lapsed vegns’ answers suggested that food dissatisfaction, although a very common struggle, was not the most crucial obstacle to overcome to return to vegnism. Instead, having access to vegn options, as well as the time and ability to prepare vegn meals (often alongside non-vegn meals for family), were much more common must-haves.Additionally, people’s feelings of healthiness while on their diet, seemed to hold a lot of weight. Many lapsed vegns who had faced issues managing their health named this as their main reason for lapsing. Similarly, Faunalytics (2022) found that people who felt unhealthy when first trying out a vegn diet were significantly more likely to lapse within the first six months than people who felt healthier. This was the case even if their initial motivation for going vegn wasn’t health-related.Seeking professional medical advice while pursuing a vegn diet (ideally from a doctor who understands and has experience with vegn diets) is the best way to manage any major concerns and get information about the vitamins and nutriti...