Research suggests that people’s choices about what they eat are driven more by their personal values than by environmental and health facts.

• Values such as fairness, solidarity, and a dislike of waste are more influential than environmental attitudes in shaping people’s food choices.
• Frugality and sustainable development values, such as respect for nature and shared responsibility, are more predictive of sustainable food motives than environmental attitudes.

“People don’t change what they eat just because they’re told it’s bad for the planet. They change because it connects to something deeper, a value they already hold, like not wasting food or treating others fairly,” Steven Iorfa, lead author of the study.

The study found that environmental attitudes, such as enjoyment of nature, trust in science, and ecocentric thinking, were significantly less impactful than the broader personal values people hold.

The researchers suggest that current sustainability messaging may not be effective in changing people’s eating habits.

“If we meet people where they are, by tapping into values like frugality or fairness, we’re far more likely to see lasting change,” Steven Iorfa.

The study’s findings have wider implications for how governments, NGOs, and campaigners approach the shift to more sustainable food systems.

1. Emphasise values-based narratives that resonate with people’s lived experiences, particularly in an age of economic insecurity and climate anxiety.
2. Embed ideas of resourcefulness, local responsibility, and fairness into food policy, school curricula, and public campaigns.
3. Recognise that sustainability isn’t just a scientific issue, but a cultural one.

Professor Lisa Jack, from the Faculty of Business and Law at the University of Portsmouth, said: “We get a lot of advice these days about avoiding food waste and fast fashion to help the planet. We need to reframe sustainability as a question of values, not just information.