[2월호, 2021년] Same Old Salad Everyday?: Misperceptions of Vegetarianism and How to Encourage More Flexitarians - 5기 함이수

 

Same Old Salad Everyday?: Misperceptions of Vegetarianism and How to Encourage More Flexitarians

5기 함이수

 

This project was for my ‘Social Innovation and Sustainable Development’ class last semester with my dear friends Mijin, Lucia and Yoonhyung. Our project started as I remembered Lucia having difficulty finding vegetarian food in Korea. I recall feeling sorry for her and ashamed of myself at a dinner event because I had not thought of vegetarian food options as the host. As inconsiderate as I might have been, my team members and I agreed lack of awareness for vegetarians was a major problem, especially here in Korea. We, as ‘Team Sprout’, problematized vegetarians having difficulty accessing vegetarian foods. Special thanks for letting me share our project via this blogpost. Hope it contributes to raising accurate awareness of vegetarianism and leads to more flexitarians in our society.

[Problem Statement]

Students in their 20s are often troubled about what to eat after a long day of class. However, vegetarian students, as well as students who might be interested in vegetarianism, go through much more trouble when it comes to finding an easily accessible restaurant that can offer them an adequate meal that fits their diet. Although the information itself is available and students can often find reviews, looking for vegetarian meals off campus usually takes a lot of time off since they need to resort to multiple search engines or applications. What team Sprout individualized as the main problem is the lack of a centralized service that offers a more comprehensive list of restaurants. Students already following alternative diets were not the only ones affected by this issue, many other students also expressed their desire to try vegetarian food but were deterred by the lack of information about available food options. By tackling the issue about the accessibility and awareness of vegetarianism in South Korean society, we ultimately aimed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions deriving from the meat-based diets of our society.

How does vegetarianism relate to SDGs and climate change?  Eating meat-less options can contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, "meat production is one of the most destructive ways in which humans leave their footprint on the planet" (2018). Recent studies also show that meat production is the major source of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide (N2O) among food-related production and is the single most prominent origin of methane (Godfray et al., 2018). Therefore, it is imperative that we start reducing our meat consumption by normalizing alternative diets to reduce greenhouse gases.

Source: Sejong Uni. Survey(Lee,2008)

 

In 2008, graduate students from Sejong University surveyed 354 university students from Seoul and Busan on their awareness of vegetarian diets and their inclination to follow them. 40% of the respondents said that they did not follow vegetarian diets because they wanted to have a balanced diet and consume a broad variety of nutrients (Lee, 2008). Although determining necessity and deliciousness may be subjective, the issue about balanced diets and nutrient consumption can be addressed. A study conducted in 2014 showed that vegetarian-inclined diets do provide a wide variety of nutrients in a balanced way. (Clarys et al., 2014).

In order to contextualize the problem, Team Sprout conducted its own survey with Yonsei University undergraduate students and received an unexpected 126 responses. Although 90.5% of the students did not identify themselves as vegetarians, the awareness of the benefits that vegetarian diet had on the environment was considerably high overall. However, it was deduced that the students lacked the ability to associate their own individual actions to a larger scale impact, and thus most were not able to devote themselves to vegetarian diets.

The survey also provided insight to what kind of improvements could incentivize non-vegetarian respondents to practice a meatless diet. As seen in Figure 1, the most popular response choice for Q5 was “taste,” followed by “increased options” and “better nutrients.” Deliciousness may be subjective, but the latter two issues can be addressed. According to the 채식한끼 (Chaesik Hankki) real-time map, there are  restaurants that offer vegetarian options in Sinchon area (채식한끼, 2020). Therefore, in line with the Team’s original hypothesis, the results showed that misinformation and lack of awareness, as well as the inaccessibility to vegetarian food, are still quite present.

Figure 1: Survey Results

 

Proposed Innovation

Based on the factual results that usage and expenditure on food delivery apps among people in their 20s has increased by 26.9% (한국건강증진개발원, 2020), and a high number of 1-person households and university students choose to have a meal via food delivery services, such as 배달의 민족 (Baemin) and 요기요 (Yogiyo), our team came up with the following solution: A collaboration project with existing food delivery apps. To address the current gaps through increasing the accessibility and available options of vegetarian foods, our proposed solution adds two main services in the existing apps—a new ‘vegetarian (채식)’ category and a periodical event page on a weekly basis. With our solution, people may be aware of the available options and be encouraged to choose more vegetarian meals. Event pages will also present a weekly discount opportunity if users choose a vegetarian menu in a given period of time. We hope to encourage current users to consume more vegetarian meals, consequently increasing the flexitarian population among the general public.

In addition, our solution model includes creating a SNS account for the purpose of raising correct awareness on vegetarianism and its impact. This account will share vegetarian-related information including a series of postings such as “Save the Earth with vegetarianism” and “Vegan snack review.” Noticing that students in their 20s are heavy users of SNS, this account will be a new platform that corrects current misperception and delivers precise information on vegetarianism. By highlighting the environmental impact of vegetarianism via reducing carbon footprints, we expect to improve the cynical social atmosphere towards vegetarianism.

             Team Sprout is aware that Baemin app has already come up with a vegetarian category by the time this post is up on the blog.  We are thrilled that our project is being realized on its own(even though we never got a chance to contact the companies) and relieved that others are sharing the same thoughts. I hope that more people will become aware of these vegetarian attempts and hop on the flexitarian train for more sustainable consumption habits. As a newbie flexitarian, I am sublating meat consumption consciously and trying to eat more greens. Come join me! 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

BeyondNext. (2020). 채식한끼 (Version 2.5.0). [Mobile Application software]. Retrieved from https://apps.apple.com/kr/app/%EC%B1%84%EC%8B%9D%ED%95%9C%EB%81%BC-%EB%8C%80%ED%95%9C%EB%AF%BC%EA%B5%AD-1%EB%93%B1-%EC%B1%84%EC%8B%9D%EC%95%B1/id1358286501

Clarys, P., Deliens, T., Huybrechts, I., Deriemaeker, P., Vanaelst, B., Keyzer, W. D., . . . Mullie, P. (2014). Comparison of nutritional quality of the vegan, vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, pesco-vegetarian and omnivorous diet. Nutrients, 6(3), 1318-1332. doi:http://dx.doi.org.access.yonsei.ac.kr:8080/10.3390/nu6031318

Godfray, H. C. J., Aveyard, P., Garnett, T., Hall, J. W., Key, T. J., Lorimer, J., ... & Jebb, S. A. (2018). Meat consumption, health, and the environment. Science, 361(6399). DOI: 10.1126/science.aam5324

Lee, Y. H. (2008). A degree of university students’ recognition about vegetarian diet influences on students' understanding for vegetarian diet and intention of living on vegetables. Sejong University Graduate School of Tourism. http://www.riss.kr.access.yonsei.ac.kr:8080/search/detail/DetailView.do?p_mat_type=be54d9b8bc7cdb09&control_no=22ff9ffe95f48640ffe0bdc3ef48d419

United Nations Environmental Programme. (2012). Growing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Due to Meat Production. Retrieved from https://na.unep.net/geas/getUNEPPageWithArticleIDScript.php?article_id=92

한국건강증진개발원 (Korea Health Promotion Institute). (2020, November 12). 코로나19 이후 생활의 변화’ 여론 조사. Retrieved from https://khealth.or.kr/board/view?linkId=1001442&menuId=MENU00907