Pleasure vs. Identity: More Eating Simulation Language in Meat Posts than Plant-based Posts on Social Media #foodtalk

Current levels of meat consumption in Western societies are unsustainable and contribute to the climate emergency. However, most people are not planning to reduce their intake. Here, we examine the language used on social media to describe meat and plant-based foods, since the ways people think and communicate about food could hinder the transition towards sustainable eating. We analysed the degree to which the language in food posts reflects eating simulations, which have been found to be associated with desire for foods. In two studies, we analysed the words used in Instagram post caption text (NStudy1 = 682) and hashtags (NStudy1 = 852; NStudy2 = 3104). As hypothesised, meat posts contained more eating simulation words than plant-based and vegetarian posts, which instead contained more health and identity words. This pattern may reflect polarization surrounding sustainable foods, which may hinder the shift towards plant-based diets needed to curb climate change.