This Dutch App Got 73% of Its Users To Reduce Their Meat Intake with Simple Recipes & Catchy Infographics
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Nearly half of omnivores changed their diets after using Fork Ranger, an app that blends food sustainability quizzes with vegetarian recipes, according to a new study.
When it comes to our diets, do behavioural change tools really work? And if they do, can they effect lasting change?
Food waste apps like Olio or Too Good to Go are markers of this success, helping millions save money while diverting tonnes of food from landfills every day. As evidenced by these platforms, it’s clear that consumers aren’t afraid to spend on tech that works – and especially when they know about the impact they’re making.
But in the kitchen – where most of that food waste emanates from – what’s missing is recipe assistance. Platforms that can educate consumers about the impacts of their diet while showing them how to make food that’s fit for the planet.
Fork Ranger, a Dutch app that has been downloaded over 10,000 times on the Google Play store, is one such tool. The app presents users with a daily quiz question on sustainable food, explaining the answer with compelling infographics. This is followed by a vegetarian recipe (plus a shopping list) so users can put their newfound knowledge into practice. For a small in-app fee, users can get seasonal ingredient details for each recipe.
Back to our question: does it work?
A survey of 180 users found that 45% recorded a positive dietary shift – whether it’s a change in their eating pattern or a reduction in their meat intake. While the study’s sample size is small and the data was self-reported, it’s a notable finding, considering that nearly seven in 10 people surveyed were either omnivores or flexitarians.
This is welcome news for the app’s co-founder, Frank Holleman, who says: “While eating more sustainably doesn’t require you to become a vegan or even vegetarian, we think it [the study’s data] shows that we are able to create an open space where we talk about what we eat and its impact without judgement.”
Reduction over elimination
In terms of dietary groups, more people deserted the omnivore category than any other diet after using the app, with the number of meat-eaters reducing by 45%. Many of them began identifying as flexitarian, a segment that saw a 31% uptick to become the most common dietary pattern.
Further showcasing the impact of behavioural change, 73% of omnivores and flexitarians cut down on meat after using Fork Ranger. When accounting for respondents across the study, 35% reduced their meat consumption.
The most prominent behavioural changes were concerned with eating meat in one meal a day (which reduced by 59%), and two meals daily (down by 41%). On a weekly basis, the number of respondents who said they consumed meat in only two meals or fewer increased by 13%.
These results were encouraging, since only 12% set out to cut back on meat when they began using the app. Instead, 63% wanted to learn about climate and food, nearly half were hoping to eat more sustainably and looking for new recipe suggestions, and a third were exploring seasonal eating.
After using the app, though, 56% planned to eat more seasonally, and 44% aimed to reduce both their meat and dairy intakes. Another 10% intended to decrease how much fish they eat.
A key feature of the app’s success is that it does not require users to make extreme dietary changes. “A lot of our users tell us how relieved they are that we are not asking them to go vegan,” says Holleman. “They mention this would be a step too far for them but they are ready to reduce their meat (and dairy) consumption.”
Indeed, sustainable eating is increasingly moving towards the ethos of reduction over elimination. Labelling studies show that consumers are put off by words like ‘vegan’ while catering interventions have found success in increasing plant-based consumption by simply keeping them as the default option – Fork Ranger’s approach underscores these trends.
The Fork Ranger data supports recent analysis by the UK consultancy Plant Futures Collective, which identified a segment of consumers dubbed open omnivores, “meat eaters who are open to trying plant-based foods, especially plant-based meat and are actively seeking to reduce their meat consumption”, as opposed to closed omnivores who are not interested in reducing their meat consumption. According to founder Indy Kaur, this group is “nearly twice the size of today’s flexitarians, making up around 30% of the population” in the UK.
Slow and steady wins
Another encouraging finding from the study was that the app resulted in sustained changes – the longer someone used Fork Ranger, the more likely they were to shift towards a more sustainable diet.
For example, 44% of those who used the app for two to four weeks transitioned to more eco-friendly eating patterns – but this increased to 76% for those using it for one to two months, 84% for two to three months, and 93% for more than three months.
Holleman ascribes this success to small shifts and an adaptable pace. “It’s more important that people make long-lasting small changes, than try to set an ambitious goal that they achieve for one month but then becomes too difficult to sustain in the long run,” he says.
“There’s no need for people to pressure themselves unnecessarily. Rather than making it your new goal to use the Fork Ranger app every day, it’s more important to simply get started and explore at your own speed.”
Still, several barriers remain, chief among which is the price of planet-friendly food, the top concern for 34% of respondents. Another 33% find they don’t have enough time to cook, while around a quarter don’t have enough knowledge about what to cook or have a lack of willpower to do so.
And despite Fork Ranger’s success in increasing users’ knowledge about their dietary footprint and the food system’s impact on the planet, only half say they now know how to cook tasty meals with sustainability in mind, and just 43% say the same for healthy food.
It highlights the need to integrate recipe assistance into behavioural science, which could help Europeans overcome the taste gap that has so often made plant-based eating challenging, especially among omnivores.