New research led by the University of Stirling, Scotland, has found that nostalgia continues to hold back wider uptake of vegan diets, with many people’s attachment to foods containing animal products rooted in flavours, smells, and family traditions, rather than in the animal-derived ingredients themselves.
The study, titled “Looking Back and Feeding Forward: An Analysis of Food Nostalgia on Meat Eaters’ Attitudes Toward Transitioning to a Vegan Lifestyle,” was published in the journal Psychology of Human-Animal Intergroup Relations in July 2026. Researchers carried out semi-structured interviews with 24 meat-eaters about their food-related attitudes and memories, then analysed the data using reflexive thematic analysis.
The team found that emotional connections to food memories and culturally significant gatherings can act as a barrier to dietary change, though most participants viewed such changes positively after completing a thought exercise. Researchers noted that the nostalgic attachments people described were more about shared social experiences than about specific foods.
Aga Kosla of the University of Stirling’s Faculty of Natural Sciences, who led the research, said, “Our research shows that dietary change is not just a practical or nutritional issue. Food is tied to identity, belonging, and family life, so vegan advocacy, activism, and public health messaging needs to engage with those emotional and cultural attachments…This study highlights that resistance to plant-based diets is not simply about taste or convenience, but about maintaining continuity with the past and preserving meaningful traditions. Interestingly, participants often realised that it was the shared experience, not the specific ingredient, that mattered most.”
The researchers also found that while changing dietary habits appeared harder within family settings, friends tended to be more accommodating. They suggested that recreating nostalgic or culturally significant dishes using vegan ingredients could make plant-based diets more accessible and help ease these social barriers.
Dr Carol Jasper, a psychologist and committed vegan who supervised Kosla’s research, said to Plant Based News, “Recreating nostalgic or culturally significant dishes using vegan ingredients can make dietary change feel more accessible. This could also help reduce the social barriers people face, particularly in family settings.”
