How Language Can Advance Sustainable Diets

The document argues that changing the language used to describe food is a low-cost strategy to increase the consumption of plant-based foods, which have lower environmental impacts than meat. Following workshops in the US and UK with over 50 experts, the report outlines five guiding research questions and recommendations for implementing these findings in business and society.

• Producing meat, particularly from ruminants such as cattle, sheep, and goats, results in higher greenhouse gas emissions and greater land and water use compared to plant-based foods.
• The terminology used to describe food affects consumer choice, and current names for many plant-based dishes are often unappealing to meat-eaters, suggesting that improved language could be a high-impact, low-cost tool for dietary shifts.
• The Better Buying Lab conducted workshops with over 50 academics and food industry practitioners in the United States and United Kingdom to establish five primary research questions and recommendations for adopting better food language.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). How Language Can Advance Sustainable Diets. https://www.wri.org/research/how-language-can-advance-sustainable-diets

Chicago

World Resources Institute. How Language Can Advance Sustainable Diets. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/how-language-can-advance-sustainable-diets.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=How Language Can Advance Sustainable Diets |url=https://www.wri.org/research/how-language-can-advance-sustainable-diets |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendhow, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{How Language Can Advance Sustainable Diets}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/how-language-can-advance-sustainable-diets}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }