More consumers are looking to make sustainable food choices, but the rise in cancel culture has been playing a huge part in the way people are making decisions relating to their diet, particularly when it comes to dairy consumption.
49% of UK shoppers say they're willing to make drastic changes to their diets based on what they see or read on social media, and 34% of people have stated that they make their dietary choices purely because of the influence of social media.
Additionally, 18% of people said they rely on social media as a legitimate source of information.
All in all, new research that was commissioned by dairy farmer cooperative Arla revealed that consumers from Generation Z are influenced so much that a total of 57% of individuals are planning to give up dairy within the year based on what they read on social media and 49% feel ashamed to order dairy in front of their peers.
Having a positive environmental impact isn't about canceling food groups; instead, it's about having balance, and consumers should be looking at the bigger picture.
"We know that farming isn't without its challenges, and when it comes to dairy farming and the climate crisis, we have many hills to climb to reach our target of achieving carbon net-zero by 2050. That is why Arla farmers are taking action and working to drive real change through many initiatives to reduce emissions for a stronger planet for years to come. As a cooperative, Arla has multiple farmer standards that we continuously challenge ourselves against, ranging from animal welfare, quality, and our environmental impact," says Graham Wilkinson, Group Agriculture Director at Arla.
