In this student takeover episode of the Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute (SRI) at the University of Southampton, we are discussing the sustainability impacts of veganism and the barriers that prevent individuals from adopting a vegan diet. 

Veganism has been shown to produce the lowest greenhouse gas emissions of dietary styles; however, a mere 1-2% of the UK population are vegans. There are many barriers that prevent individuals from becoming vegan, from culture and psychology to cost and lack of education. In this episode, we dive deeper into why these barriers exist and what needs to be done to overcome them, with education as the main method. 

To learn more about how to have a nutritionally complete diet as a vegan, we recommend visiting the NHS website: 

·      https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/how-to-eat-a-balanced-diet/the-vegan-diet/

And if you want to read more about veganism and the barriers faced, we recommend the following papers:

·      Meat‐related cognitive dissonance: The social psychology of eating animals. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12592

·      Dissociating meat from its animal origins: A systematic literature review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2019.104554

·      Indian Animal Ethics https://doi.org/10.1017/S1477175622000227.  

·      The nutritional composition and impact on UK dietary intakes of meat and plant-based meat alternatives https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-025-00577-7

 Episode host: Helenya Baker

Episode guests: Athanasia Hagios, Nick Chen, Alice Houlden, Kate Waller

Episode editor: Kate Waller

Episode researcher and script writer: Ollie Thompson

This episode is part of the Student Takeover Season on the Meliora Podcast and is a group project from the University of Southampton UOSM2043 Global Sustainability Challenges module.