One of several ways mankind can collectively do in order to fight the climate crisis and contribute to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions is by switching to a more plant-based diet. Serious games and various gamification tools have been used to raise awareness of current problems and motivate individuals to shift to a more “pro environmental” behaviour. This study focuses on the perceived potential of a gamified application to make dietary changes, as well as on the perceived usefulness of gamification as a tool to achieving a certain goal. In order to seek answers to the aforementioned questions a prototype was developed and an online survey was conducted. The results show that there is a potential of this specific product to help people transitioning towards a more plant-based diet. However, more studies ought to be conducted in order to see the true benefits of it.

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A study of European households found that Food and drink causes a fourth of the total various environmental impacts. Globally does the food sector account for 22 % of all the greenhouse gas emissions. The climate impact from different foods do however vary significantly, and meat products does generally cause higher greenhouse gas emissions than plant-based foods. A reduction of the meat consumption is suggested by many researchers as one of the most important measures in order to move towards a more sustainable food consumption and production. The grocery retailers have an important role as gatekeepers between the consumer and the products, and the aim of this thesis is to study a transition towards a larger range and increased sales of plant-based protein alternatives to meat from the retailers’ perspective. It does so by attempting to identify drivers and barriers from their point of view. Data was collected through interviews with representatives for the largest retailer groups (n=3) and interviews with store managers (n=8) as well as by examining the product range in the stores (n=10). Grocery stores were located in two different cities; the district Södermalm in central Stockholm and Östersund, a mid-sized town in the Northern parts of Sweden. The results from the interviews showed an increase in the range as well as the sales of vegetarian products at all the participating retailers and stores, and all the interviewees believed that this will continue to increase even further in the future. Flexitarians and young people stands out as the main groups of consumers who buy these products and thus lies behind this increase. What drives the consumers has been identified as an increased awareness, an improved product range and media attention. From the retailers’ perspective it is also now considered a competitive advantage to offer an attractive range of these products. Price has been identified as one of the main barriers for a future expansion of the sales these vegetarian alternatives, but several of the participants also believed that a lot of people are not at all interested in lowering their meat consumption which would be a central obstacle to overcome to get a wide spread in society as a whole. Even if the products have improved recently they may still not be attractive enough to be considered as an alternative for all consumers. The findings also indicate that there is a relatively small difference between the two participating cities, with the main exception that the stores at Södermalm in general offers more perishable vegetarian alternatives than the stores in Östersund does. The most significant differences, regarding product range, was found within ICA (Sweden’s largest food retailer) where the stores are privately owned and the store managers can choose assortment which differs from the other two large retailers Axfood and Coop where it is centrally controlled. The representatives from the retailer groups had rather different views on their ownrole in the development of the vegetarian alternatives but also on what future measures they believed are needed for a future development and impact. This has consequences for the consumers as the range differs to a large degree, to some extent between the different retailer groups, but mainly within the largest one (ICA). The results from this study cannot be generalised, but may provide new insights to a perspective that seems to not have been studied before and might constitute a point of departure for future research. / Mat och dryck står för ungefär en fjärdedel av vår miljö- och klimatpåverkan och globalt står livsmedelssektorn för 22 % av alla växthusgasutsläpp. Klimatpåverkan varierar dock kraftigt mellan olika typer av livsmedel och generellt sett är utsläppen från kött flera gånger större än för vegetabiliska livsmedel. Att minska köttkonsumtionen och övergå till mer vegetabiliska proteiner anses vara en av de viktigaste åtgärderna för att nå en mer hållbar matkonsumtion. Som länken mellan varan och konsumenten har dagligvaruhandeln en viktig roll för att förutsättningarna ska finnas på plats. Den här studien syftar till att undersöka handelns syn på utvecklingen av en ökad´andel vegetariska alternativ till kött, genom att belysa drivkrafter, hinder samt hur utbudet ser ut. Data samlades in genom intervjuer med centrala representanter för ICA, Coop och Axfood (n=3) samt genom intervjuer med butikschefer (n=8) och sortimentsundersökningar i butik (n=10) i en stor respektive mellanstor svensk stad (på Södermalm i Stockholm samt i Östersund). Resultaten visar att försäljningen och utbudet av vegetariska produkter har de senaste åren ökat kraftigt hos alla medverkande butiker och bolag, och utvecklingen tros även fortsätta i framtiden. Det är främst flexitarianer och unga som är drivande för utvecklingen, och en ökad medvetenhet (miljö, hälsa och djurvälfärd) samt att utbudet blivit bättre pekas ut som bidragande orsaker. För butikerna och bolagen själva är det även en konkurrensfördel att ha ett bra vegetariskt utbud. Ett av de främsta hindren som kommit fram för den fortsatta utvecklingen är att det är många som inte är intresserade av att minska sin köttkonsumtion, att produkterna inte är tillräckligt attraktiva och att de kan vara dyra. Resultaten visar också att skillnaden i utbud mellan städerna är relativt liten, med undantaget att det är en mindre andel färska alternativ i Östersund än på Södermalm. De största skillnaderna i hur många vegetariska alternativ som kunden har att välja på (oberoende av stad) finns inom ICA som drivs av privata handlare och där butikerna i större grad kan påverka sitt sortiment, tillskillnad från Axfood och Coop där sortimenten centralstyrs. De centrala representanter som medverkat har olika syn på sin egen roll i utvecklingen samt vilka åtgärder som behövs för en fortsatt utveckling. För konsumenten finns det en relativt stor skillnad i bredden på det vegetariska utbudet beroende på vilken butik de väljer att gå till, vilket verkar vara en konsekvens av vilken nivå sortimentet bestäms på. Resultaten från studien går inte attgeneraliseras, men de kan ge nya insikter i ett perspektiv som inte verkar studerats tidigare och vara en utgångspunkt för framtida studier.

L'aquaculture a connu un développement considérable au cours des dernières décennies. De par leurs disponibilités limitées, la farine de poisson et l'huile de poisson, considérées comme des ingrédients traditionnels de l'alimentation des poissons d’élevage, ont été largement remplacées par des matières premières végétales afin de soutenir le développement durable de l'aquaculture. Cette évolution de la composition des aliments aquacoles a entraîné une réduction importante de la teneur en cholestérol des aliments aquacoles. Dans ce contexte, l'objectif de la thèse était d’analyser les modifications du métabolisme du cholestérol chez la truite arc-en-ciel en réponse à une alimentation strictement végétale. Nous avons porté une attention particulière aux mécanismes sous-jacents à la régulation du métabolisme du cholestérol, en nous concentrant sur les facteurs de transcription et les microARNs. Enfin, nous avons évalué la possibilité d'utiliser les microARNs comme biomarqueurs non invasifs. Nos études ont montré qu’une alimentation végétale induit chez la truite une hypocholestérolémie associée à une modification de l’expression des gènes impliqués dans la synthèse et dans l'efflux du cholestérol mais aussi des facteurs de transcription SREBP-2 et LXRα. Nous avons également observé une diminution de l’expression du miR-223 dans le foie des truites nourries avec un régime à base de plantes ce qui suggère l'implication de mécanismes post-transcriptionnels dans la régulation de la synthèse du cholestérol chez la truite arc-en-ciel. Nous avons ensuite effectué une étude de la régulation du métabolisme du cholestérol chez une lignée de truite arc-en-ciel sélectionnée pour sa meilleure capacité de croissance sur aliment végétal. Nous avons observé une augmentation de l'expression du miR-33a chez les truites nourries avec un régime à base de plantes et une expression plus importante des miR-122 et 128 chez les truites de la lignée sélectionnée, quel que soit le régime. En analysant l’expression de gènes cibles potentiels des miR-33a, 122 et 128, nous avons pu mettre en évidence une régulation cohérente entre les miR-33a et 128 et leurs cibles potentielles que sont respectivement la caspase 6 apoptosis-related cysteine peptidase like 2 (casp6l2) et la phosphodiesterase 4B cAMP-specific a (pde4ba). Ces résultats mettent en évidence deux nouvelles voies moléculaires affectées par l’alimentation végétale chez la truite. Grâce à la combinaison d’approches in vivo et in vitro, nous avons constaté que l'expression des gènes impliqués dans la synthèse de cholestérol et celle du facteur de transcription SREBP-2 et du miR-33a augmentent chez les truites nourris avec l’aliment végétal et inversement diminuent en culture primaire d’hépatocytes de truite stimulés par du 25-hydroxycholestérol. Il semble donc SREBP-2 et miR-33a agissent en synergie pour réguler la synthèse du cholestérol. Enfin, nous avons détecté avec succès miR-1, miR-33a, miR-122, miR-128 et miR-223 dans le plasma de truite. Nous avons observé que les taux plasmatiques de miR-128 et de miR-223 sont soumis à des variations postprandiales similaires à celles observées pour leurs homologues hépatiques. Des corrélations significatives ont été observées entre les taux hépatiques et plasmatiques des miR-128 et miR-223. D’autres corrélations apparaissent entre les miR-122, 128 et 223 et l'expression de gènes liés à la synthèse et à l'efflux du cholestérol. Ces résultats indiquent que les micrARNs plasmatiques 122, 128 et 223 constituent de potentiels biomarqueurs non invasifs du métabolisme du cholestérol chez la truite arc-en-ciel. / Aquaculture has been subjected to a huge development during the last decades. Due to limiting availabilities, fishmeal and fish oil, the traditional ingredients of fish feed, have been widely replaced with vegetable ingredients in order to support the sustainable development of aquaculture. This evolution of aquafeeds has resulted in a reduction of the cholesterol content of the diets. In this context, the major objective of the thesis was to decipher the physiological changes related to cholesterol metabolism occurring in fish fed the plant-based diet. We furthermore analyzed the mechanisms underlying the regulation of cholesterol metabolism, focusing on transcription factors and microRNAs. Additionally, the possibility of utilizing miRNA as potential noninvasive biomarker was also investigated in the thesis. Our studies have shown that utilization of plant-based diet resulted in hypocholesterolemia and modified the expression of genes involved in cholesterol synthesis and efflux as well as that of their corresponding transcriptional factors SREBP-2 and LXRα. We also observed a lower expression of miR-223 in the liver of trout fed the plant-based diet suggesting the involvement of posttranscriptional mechanisms in the regulation of cholesterol synthesis. We then carried out another experiment using a line of rainbow trout selected for better growth performance on plant-based diet. We found that the hepatic expression of miR-33a increased in trout fed the plant-based diet, while the expression of miR-122 and miR-128 was much higher in the selected line regardless of the diet. By analyzing the expression of putative target genes of miR-33a, 122 and 128, we noticed consistent regulations between miR-33a and 128 and their respective putative targets, which were caspase 6 apoptosis-related cysteine peptidase like 2 (casp612) and cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase 4B a (pde4ba). These results highlighted two new molecular pathways affected by the plant-based diet. Through the combination in vivo and in vitro approaches, we demonstrated that the expression of the genes involved in cholesterol synthesis and that of the transcription factor SREBP-2 and the miR-33a increased in trout fed plant-based diet devoid of cholesterol while conversely decreased in rainbow trout primary cell culture of hepatocytes stimulated by 25-hydroxycholesterol. These data indicate that SREBP-2 and miR-33a act synergistically to control cholesterol synthesis. Finally, we successfully detected miR-1, miR-33a, miR-122, miR-128 and miR-223 in trout plasma. We observed similar postprandial changes between plasma levels of miR-128 and miR-223 and their hepatic counterparts. Significant correlations were observed between hepatic and plasma levels of miR-128 and miR-223. Other correlations appeared between miR-122, 128 and 223 and the expression of genes related to synthesis and efflux of cholesterol. Altogether, these results indicate that plasma microRNAs 122, 128 and 223 are potential non-invasive biomarkers of cholesterol metabolism in rainbow trout.

Vi påverkas av allt runt omkring oss vilket direkt eller indirekt styr våra beslut av matval. Tidigare studier indikerar vikten av en balanserad kosthållning med ett likvärdigt intag av animalisk och växtbaserad protein för en hälsofrämjande livshållning. Studiens syfte var att ta del av allmänhetens kunskap och val kring proteiner. En webbaserad enkätundersökning delades ut via sociala medier för ett bredare urval. Bland de 105 respondenterna fanns en överrepresentation inom åldrarna 18-32 år och majoriteten var högutbildade. De främsta skälen till deras val av proteiner var pris, smak och djurhållning. Trots hög andel med universitetsutbildning var kunskapsnivån bristande kring proteiner och dess ändamål. Slutsatsen av studien pekar på vikten av kontinuerlig och uppdaterad information för att rätt kunskap ska erhållas av individerna. Detta är något som hälsovägledare kan bidra med. / Humans are affected from their surrounding which may control our choices when it comes to food intake. Previous studies highlights the importance of a balanced nutrition which contains equal intake of animal and plant-based protein for the health outcome. The aim of this study is to find out people's knowledge and options of proteins. A web-based survey was sent out via social media in order to gain a wide ranging variety in participants. Amongst the participants, there was a preponderance amongst persons between the ages of 18-32 and people with higher education. The foremost reasons the respondents gave about their choices were costs (price), taste and animal agriculture. Although mainly were highly educated, the results of the study showed lack of knowledge about protein and its purpose. This leaves us to the conclusion that the profession as health promoters is needed to provide continuously and updated information to the public in order to maintain a state of good health.

Esta dissertação se compõe, primeiro, de uma análise interdisciplinar e de macromarketing sobre o mercado alimentar com enfoque nos problemas da atual configuração centrada em carnes e lácteos. Levantando diversos estudos recentes e relatórios de áreas climática, ambiental, econômica, da saúde, da nutrição, da antropologia e da ética, apresenta-se vantagens de uma reconfiguração na ordem do mercado alimentar devido ao protagonismo dos produtos de origem animal na emissão de gases de efeito estufa, mudança no uso da terra, pressão pelo desmatamento, uso e poluição da água, perda da biodiversidade, ameaça à segurança alimentar global, inerente ineficiência econômica, reforço às desigualdades socioeconômicas, proliferação de novas doenças transmissíveis, impactos à saúde do consumidor, sustentação de altos índices de mortalidade humana e violação dos direitos dos animais. A partir dessa análise de macromarketing, se propõe uma reconfiguração vegana do mercado alimentar como importante alternativa para aliviar, de modo integrado, esse conjunto de problemas enfretandos pela sociedade contemporânea. Nesse sentido, uma reconfiguração sociotécnica para favorecer padrões alimentares veganos mostra-se como alternativa à sustentabilidade, especialmente em relação às mudanças climáticas, dado que essa transformação é indicada como relevante estratégia de mitigação e de adaptação, concomitantemente Diversas dificuldades para tal reconfiguração estão alinhadas à constante reiteração das práticas sociais através do habitus e outros dispositivos para a manutenção da atual estrutura e ordem socioecônomica. Por isso, transformações no mercado alimentar são complexas, dadas as relações de poder, relativas aos interesses dos diversos atores direta e indiretamente beneficiados economicamente, e das bases culturais e históricas que sustentam práticas envolvidas nesse consumo. Assim, compreender as influências sobre o comportamento do consumidor, entendendo-o como um agente inserido em estruturas e dinâmicas sociais, é essencial — embora não suficiente — para estudar a transformação de um mercado. Por isso, propõe-se um estudo, de certa forma amplo, com consumidores para compreender elementos que operam dificultando, e eventualmente facilitando, a transformação vegana de suas práticas de consumo alimentar. Através de uma coleta empírita, exploratória e de multimétodo, com ativa participação de 54 consumidores que mantêm diferentes padrões de consumo alimentar em relação à ingestão de produtos de origem animal, foi possível identificar e compreender elementos que operam como barreiras e como facilitadores à ruptura de hábitos alimentares baseados em carnes e derivados de animais e à manutenção de novos hábitos alimentares à base de plantas Para tanto, utilizou-se entrevistas em profundidade e questionários abertos aplicados online; estratégias de coleta essas em que se pôde obter reconstruções narrativas de memórias, experiências cotidianas e crenças com a participação de consumidores categorizados como reducetarianos, vegetarianos e veganos; e também se obteve percepções, projeções e algumas experiências de consumidores que mantêm suas práticas alimentares conforme o padrão centrado em carnes. Em análises integradas desses diversos dados qualitativos, incluindo também, para ilustração, evidências midiáticas e dados de coleta de campo do contexto em estudo, pôde-se compreender como operam enquanto barreiras e facilitadores alguns elementos. Nessas análises, os comportamentos de consumo alimentar puderam ser compreendidos como práticas sociais inseridas em dinâmicas complexas, envolvendo não apenas aspectos individuais de nível cognitivo e biofísico, mas aspectos materiais e aspectos de ordem sociocultural — sobretudo da ordem de mercado. Intenciona-se contribuir teórica e metodológicamente para estudos sobre transformações nos padrões de consumo em favor de lógicas mais sustentáveis e gerar subsídios a organizações alinhadas a transformações veganas no mercado alimentar. / This master's thesis is composed, firstly, by an interdisciplinary and macromarketing analysis of the food market, focusing on the problems of the current configuration centered on meats and dairy products. Collecting several recent studies and reports of climate, environmental, economic, health, nutrition, anthropology and ethics areas, is presented problems due to the leading role of animal products in the greenhouse gas emissions, land use change, deforestation pressure, water use and pollution, biodiversity loss, threats to global food security, its inherent economic inefficiency, socio-economic inequalities, new communicable diseases, impacts on consumer health, high levels of human mortality and animal rights violations. From this macromarketing analysis, a vegan reconfiguration of the food market is proposed as an important alternative to alleviate, in an integrated way, this set of problems faced by contemporary society. In this sense, a socio-technical reconfiguration, to vegan food standards, is proposed as an alternative to sustainability, especially in relation to climate change, since this transformation is indicated as a relevant mitigation and adaptation strategy, concomitantly Several difficulties for such reconfiguration are supposed considering the constant reiteration of social practices through the habitus and other social and material devices operating for the maintenance of the current socioeconomic structure and order. Therefore, transformations in the food market are complex, given the power relations relative to the interests of the various actors directly and indirectly benefited economically, and the cultural and historical bases that sustain practices involved in food consumption. Thus, understanding the influences on consumer behavior, considering consumers as an agents embedded in social structures and dynamics, is essential — though not sufficient — to study a market transformation. Therefore, it is proposed a, somewhat broad, study with consumers to understand elements that operate by making difficult, and eventually facilitating, a vegan transformation of their food consumption practices. Through an empirical, exploratory and multi-method data collection, with active participation of 54 consumers that maintain different food consumption patterns in relation to the intake of products of animal origin, it was possible to identify and understand elements that act as barriers and as facilitators to the rupture of daily eating practices centered in animal products and the maintenance of new plant-based dietary consumption For that, long interviews and open questionnaires were applied online. These collection strategies allowed to obtain narrated reconstructions of memories, daily experiences and beliefs with the participation of consumers categorized as reducetarians, vegetarians and vegans; these strategies also allowed to obtain narrated perceptions, projections and some experiences related to plant-based food of consumers that maintain their food practices according to the meat-centered standard. In integrated analyzes of these various qualitative data, including media evidences and field collection data of the context under study, used for illustration, it was possible to understand how some elements operate as barriers and facilitators. In these analyzes, food consumption behavior could be understood as social practices inserted in complex dynamics, involving not only individual aspects of cognitive and biophysical level, but also socio-cultural and material aspects — especially related to the market. It is intended to contribute theoretically and methodologically to studies on changes in consumption patterns in favor of more sustainable logics and to generate subsidies to organizations aligned to vegan transformations in the food market.

Rift Valley Fever (RVF) is an emerging infectious disease found in both livestock and humans. RVF is associated with high abortion and mortality rates in livestock and can be fatal in humans. As such, RVF is economically and socially significant to affected smallholder and subsistence farmers, those infected, and national livestock industries. However, Rift Valley Fever virus (RVFV) vaccines are not commercially available outside of endemic areas or for humans, and current vaccines are limited in their safety and efficacy. A plant-based, viral nanoparticle vaccine offers a more affordable alternative to conventional vaccines that is safe, rapidly producible, and easily scalable, better meeting the needs of impacted communities. This project focuses on assessing the potential of using a Nicotiana benthamiana plant expression system to generate recombinant tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) nanoparticles displaying RVFV glycoprotein epitopes. Eight TMV-RVFV glycoprotein constructs were designed. Five TMV-RVFV constructs were successfully cloned, and four recombinant TMV constructs were successfully expressed in planta. The antigenicity of these constructs was examined for their possible use in RVFV vaccine development.

Haematophagous parasites and disease vectors such as leeches, ticks, mites, lice, bed bugs, mosquitoes, and myiasis-causing fly larvae are common health problems in Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). A main aim of my field work in Lao PDR in 2006-2010 was to document traditional knowledge among different ethnic groups about plants that people use to repel or to kill blood-feeding invertebrates. We carried out structured interviews in 66 villages comprising 17 ethnic groups, covering a range of ethnic group, throughout Lao PDR and recorded a total of 92 plant species - in 123 different plant-ectoparasite combinations - that are used as traditional repellents and/or as “pesticides” to kill "pest" invertebrates. Traditional use was confirmed in the scientific literature for 74 of these plant species, and for an additional 13 species based on literature on closely related species. We concluded that repellents and pesticides from many plant species are commonly used in the Lao countryside. We also investigated traditionally used Lao plants for their activity to repel or to kill certain disease vectors and parasites. Target organisms were mosquitoes (Diptera, Culicidae), fly larvae (Diptera, Cyclorrhapha) in fermented fish production, and terrestrial blood-sucking leeches (Hirudinea, Haemadipsidae). The potential mosquito repellent activities of essential oils of Croton roxburghii (Euphorbiaceae), Hyptis suaveolens (Lamiaceae), and Litsea cubeba (Lauraceae) were evaluated in the field near Vientiane. Oils at concentrations of 1.7-6.7 µg/cm2 were significantly repellent to Aedes, Armigeres and Culex attracted to human baits. The activities against fly larvae, infesting fermenting fish, of three plant species, Tadehagi triquetrum (Fabaceae), Uraria crinita (Fabaceae) and Bambusa multiplex (Poaceae) were investigated: When fresh material of the plants was added on top of fermenting fish infested with fly larvae significant proportions of the larvae were repelled or killed. The total protective effect, i.e., repellent and killing effect combined, of T. triquetrum, U. crinita, and B. multiplex was 60-83 %, 77-90 %, and 60-93 %, respectively. Field evaluation of the potential leech repellent activities of water extracts of Sapindus rarak (Sapindaceae), Catunaregam spathulifolia (Rubiaceae) and Vernonia elaeagnifolia, (Asteraceae) impregnated on stockings and worn by persons in two leech-infested biotopes revealed leech repellent activities of 82.6%, 62.6% and 63.0%, respectively. The corresponding repellencies of deltamethrin and diethyl-3-methyl-benzamide (DEET) were 73.1% and 88.4%, respectively. Identification of the active components in certain of the plants with the ultimate aim to develop more optimal, less costly repellents, insecticides, acaricides, and anti-leech compounds as alternatives to synthetic repellents and pesticides against blood-feeding insects, ticks, mites, and leeches is in progress.

Esta dissertação se compõe, primeiro, de uma análise interdisciplinar e de macromarketing sobre o mercado alimentar com enfoque nos problemas da atual configuração centrada em carnes e lácteos. Levantando diversos estudos recentes e relatórios de áreas climática, ambiental, econômica, da saúde, da nutrição, da antropologia e da ética, apresenta-se vantagens de uma reconfiguração na ordem do mercado alimentar devido ao protagonismo dos produtos de origem animal na emissão de gases de efeito estufa, mudança no uso da terra, pressão pelo desmatamento, uso e poluição da água, perda da biodiversidade, ameaça à segurança alimentar global, inerente ineficiência econômica, reforço às desigualdades socioeconômicas, proliferação de novas doenças transmissíveis, impactos à saúde do consumidor, sustentação de altos índices de mortalidade humana e violação dos direitos dos animais. A partir dessa análise de macromarketing, se propõe uma reconfiguração vegana do mercado alimentar como importante alternativa para aliviar, de modo integrado, esse conjunto de problemas enfretandos pela sociedade contemporânea. Nesse sentido, uma reconfiguração sociotécnica para favorecer padrões alimentares veganos mostra-se como alternativa à sustentabilidade, especialmente em relação às mudanças climáticas, dado que essa transformação é indicada como relevante estratégia de mitigação e de adaptação, concomitantemente Diversas dificuldades para tal reconfiguração estão alinhadas à constante reiteração das práticas sociais através do habitus e outros dispositivos para a manutenção da atual estrutura e ordem socioecônomica. Por isso, transformações no mercado alimentar são complexas, dadas as relações de poder, relativas aos interesses dos diversos atores direta e indiretamente beneficiados economicamente, e das bases culturais e históricas que sustentam práticas envolvidas nesse consumo. Assim, compreender as influências sobre o comportamento do consumidor, entendendo-o como um agente inserido em estruturas e dinâmicas sociais, é essencial — embora não suficiente — para estudar a transformação de um mercado. Por isso, propõe-se um estudo, de certa forma amplo, com consumidores para compreender elementos que operam dificultando, e eventualmente facilitando, a transformação vegana de suas práticas de consumo alimentar. Através de uma coleta empírita, exploratória e de multimétodo, com ativa participação de 54 consumidores que mantêm diferentes padrões de consumo alimentar em relação à ingestão de produtos de origem animal, foi possível identificar e compreender elementos que operam como barreiras e como facilitadores à ruptura de hábitos alimentares baseados em carnes e derivados de animais e à manutenção de novos hábitos alimentares à base de plantas Para tanto, utilizou-se entrevistas em profundidade e questionários abertos aplicados online; estratégias de coleta essas em que se pôde obter reconstruções narrativas de memórias, experiências cotidianas e crenças com a participação de consumidores categorizados como reducetarianos, vegetarianos e veganos; e também se obteve percepções, projeções e algumas experiências de consumidores que mantêm suas práticas alimentares conforme o padrão centrado em carnes. Em análises integradas desses diversos dados qualitativos, incluindo também, para ilustração, evidências midiáticas e dados de coleta de campo do contexto em estudo, pôde-se compreender como operam enquanto barreiras e facilitadores alguns elementos. Nessas análises, os comportamentos de consumo alimentar puderam ser compreendidos como práticas sociais inseridas em dinâmicas complexas, envolvendo não apenas aspectos individuais de nível cognitivo e biofísico, mas aspectos materiais e aspectos de ordem sociocultural — sobretudo da ordem de mercado. Intenciona-se contribuir teórica e metodológicamente para estudos sobre transformações nos padrões de consumo em favor de lógicas mais sustentáveis e gerar subsídios a organizações alinhadas a transformações veganas no mercado alimentar. / This master's thesis is composed, firstly, by an interdisciplinary and macromarketing analysis of the food market, focusing on the problems of the current configuration centered on meats and dairy products. Collecting several recent studies and reports of climate, environmental, economic, health, nutrition, anthropology and ethics areas, is presented problems due to the leading role of animal products in the greenhouse gas emissions, land use change, deforestation pressure, water use and pollution, biodiversity loss, threats to global food security, its inherent economic inefficiency, socio-economic inequalities, new communicable diseases, impacts on consumer health, high levels of human mortality and animal rights violations. From this macromarketing analysis, a vegan reconfiguration of the food market is proposed as an important alternative to alleviate, in an integrated way, this set of problems faced by contemporary society. In this sense, a socio-technical reconfiguration, to vegan food standards, is proposed as an alternative to sustainability, especially in relation to climate change, since this transformation is indicated as a relevant mitigation and adaptation strategy, concomitantly Several difficulties for such reconfiguration are supposed considering the constant reiteration of social practices through the habitus and other social and material devices operating for the maintenance of the current socioeconomic structure and order. Therefore, transformations in the food market are complex, given the power relations relative to the interests of the various actors directly and indirectly benefited economically, and the cultural and historical bases that sustain practices involved in food consumption. Thus, understanding the influences on consumer behavior, considering consumers as an agents embedded in social structures and dynamics, is essential — though not sufficient — to study a market transformation. Therefore, it is proposed a, somewhat broad, study with consumers to understand elements that operate by making difficult, and eventually facilitating, a vegan transformation of their food consumption practices. Through an empirical, exploratory and multi-method data collection, with active participation of 54 consumers that maintain different food consumption patterns in relation to the intake of products of animal origin, it was possible to identify and understand elements that act as barriers and as facilitators to the rupture of daily eating practices centered in animal products and the maintenance of new plant-based dietary consumption For that, long interviews and open questionnaires were applied online. These collection strategies allowed to obtain narrated reconstructions of memories, daily experiences and beliefs with the participation of consumers categorized as reducetarians, vegetarians and vegans; these strategies also allowed to obtain narrated perceptions, projections and some experiences related to plant-based food of consumers that maintain their food practices according to the meat-centered standard. In integrated analyzes of these various qualitative data, including media evidences and field collection data of the context under study, used for illustration, it was possible to understand how some elements operate as barriers and facilitators. In these analyzes, food consumption behavior could be understood as social practices inserted in complex dynamics, involving not only individual aspects of cognitive and biophysical level, but also socio-cultural and material aspects — especially related to the market. It is intended to contribute theoretically and methodologically to studies on changes in consumption patterns in favor of more sustainable logics and to generate subsidies to organizations aligned to vegan transformations in the food market.

Esta dissertação se compõe, primeiro, de uma análise interdisciplinar e de macromarketing sobre o mercado alimentar com enfoque nos problemas da atual configuração centrada em carnes e lácteos. Levantando diversos estudos recentes e relatórios de áreas climática, ambiental, econômica, da saúde, da nutrição, da antropologia e da ética, apresenta-se vantagens de uma reconfiguração na ordem do mercado alimentar devido ao protagonismo dos produtos de origem animal na emissão de gases de efeito estufa, mudança no uso da terra, pressão pelo desmatamento, uso e poluição da água, perda da biodiversidade, ameaça à segurança alimentar global, inerente ineficiência econômica, reforço às desigualdades socioeconômicas, proliferação de novas doenças transmissíveis, impactos à saúde do consumidor, sustentação de altos índices de mortalidade humana e violação dos direitos dos animais. A partir dessa análise de macromarketing, se propõe uma reconfiguração vegana do mercado alimentar como importante alternativa para aliviar, de modo integrado, esse conjunto de problemas enfretandos pela sociedade contemporânea. Nesse sentido, uma reconfiguração sociotécnica para favorecer padrões alimentares veganos mostra-se como alternativa à sustentabilidade, especialmente em relação às mudanças climáticas, dado que essa transformação é indicada como relevante estratégia de mitigação e de adaptação, concomitantemente Diversas dificuldades para tal reconfiguração estão alinhadas à constante reiteração das práticas sociais através do habitus e outros dispositivos para a manutenção da atual estrutura e ordem socioecônomica. Por isso, transformações no mercado alimentar são complexas, dadas as relações de poder, relativas aos interesses dos diversos atores direta e indiretamente beneficiados economicamente, e das bases culturais e históricas que sustentam práticas envolvidas nesse consumo. Assim, compreender as influências sobre o comportamento do consumidor, entendendo-o como um agente inserido em estruturas e dinâmicas sociais, é essencial — embora não suficiente — para estudar a transformação de um mercado. Por isso, propõe-se um estudo, de certa forma amplo, com consumidores para compreender elementos que operam dificultando, e eventualmente facilitando, a transformação vegana de suas práticas de consumo alimentar. Através de uma coleta empírita, exploratória e de multimétodo, com ativa participação de 54 consumidores que mantêm diferentes padrões de consumo alimentar em relação à ingestão de produtos de origem animal, foi possível identificar e compreender elementos que operam como barreiras e como facilitadores à ruptura de hábitos alimentares baseados em carnes e derivados de animais e à manutenção de novos hábitos alimentares à base de plantas Para tanto, utilizou-se entrevistas em profundidade e questionários abertos aplicados online; estratégias de coleta essas em que se pôde obter reconstruções narrativas de memórias, experiências cotidianas e crenças com a participação de consumidores categorizados como reducetarianos, vegetarianos e veganos; e também se obteve percepções, projeções e algumas experiências de consumidores que mantêm suas práticas alimentares conforme o padrão centrado em carnes. Em análises integradas desses diversos dados qualitativos, incluindo também, para ilustração, evidências midiáticas e dados de coleta de campo do contexto em estudo, pôde-se compreender como operam enquanto barreiras e facilitadores alguns elementos. Nessas análises, os comportamentos de consumo alimentar puderam ser compreendidos como práticas sociais inseridas em dinâmicas complexas, envolvendo não apenas aspectos individuais de nível cognitivo e biofísico, mas aspectos materiais e aspectos de ordem sociocultural — sobretudo da ordem de mercado. Intenciona-se contribuir teórica e metodológicamente para estudos sobre transformações nos padrões de consumo em favor de lógicas mais sustentáveis e gerar subsídios a organizações alinhadas a transformações veganas no mercado alimentar. / This master's thesis is composed, firstly, by an interdisciplinary and macromarketing analysis of the food market, focusing on the problems of the current configuration centered on meats and dairy products. Collecting several recent studies and reports of climate, environmental, economic, health, nutrition, anthropology and ethics areas, is presented problems due to the leading role of animal products in the greenhouse gas emissions, land use change, deforestation pressure, water use and pollution, biodiversity loss, threats to global food security, its inherent economic inefficiency, socio-economic inequalities, new communicable diseases, impacts on consumer health, high levels of human mortality and animal rights violations. From this macromarketing analysis, a vegan reconfiguration of the food market is proposed as an important alternative to alleviate, in an integrated way, this set of problems faced by contemporary society. In this sense, a socio-technical reconfiguration, to vegan food standards, is proposed as an alternative to sustainability, especially in relation to climate change, since this transformation is indicated as a relevant mitigation and adaptation strategy, concomitantly Several difficulties for such reconfiguration are supposed considering the constant reiteration of social practices through the habitus and other social and material devices operating for the maintenance of the current socioeconomic structure and order. Therefore, transformations in the food market are complex, given the power relations relative to the interests of the various actors directly and indirectly benefited economically, and the cultural and historical bases that sustain practices involved in food consumption. Thus, understanding the influences on consumer behavior, considering consumers as an agents embedded in social structures and dynamics, is essential — though not sufficient — to study a market transformation. Therefore, it is proposed a, somewhat broad, study with consumers to understand elements that operate by making difficult, and eventually facilitating, a vegan transformation of their food consumption practices. Through an empirical, exploratory and multi-method data collection, with active participation of 54 consumers that maintain different food consumption patterns in relation to the intake of products of animal origin, it was possible to identify and understand elements that act as barriers and as facilitators to the rupture of daily eating practices centered in animal products and the maintenance of new plant-based dietary consumption For that, long interviews and open questionnaires were applied online. These collection strategies allowed to obtain narrated reconstructions of memories, daily experiences and beliefs with the participation of consumers categorized as reducetarians, vegetarians and vegans; these strategies also allowed to obtain narrated perceptions, projections and some experiences related to plant-based food of consumers that maintain their food practices according to the meat-centered standard. In integrated analyzes of these various qualitative data, including media evidences and field collection data of the context under study, used for illustration, it was possible to understand how some elements operate as barriers and facilitators. In these analyzes, food consumption behavior could be understood as social practices inserted in complex dynamics, involving not only individual aspects of cognitive and biophysical level, but also socio-cultural and material aspects — especially related to the market. It is intended to contribute theoretically and methodologically to studies on changes in consumption patterns in favor of more sustainable logics and to generate subsidies to organizations aligned to vegan transformations in the food market.