Faces of Food: Daniel Rosenfeld

When talking with Daniel Rosenfeld, it’s impossible to not get swept up by his passion for food and how people think. He talks clearly but quickly and jumps effortlessly back and forth between research jargon and common experiences we’ve all had at the grocery store. Rosenfeld is a researcher at UCLA who studies eating behavior and specifically vegetarianism. He writes scholarly articles with titles like “Mostly vegetarian, but flexible about it: investigating how meat-reducers express social identity around their diets” and “How proximal are pescatarians to vegetarians? An investigation of dietary identity, motivation, and attitudes toward animals”—obviously we are obsessed with his research here at Grounded Grub. 

Rosenfeld is quick to point out something essential that we can often overlook: the ways that gender, social identity and other aspects of our lives affect our eating behavior. But he doesn’t just stop there, he actually studies how all of those things interact together and create identity around food, as well as feelings of morality and guilt based on food choices. Rosenfeld asserts that vegetarians are not a “monolithic group,” but rather many vegans and vegetarians chose to change their diets for a variety of different reasons—animal rights, health, sustainability, etc. There are also many individuals who identify as vegans and vegetarians that break their diets for family meals, for a favorite dish or to smooth over a social situation. By combining all of these interesting aspects of food and choice, Rosenfeld studies how and why people eat what they do, and how it shapes their perception of themselves and the world around them. 

We were lucky enough to chat with Rosenfeld on the phone last week and asked him to type out some of his most thoughtful answers for this article. We shared with him some of the responses we’ve received to articles about “flexitarianism” and food identity, as well as the range of opinions we hear about dairy consumption and veganism. He was able to share research that explained what we’ve been seeing and hearing on Grounded Grub and also so much more about how environmentalists may make their food choices. We loved talking to him and we hope you’ll enjoy his interview as well! 

GG: Could you tell us a bit about what you do?

D: I’m a PhD student in psychology at UCLA. My research centers on the intersections of eating behavior, social identity, morality, and gender, with a particular focus on the psychology of vegetarianism.

I study questions like:
-What motivates people to become vegetarian?
-Why do some people say they’re vegetarian but still eat meat on occasion?
-People perceive vegetarianism to be a stereotypically White and feminine diet, so what implications could that have for how people of color and men think about vegetarianism
-What’s the deal with flexitarians, semi-vegetarians, and pescatarians? How do they compare psychologically to “true” vegetarians?
-When lab-grown cell-cultured meat hits the market, will people be willing to buy it?

Those interested can find my work here, and I’m happy to email PDFs to anyone who is unable to access them; I’m at rosenfeld@g.ucla.edu.

GG: How did you know that working with food was something you wanted to do?

D: I personally became a vegan around the start of college, and I quickly realized that the food choices we make are much more intricate than they seem—our food choices are intertwined with so many core aspects of psychology like culture, race, gender, identity, stigma, social relationships, morality, and much more. The way we eat can ultimately be a powerful determinant of how we see ourselves and how other people view us. I realized there’s a rich social psychology of vegetarianism unfolding in everyday life that remained largely unexplored. We know so much about the nutritional science of vegetarianism and the environmental science of it, too, but these forces of knowledge can only be so useful in shifting consumer behavior alone. By understanding the psychology of how people really think and feel about eating versus not eating meat, we can make better strides at improving public health and environmental sustainability through food.

Advice for our readers:

GG: What advice would you give to someone trying to shift to a more plant based diet?

D: I think the biggest issue people face in trying out a plant-based diet is that they eat too many fruits and vegetables. I’m a vegan who lives in LA, and I eat a salad maybe once or twice a month. Yes, this is on the record that—as a health psychologist—I am indeed saying NOT to fill up your plate all the way with fruits and veggies! I think there’s a common misconception that all vegans eat is vegetables. I certainly held that notion when I first became vegan; for the first few months, I ate mainly fruits and vegetables, and also beans and nuts. Granted, that’s a super healthy diet, but I was starving all the time. It wasn’t until I made starchy foods—like pasta, rice, bread, potatoes, sweet potatoes—the center of my plate that I started to feel truly satiated and energized. I’ve also found avocado, hummus, tempeh, and tahini to be really satiating staple foods, and I also make a lot of curry and chili.
Some evidence suggests that, compared to people who adopt a plant-based diet abruptly, people who adopt a plant-based diet gradually tend to find it easier to stick with the diet longer term. So, I’d recommend that people make a gradual change, adding more plant-based meals into their diet progressively over time. For example, maybe start with meatless Mondays and then try eating a plant-based meal for lunch each day for a week. Think about it: how many meals have you eaten in your lifetime up to now? Thousands… and there’s a lot of habit formation that’s taken place. You’ve developed mental scripts and heuristics for choosing what to eat, ones that probably often seem so automatic and effortless. If you’re going to cut back on meat or other animal products, it’ll take time to get used to that. There’s no need to go vegan cold turkey and instantly ditch the turkey!
That said, many people who do change their diets abruptly have no problem doing so and are just fine keeping up their diet forever. So if you’re up for it, then by all means go for it! But if you want to take things slower, then hop on board with all the other flexitarians out there—it’s all the rage nowadays.

GG: What is a pantry staple you cannot live without?

D: Cashews!

N: What is a favorite recipe you are loving lately?

E: I love cashew cream. It’s a whole-food plant-based version of whipped cream, made out of cashews and dates. It’s great with berries or on a variety of baked goods like pies, cakes, brownies, etc. The ingredients are:
-1 cup of cashews
-1/2 cup of dates
-1 tsp. of vanilla
-just enough water to get it to blend smoothly
Soak the cashews in water for at least a few hours (ideally overnight) to soften them up. The dates can be soaked, too, if they’re a bit firm. You just blend the soaked cashews, dates, vanilla, and water in a blender or food processor. I like varying the ratio of cashews to dates depending on how sweet I want it. Adding cacao nibs or powder to it is a nice twist.

For more of Daniel Rosenfeld’s Research: Find all of his published works here.

Are you interested in contributing to Grounded Grub? Contact us anytime with proposals, we’d love to hear from you.