Cultivating Sustainability: How Modern Food Practices Shape Pro‐Environmental Motivation Through Food–Nature Associations

ABSTRACT

Food practices have evolved alongside industrialization and urbanization. Compared to earlier generations, modern individuals grow and cook food less often and consume more processed products, weakening awareness of food's natural origins. Three studies examined explanatory pathways linking food practices to pro‐environmentalism through the perceived association of food with nature as a mediator. Study 1 ( N  = 383) was a cross‐sectional survey that measured self‐reported frequencies of food production (growing food, cooking), food consumption (natural vs. processed foods), perceived food–nature association, as well as two pro‐environmental outcomes—one affective outcome (nature connectedness) and one behavioral outcome (behavioral commitment). Studies 2 ( N  = 591) and 3 ( N  = 397) were experimental studies that manipulated exposure to food production practices and types of food consumed respectively before assessing changes in food–nature association and pro‐environmentalism. Growing food showed a positive indirect relationship with pro‐environmentalism via food–nature association; evidence for natural food consumption was weaker, and cooking showed no significant effects. Our findings have implications for sustainable urban planning, highlighting the importance of designing for experiences (e.g., urban gardening, food education) that reinforce the mental links between nature and food.