“In principle I’m vegan, but…” dietary flexibility and the conflicting normativities related to plant-based eating

This study contributes to practice theoretical research on the transition to more plant-based diets as one of the key elements in sustainability transformation. Recent research on sustainable eating has increasingly focused on plant-based oriented diets, such as flexitarianism, in which giving up or reducing the consumption of meat and/or other animal products are less evident compared to practices, such as veganism and vegetarianism. In this article, we examine dietary flexibility by analyzing 132 written accounts describing a single food day by Finns orientated to plant-based eating. The writings include descriptions of foods that were favored and avoided on one specific day in 2023, as well as reflections on food and eating in general. We analyze dietary flexibility, and more specifically exceptions, as expressions of varying and sometimes conflicting normativities related to plant-based eating. Our results show that the normative orientation of plant-based eating is often challenged by other normativities related to the availability of plant-based foods, commensality, avoidance of food waste, and self-compassion. Furthermore, we argue that dietary exceptions are a way to alleviate such conflicting normativities and thus, rather than being something to be avoided, they can serve as a source of joy.