Messaging as a lever for healthy and sustainable diets: next steps for researchers and communicators

Increasing consumption of plant-rich diets as a climate action has received relatively little attention despite its substantial health, environmental, and economic co-benefits. Given the complexity of dietary behavior, shifting diets is challenging. This Perspective argues messaging is a key leverage point for catalyzing this shift and provides researchers and communicators with a synthesis of existing research on messaging healthy and sustainable diets and priority areas for more effectively communicating plant-rich diets. Through appealing to what is known about consumers, focusing on social norms, highlighting the impact of small shifts, and coupling messaging strategies with changes to the food environment, strategic messaging can begin to move the needle toward dietary patterns that benefit both human and planetary health.