[Dataset] Tradition, Justice, and the Politics of Food: Understanding the Ideological Roots of Plant-Based Eating

Dataset for the manuscript: Tradition, Justice, and the Politics of Food: Understanding the Ideological Roots of Plant-Based Eating Alessandro Morigi. Stephanie Haidenberg, Vinicius Muraro, Hatice Has Abstract: This study examines how political-ideological orientations shape plant-based dietary behavior across Italy, Sweden, and Mexico. Using the GAL–TAN framework (Green–Alternative–Liberal vs. Traditional–Authoritarian–Nationalist), we find that GAL-aligned values strongly predict vegan, vegetarian, and flexitarian identification, even after controlling for demographics. Traditionalist/authoritarian values are the strongest negative predictors, while green values are the strongest positive. Ethical-justice motives, animal welfare and environmental concern, partly mediate this link but account for only a small share of the total effect. Cross-national differences show that nationalism is context-dependent: in Italy and Sweden it aligns with defense of meat-based traditions, while in Mexico it reflects pride in Indigenous, plant-based foodways. These results extend the GAL–TAN framework beyond politics, showing that food choices express ideological worldviews and that ideological resistance, rather than price or taste, remains the key barrier to sustainable dietary change. Keywords: GAL-TAN, Dietary Choices, Plant-based Food, Political Beliefs, Transnational Differences