Ascent of the herbivores, decline of the carnivores: The social stratification of eating profiles in Italy, 1997–2016

Using data from the Multipurpose Survey of Daily Life by ISTAT, we analyse the profiling and social stratification of eating styles among Italian adults from 1997 to 2016. We apply Latent Class Analysis on a set of common foods to document the existence of six consumption clusters, (herbivore, carnivore, hedonist, enhanced Mediterranean, paucivore, omnivore) and their relative size over time. We then illustrate how gender and education are associated with each of the identified clusters and document the evolution of their gradients over time. Results point to an increase in the relative size of the herbivores and omnivores, a substantial stability of the hedonists and paucivores, and a decline of the carnivores and enhanced Mediterraneans. Moreover, our findings highlight a substantial social stratification of eating profiles and show that, within a broad picture of persistence, gender and education became more important in affecting the propensity of adopting certain profiles.