Browsing by Subject "ekologiset ruokavalinnat"

User experiences of vegetable protein products were investigated in this study. The study was focused on families with children and on their process of cooking. Scientific purpose is to develop easy practical ways to reduce meat consumption. The topic is timely because meat has a big role in Finnish diet but a meat consumption should be reduced. A meat production has negative environmental effects and in addition red meat is hazardous to health. Though many people are aware of adverse effects of meat, the meat consumption isn’t on the decrease. Meat and specially a minced meat is often seen as an easy, tasty and cheap alternative and people know how to prepare a wide range of dishes from meat in busy weekdays. Vegetable protein products can be an easy way to reduce meat consumption. Their sources of protein are more versatile and their composition resemble more the composition of meat. When the meat in food is replaced with vegetable protein product, food becomes ecologically friendly and healthier without a big difference between the meat dish and the vegetable dish. Vegetable protein products are also easy and quick to cook which is an important food selection criteria for many consumers. The user experiences were investigated with qualitative pre-experimental case study. Five families with children were participated in the study. Each family lives in Southern Finland and the children are under 8 years old. Families were selected through a social media, Facebook, by using a discretionary sample. The research process included for example designing food recipes and questionnaires and also instructing the families throughout the whole process. The food recipes were designed as similar as possible with the original Finnish favorite foods but the meat was replaced by the vegetable protein product. Before the start of the study recipes were tested and valued in practice at researcher’s family. In the practical phase of the study families familiarized with four different vegetable protein products. Families looked the products from the grocery, prepared four dishes according to the given recipes and valued both the products and the dishes. The user experiences were clarified by using a semi-structured questionnaire. A family-specific description was written based on the feedback from questionnaire. In the final analysis the user experiences of each vegetable protein product were summarized. From the summary it can be seen that a culinary art is different in each family. Mostly the families’ experiences were positive but some of the vegetable protein products divided opinions for and against. Still each family experienced that the study was useful. Families acquainted with unfamiliar vegetable protein products which families are going to use as substitutes of meat in future. Many families were inspired by the recipes and learned new ways of cooking. This research can serve as a pilot study for wider qualitative or quantitative research. For further study the functionality, practicality and pleasantness of the vegetable protein products could be tested on a larger scale or expend the topic to consist the ecology of the diet in overall.