Liberal vs. Conservative Eating Habits

As Americans we have the freedom to identify ourselves in a number of ways, and one of our deepest set identifiers tends to be political affiliation. Self-identified liberals and conservatives (rather than those that identify as “middle of the road”) disagree on a wide-ranging number of subjects, from the size of government and taxation to gay marriage. A survey of 347, 949 Hunch.com users has revealed that liberals and conservatives also have vastly different opinions when it comes to food and what they eat.

Conservatives were 65 percent more likely to eat fast food a few times each week, while liberals were 92 percent more likely to eat fast food rarely or never. When it comes to french fries, conservatives prefer McDonald’s and liberals have a preference for bistro-style fries.

Conservatives were 50 percent more likely to believe that no significant difference between organic foods and processed foods exists, while liberals were 28 percent more likely to disagree. Liberals are 29 percent more likely than conservatives to avoid soda and 27 percent as likely to drink only diet soda when they do. Liberals are 28 percent more likely to eat fresh fruit daily, while conservatives are 35 percent more likely to eat fresh fruit less than once each week.

You’re more likely to see a liberal enjoying wine with a meal at home while conservatives will sip on milk or juice.

When it comes to exotic ethnic food, liberals were more likely to consider Pan-Asian or French fusion foods, while conservatives were 94 percent more likely to consider Chinese takeout to be exotic ethnic food. Liberals are likely to prepare coconut curry with lamb and rice, but conservatives are not, opting for burgers, meatloaf, or casseroles. It is the politically liberal shoppers that choose the “hard-to pronounce pastas” in the grocery store. When it comes to pizza, liberals tend to prefer a thin crust while conservatives prefer a thick crust or deep dish pie.

Despite all of our differences, the majority of liberals and conservatives agree that we prefer soft tortillas when eating tacos.

An example of these differences in action are here in this Obama’s Diet vs. McCain’s Diet comparison from the 2008 election.

You can see all of this data and more in an infographic at Hunch.com.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Winn A.

11:55AM PDT on May 2, 2012

Thanks I think . . . .

send a green star

Jo H.

8:20AM PDT on Aug 7, 2011

this is laughable, I guess its all about your sample environment now isn't it? Just go to your poor metro areas, which are all democratic/liberal, check out the fast food places guess what? The population there is much greater than the rural areas you want to point to in your article.

So if you take an accurate sample demographic you would be sadly mistaken with your left leaning article.

Try again or just continue to feed the sheople.

Dolores M.

7:31AM PDT on Aug 2, 2011

Great article if you believe the moon is made of cheese!!

Dianne D.

10:36AM PDT on Jul 29, 2011

Before reading I thought that I would have to defend myself on this one, but as it turned out, it's pretty true to who I am and what I believe.

scarlett g.

1:02PM PDT on Jul 25, 2011

VERY INTERESTING!!!!

my food choices favor Liberal, my politics not so much!!!

GO FIGURE!!??

Mrs S.

3:43PM PDT on Jul 22, 2011

Bottomline is: republican = life threatining ignorance (in everything, actually).

Magdalen B.

1:11AM PDT on Jul 22, 2011

Rather too simple, as Messrs Obama and McCain come from different ethnic backgrounds, their choice of food is obviously going to differ!

April H.

10:11AM PDT on Jul 21, 2011

Lumping all liberals or all conservatives into one group is not accurate. I know many conservatives who are more militant about recycling that libs are. I tend to lean left, but I know there are many, many dems out there who are obese, uneducated and living on McDonalds by choice...and feeding their kids that garbage, too. I think it truly depends on education and economic levels. It would seem this statement is base on higher educated liberals and uneducated conservatives.

Claire C.

8:39AM PDT on Jul 21, 2011

This is a silly statement. If you look at the population that usually votes Democrat (liberal) they include a large number of people uninformed about nutrition. Perhaps you are looking at well educated liberals. The same goes for conservatives. You can't make this kind of statement when you have no very large study to back it.

Chandra K.

5:05AM PDT on Jul 21, 2011

I'm not really surprised by these results.