A slow road from meat dominance to more sustainable diets: an analysis of purchase preferences (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maijaliisa Erkkola ◽  
Satu Kinnunen ◽  
Henna Vepsäläinen ◽  
Jelena Meinilä ◽  
Liisa Uusitalo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Food System ◽  
Transition Probabilities ◽  
Logistic Models ◽  
Red Meat ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Protein Sources ◽  
System P ◽  
Grocery Purchase ◽  
Step Transition

BACKGROUND Achieving a sustainable and healthy diet requires increased replacement of red meat with more sustainable foods. There is a call for novel methodologies to assess the potential of different interventions and policies in enhancing the transition from the current to more sustainable choices. OBJECTIVE We aimed to characterize consumer clusters with similar preferences in protein sources, to compare the purchase prices of these foods, and to identify ongoing transitions from one protein source to another. METHODS Grocery purchase data with individual attributes on 29,437 consenting loyalty card holders were analyzed over 2.3 year period. We designed a sequence analysis to group participants to clusters with similar purchase preferences over the follow-up period and to estimate transition probabilities between preferences. We studied the determinants of prevalent purchase profiles by ordinal logistic models. RESULTS We identified six participant profiles with similar preferences in four protein sources: red meat, poultry, fish, and plant-based foods. Red meat dominated the purchase preferences and showed the highest persistence over time. The majority (70%) of the participants demonstrated somewhat mixed purchase profiles. A step-by-step transition from red meat towards plant-based food preference seems most likely via poultry and fish. Overall, low income was not a barrier to a more sustainable purchase profile, while price may deter the purchase of fish. The most important resources in choosing more sustainable profiles were education and stage of family life. CONCLUSIONS Societal incentives for sustainable food choices seem most crucial at transition stages of life course and for the less educated. Here we also demonstrate that grocery purchase data offer a valuable tool for monitoring the progressive transition towards a healthy and sustainable food system. CLINICALTRIAL Not applicable.

scholarly journals A slow road from meat dominance to more sustainable diets: an analysis of purchase preferences

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maijaliisa Erkkola ◽  
Satu Kinnunen ◽  
Henna Reetta Vepsäläinen ◽  
Jelena Meinilä ◽  
Liisa Uusitalo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Food System ◽  
Transition Probabilities ◽  
Logistic Models ◽  
Red Meat ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Protein Sources ◽  
Grocery Purchase ◽  
Step Transition

Background: Achieving a sustainable and healthy diet requires increased replacement of red meat with more sustainable foods. There is a call for novel methodologies to assess the potential of different interventions and policies in enhancing the transition from the current to more sustainable choices. Objective: We aimed to characterize consumer clusters with similar preferences in protein sources, to compare the purchase prices of these foods, and to identify ongoing transitions from one protein source to another. Design: Grocery purchase data with individual attributes on 29,437 consenting loyalty card holders were analyzed over 2.3 year period. We designed a sequence analysis to group participants to clusters with similar purchase preferences over the follow-up period and to estimate transition probabilities between preferences. We studied the determinants of prevalent purchase profiles by ordinal logistic models. Results: We identified six participant profiles with similar preferences in four protein sources: red meat, poultry, fish, and plant-based foods. Red meat dominated the purchase preferences and showed the highest persistence over time. The majority (70%) of the participants demonstrated somewhat mixed purchase profiles. A step-by-step transition from red meat towards plant-based food preference seems most likely via poultry and fish. Overall, low income was not a barrier to a more sustainable purchase profile, while price may deter the purchase of fish. The most important resources in choosing more sustainable profiles were education and stage of family life. Conclusions: Societal incentives for sustainable food choices seem most crucial at transition stages of life course and for the less educated. Here we also demonstrate that grocery purchase data offer a valuable tool for monitoring the progressive transition towards a healthy and sustainable food system.

scholarly journals Setting the table, not running it: An inclusive approach to access to healthy foods

2021 ◽  
pp. 47-50
Author(s):  
Karen Emmerman
Keyword(s):  
Child Labor ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Food System ◽  
Food Justice ◽  
Healthy Foods ◽  
Species Barrier ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Living Wages ◽  
Inclusive Approach ◽  
Access To Healthy Foods

Food Empowerment Project (F.E.P.) is a vegan food justice nonprofit in northern California. We focus on making a more just and sustainable food system for everyone involved. Since injustice in the food system crosses the species barrier, we work to connect the dots between the exploitation of human and nonhuman animals. We focus our efforts on four main areas: ending the use of animals in the food system, improving access to healthy foods in Black, Brown, and low-income communities, exposing the worst forms of child labor (including slavery) in the chocolate industry, and advocating for farmworker rights. These seemingly disparate areas have much in common: they are interlocking forms of oppres­sion, marginalization, and domination in the food system. We recognize that the intersecting nature of oppression necessitates a nuanced response. For example, as an organization working on both farm­worker justice and food apartheid, we cannot advocate for lowering the price of food as this would negatively impact produce workers who already suffer grave systemic injustice. Instead, we advocate for equality of access and living wages for everyone.[1] In this piece, we focus on our approach to the lack of access to healthy foods, and specifically our community-based efforts in Vallejo, California.

Sustainable Food Consumption in the Neoliberal Order

2021 ◽  
pp. 1036-1061
Author(s):  
Henry E. Alapiki ◽  
Luke A. Amadi
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Food System ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
World Systems Theory ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Sustainability Challenges ◽  
Global Food

In recent decades, we have seen the rise of the sustainable food consumption field and its push for disciplinary space in development studies. This chapter turns to the original impetus of sustainable food consumption and the question of how neoliberal order can be reconciled with the need to save the ecology. Beyond the fundamental objectives, there is a need to assess the links between the global food system, as influenced by neoliberal order, and the signs that it leads to adversity for low-income countries. A review of relevant literature in the sustainable consumption field is explored using content analysis to examine links between neoliberal food consumption dynamics, the logic of global food politics, and the emerging terminological shifts from food consumption to food system. The world systems theory and the Marxian political ecology framework are used to show that sustainability is notable for emphasizing resource efficiency and equitability, which can be useful when sustainability challenges are matched with ecological policies. This chapter makes some policy recommendations.

Sustainable Food Consumption in the Neoliberal Order

2018 ◽  
pp. 90-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry E. Alapiki ◽  
Luke A. Amadi
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Food System ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
World Systems Theory ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Sustainability Challenges ◽  
Global Food

In recent decades, we have seen the rise of the sustainable food consumption field and its push for disciplinary space in development studies. This chapter turns to the original impetus of sustainable food consumption and the question of how neoliberal order can be reconciled with the need to save the ecology. Beyond the fundamental objectives, there is a need to assess the links between the global food system, as influenced by neoliberal order, and the signs that it leads to adversity for low-income countries. A review of relevant literature in the sustainable consumption field is explored using content analysis to examine links between neoliberal food consumption dynamics, the logic of global food politics, and the emerging terminological shifts from food consumption to food system. The world systems theory and the Marxian political ecology framework are used to show that sustainability is notable for emphasizing resource efficiency and equitability, which can be useful when sustainability challenges are matched with ecological policies. This chapter makes some policy recommendations.

Eating NAFTA

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alyshia Gálvez
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Chronic Disease ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Food System ◽  
Dietary Habits ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The North ◽  
The World

In the two decades since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect, Mexico has seen an epidemic of diet-related illness. While globalization has been associated with an increase in chronic disease around the world, in Mexico, the speed and scope of the rise has been called a public health emergency. The shift in Mexican foodways is happening at a moment when the country’s ancestral cuisine is now more popular and appreciated around the world than ever. What does it mean for their health and well-being when many Mexicans eat fewer tortillas and more instant noodles, while global elites demand tacos made with handmade corn tortillas? This book examines the transformation of the Mexican food system since NAFTA and how it has made it harder for people to eat as they once did. The book contextualizes NAFTA within Mexico’s approach to economic development since the Revolution, noticing the role envisioned for rural and low-income people in the path to modernization. Examination of anti-poverty and public health policies in Mexico reveal how it has become easier for people to consume processed foods and beverages, even when to do so can be harmful to health. The book critiques Mexico’s strategy for addressing the public health crisis generated by rising rates of chronic disease for blaming the dietary habits of those whose lives have been upended by the economic and political shifts of NAFTA.

Disruptive innovation and operationalization in local and sustainable food systems: Examining the University of Toronto-Local Food Plus partnership

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-139
Author(s):  
Lori Stahlbrand
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Food System ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Disruptive Innovation ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
The University

This paper traces the partnership between the University of Toronto and the non-profit Local Food Plus (LFP) to bring local sustainable food to its St. George campus. At its launch, the partnership represented the largest purchase of local sustainable food at a Canadian university, as well as LFP’s first foray into supporting institutional procurement of local sustainable food. LFP was founded in 2005 with a vision to foster sustainable local food economies. To this end, LFP developed a certification system and a marketing program that matched certified farmers and processors to buyers. LFP emphasized large-scale purchases by public institutions. Using information from in-depth semi-structured key informant interviews, this paper argues that the LFP project was a disruptive innovation that posed a challenge to many dimensions of the established food system. The LFP case study reveals structural obstacles to operationalizing a local and sustainable food system. These include a lack of mid-sized infrastructure serving local farmers, the domination of a rebate system of purchasing controlled by an oligopolistic foodservice sector, and embedded government support of export agriculture. This case study is an example of praxis, as the author was the founder of LFP, as well as an academic researcher and analyst.

Sustainable Food Logistics Systems

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaohui Wu ◽  
Madeleine Elinor Pullman
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Cold Chain ◽  
Community Supported Agriculture ◽  
Food Supply Chain ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Chain Management

Food supply chain management is becoming a critical management and public policy agenda. Climate change, growing demand, and shifting patterns of food production, delivery, and consumption have elicited a series of new challenges, such as food security, safety, and system resiliency. This chapter first introduces the typical players in a food supply chain and examines the global food system characterized by consolidation and industrialization. It then discusses some critical topics of the sustainable food supply chain that aim to address these challenges. These topics include traceability, transparency, certification and standards, and alternatives to industrialized food systems, including cooperatives, community-supported agriculture, and roles of small and medium-sized growers in regenerative agriculture. The chapter ends with a discussion of several important emerging logistics management topics, including last-mile delivery, new technology, and cold chain management.

scholarly journals Socio-economic constraints on camel production in Pakistan’s extensive pastoral farming

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asim Faraz ◽  
Muhammad Younas ◽  
Carlos Iglesias Pastrana ◽  
Abdul Waheed ◽  
Nasir Ali Tauqir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Community Education ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Health Production ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Husbandry Practices

AbstractThe present research is aimed to evaluate the diverse husbandry practices, ethno-veterinary practices, socio-economic status and distressing constraints of camel pastoralists inhabiting desert (Thal) areas of Pakistan, where they maintain herds of Marecha and Barela dromedaries in extensive production regimes. For this purpose, 200 pastoralists were selected at random to fill out an on-site questionnaire. According to the farmers’ responses, it was perceived that their living status had improved in the last decades due to the progressive optimization of camel productivity and herdsmen responsiveness. In contrast, calf mortality rates, some traditional husbandry practices and the lack of market investments continued to be the major constraints affecting camel overall production. Ethno-veterinary medicines are widely applied as primary health care, thus influencing the general health, production potentials and relief of camels in the study region. With this scenario, concerned stakeholders and authorized institutions must re-evaluate the urgent needs of indigenous communities; their education and husbandry skills to promote economic/ financial support in low-income remote areas. In turn, traditional communities will be adapted to the changing socio-economic and cultural values with regard to camel husbandry and welfare. Current societal perceptions and demands within this livestock production industry, where camels are conceived as a sustainable food security animal, if accomplished to the highest possible extent, will increase effectiveness of the camel value chain and breeders’ quality of life will be noticeably enhanced. However, this success could be multiplied if government may devise community education, veterinary cover, marketing facilitates and interest-free small loans for pastoralists.

scholarly journals Shaping Physical, Economic, and Policy Components of the Food Environment to Create Sustainable Healthy Diets

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2_suppl) ◽  
pp. 74S-86S
Author(s):  
Adam Drewnowski ◽  
Eva C. Monterrosa ◽  
Saskia de Pee ◽  
Edward A. Frongillo ◽  
Stefanie Vandevijvere
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Food Environment ◽  
Food System ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Food Environments ◽  
Healthy Foods ◽  
Equitable Access ◽  
Nutrition Labels ◽  
Healthy Diets ◽  
Physical Spaces

Background: Sustainable healthy diets are those dietary patterns that promote all dimensions of individuals’ health and well-being; have low environmental pressure and impact; are accessible, affordable, safe, and equitable; and are culturally acceptable. The food environment, defined as the interface between the wider food system and consumer’s food acquisition and consumption, is critical for ensuring equitable access to foods that are healthy, safe, affordable, and appealing. Discussion: Current food environments are creating inequities, and sustainable healthy foods are generally more accessible for those of higher socioeconomic status. The physical, economic, and policy components of the food environment can all be acted on to promote sustainable healthy diets. Physical spaces can be modified to improve relative availability (ie, proximity) of food outlets that carry nutritious foods in low-income communities; to address economic access certain actions may improve affordability, such as fortification, preventing food loss through supply chain improvements; and commodity specific vouchers for fruits, vegetables, and legumes. Other policy actions that address accessibility to sustainable healthy foods are comprehensive marketing restrictions and easy-to-understand front-of-pack nutrition labels. While shaping food environments will require concerted action from all stakeholders, governments and private sector bear significant responsibility for ensuring equitable access to sustainable healthy diets.

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