Food consumption behaviours in Europe Mapping drivers, trends and pathways towards sustainability
Creators
- Mariana Nicolau1
- Luis Esquivel1
- Imke Schmidt1
- Cristina Fedato1
- Lea Leimann1
- Antonella Samoggia2
- Francesca Monticone2
- Margherita Del Prete2
- Rino Ghelfi2
- Nina M. Saviolidis3
- Gudrun Olafsdottir3
- Hildigunnur Sigurdardottir4
- Pierre-Marie Aubert5
- Elise Huber5
- Paulus Aditjandra6
- Carmen Hubbard6
- Arijit De6
- Matthew Gorton6
- Lukas Cechura7
- Sigurdur Gretar Bogason3
- Laura Brimon5
- James Odene6
- David Schamari6
- 1. CSCP
- 2. UNIBO
- 3. UoI
- 4. MM
- 5. IDDRI
- 6. UNEW
- 7. CZU
Description
Why do European consumers buy food the way they do? Which key factors drive Europeans’ food consumption patterns and how could they be used to create pathways toward sustainability? The VALUMICS project’s evidence-based report provides insights to what influences consumers the most in their food choices.
The report ‘Food consumption behaviours in Europe’ brings together data across various countries, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy. Through in-depth literature research, focus groups and expert consultations, the report provides a better understanding of the status quo, trends, motivations as well as barriers and opportunities towards more sustainable food consumption behaviours in general. The focus is on five product categories: Beef, dairy, salmon, tomatoes and bread.
Findings indicate that food consumption behaviours can be largely attributed to price considerations, family eating habits, health concerns or social contexts of consumers. The report highlights that environmental awareness and values play little to no role in the consumption patterns.
“Certain changes can only be made by politics, or the EU in this case, which should impose high sustainability limits and standards: for example, banning disposable plastics is a good start. Until certain management practices are allowed, it is difficult to behave more sustainably because everyone else can be more economically competitive” noted one of the experts interviewed for the report.
Other actions suggested in the report include fostering stronger communication channels between producers and consumers, with the potential for increasing the resilience of food value chains as well as using behavioural insights to inform strategies and action plans for more sustainable food consumption.
The report ’Food consumption behaviours in Europe’ is the first in a series of VALUMICS publications focusing on analysing food consumption. The upcoming reports look into successful interventions for sustainable food behaviour, multi-stakeholder recommendations toward more sustainable food consumption, and food retailer interventions to support this shift.
Notes
Files
Valumics Report 1 _Mapping Behaviours.pdf
Files
(3.2 MB)
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