Only half of people worldwide (53 percent) find buying healthy and sustainable
food easy, according to a new global consumer research survey conducted by
insights and strategy consultancy GlobeScan and
EAT — the science-based non-profit for global food
system transformation. For those who find it difficult to buy healthy and
sustainable food, the biggest obstacles are affordability (48 percent) and
availability (36 percent) — with a quarter of people saying that they don’t know
what healthy and sustainable food is.
The findings featured in Grains of Truth are based on
the opinions of over 30,000 consumers in 31 markets around the world about their
definition of good, healthy and sustainable food. The survey also asked people
about other issues — including their biggest concerns about food production and
the challenges they face purchasing healthy and sustainable food, as well as who
can have the biggest positive impact in creating a more healthy and sustainable
food system.
The research was carried out as part of the activity around today’s UN Food
Systems Summit — where EAT has led
Action Track 2, focused on shifting consumption toward sustainable patterns.
The new study mirrors findings from GlobeScan’s 2020 Healthy and Sustainable
Living Study,
which identified affordability and accessibility as two of seven
“unlocks”
for helping consumers adopt more sustainable habits and lifestyles.
While many people apparently struggle with understanding what healthy and
sustainable food is, there is also an understanding that the two terms have
different meanings. The most popular descriptions of healthy food are
nutritious (47 percent), organic (47 percent), and unprocessed/whole
(44 percent). For sustainable food, the top three descriptions are good for
the environment (51 percent), organic (42 percent), and locally grown
(34 percent). Another criterion for food sustainability — its carbon footprint
or climate-friendliness — is another of growing concern to conscientious eaters,
and one that’s becoming more easily identifiable thanks to identifiers such as
Just Salad’s carbon-labeled menu
items,
Chipotle’s Foodprint app; and WRI’s Cool Food Meals
certification, which can now be found at
Panera
and Nestlé foodservice
locations
nationwide.
Different generations have similar views on sustainable food, but there are
differences when it comes to healthy food. Gen Z are most likely to describe
healthy food as tasty and nutritious, while Baby Boomers associate it with
unprocessed/whole and locally grown food.
When considering some of the issues of the food system, the two biggest concerns
are use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers (81 percent) and single-use
plastic
waste
from food packaging (78 percent). These are closely followed by hunger and
obesity, with 76 percent of people saying that they are concerned about both
issues. These concerns are supported by the fact that one in 11 people are
chronically hungry and that a third of the world’s population is overweight. The
issue that people are least concerned about is the transportation of food.
Perhaps surprisingly, concern about each of the issues tends to increase with
age, with Gen Z on average being the least concerned and Baby Boomers the most
concerned. From a regional perspective, consumers in Latin America,
Africa and Southern Europe express the strongest concerns about the food
system.
Nearly half of consumers (46 percent) believe that the responsibility to make
positive change to create a more healthy and sustainable food system lies with
national governments. Over a third (37 percent) think food and beverage
companies are best placed to achieve this, while 23 percent see people like
themselves being able to influence positive change, and one in eight (15
percent) see young people as powerful agents of change.
“There is a lot to be encouraged by in this research — with people around the
world understanding the important role they can play in changing food systems
through their own consumption patterns,” said EAT founder and Executive Chair
Dr. Gunhild Stordalen. “But there are also still huge amounts to be worked
on by both governments and food manufacturers — it is these actors that
consumers see as holding the
power
and that consequently they will listen to. And crucially, even though people
want to move to more healthy and sustainable eating habits, they currently do
not believe they can because in their view, product prices are either too high
or difficult to find. This is something policy makers, retailers and
manufacturers need to work on and improve, so we can all work together on
driving healthier consumption
patterns.”
“This timely research provides a roadmap for consumer expectations for a
sustainable food system, said GlobeScan CEO Chris Coulter. “Demonstrating
environmental integrity is a definer of sustainable food for people around the
world; and there are very high levels of concern for a range of issues affecting
the food system — from pesticide use to plastics, to obesity, to impacts on
nature. In addition, consumers hold government and business especially
responsible for delivering a sustainable food
system,
making the UN Food Systems Summit a critical opportunity to demonstrate progress
to people across the world.”
