Do Europeans consider sustainability when making food choices? A survey of Polish city-dwellers

• Published in: Public health nutrition Vol. 22; no. 7; pp. 1330 - 1339
• Main Authors: Rejman, Krystyna, Kaczorowska, Joanna, Halicka, Ewa, Laskowski, Wacław
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.05.2019
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Attitudes; Biodiversity; Body weight; Climate change; Cluster analysis; Conservation of Natural Resources; Consumer Behavior; Consumers; Diet; Drinking water; Economic growth; Emissions; Environmental impact; Female; Food; Food Preferences; Food Supply; Fruits; Health care; Humans; Industrialized nations; Male; Meat products; Middle Aged; Natural & organic foods; NGOs; Nongovernmental organizations; Nutrition; Nutrition research; Poland; Population studies; Public health; Research Paper; Segments; Sustainability; Sustainable consumption; Sustainable development; Sustainable food systems; Sustainable use; Systematic review; Tabulation; Urban Population; Variance analysis; Vegetables; Poland; United Kingdom > UK; Germany; Poland; Sustainable diet; Consumer; Food choice determinants
• ISSN: 1368-9800; 1475-2727
• DOI: 10.1017/S1368980019000326

To obtain a better insight into the conceptualization of sustainable consumption among consumers with special focus on food choice determinants. Previous studies show that people present positive attitude towards sustainable diet while their everyday food choices do not follow sustainable diet rules. A structured questionnaire was designed and data were collected via computer-assisted telephone interview among a random group (n 600) of city-dwellers. Quota sampling was used in proportion to the city population. Cluster analysis (k-means method) was applied to identify consumer segments according to the determinants of food choices. Consumer segments were identified using one-way ANOVA with post hoc Duncan comparison of mean scores and cross-tabulation with χ 2. The Friedman test was applied to identify enablers and barriers of sustainable food choices. Cities in Mazovia, the best developed, central region of Poland.ParticipantsAdults (21-70 years old). Consumers are not familiar with the concept of sustainability and are not able to define it adequately. Only 6 % of the studied population indicated that sustainable consumption is connected with nutrition which has possibly less impact on the environment. Three segments of consumers were distinguished regarding their attitude to food choice determinants adequate to sustainable diet: Non-Adopters (17 %), Emergents (32 %), Adopters (51 %). Desire to improve health by decreasing body weight was the main driver for sustainable food choices, while prices were the main limitation. Knowledge dissemination on sustainability issues is needed to empower consumers to make more sustainable food choices and to make public health and food policy measures more effective.