Buratto, Arianna;
(2024)
How can we encourage more sustainable food consumption choices?
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
More than a quarter of total greenhouse gas emissions come from the food system. Meanwhile, climate change has a negative impact on agricultural productivity, threatening food security. Food security is already under threat due to sub-optimal allocation of food, whereby a third of the world’s food goes to waste every year. To achieve a more sustainable food system, it is necessary to change our dietary choices towards foods with a lower environmental impact, and to reduce food waste. This thesis uses behavioural economics and behaviour change theories and methods to investigate ways to encourage individuals to make these changes. Three empirical studies are presented, each addressing a different stage of food consumption. The first study examines how well individuals can rate food products in terms of their environmental impact, and how labels can affect their sustainability judgments. The second study investigates how labels can encourage individuals to choose vegetarian and plant-based dishes. The third study tests a behaviour change intervention aimed at helping individuals reduce their food waste at home. Results suggest that labels can have an impact both on consumers’ perceptions of food products sustainability, and on their consumption choices. When many food alternatives are available, a green label signalling low environmental impact will be relied on whether the product is sustainable or not. Vegetarian and plant-based labels on menus can actually discourage some consumers from selecting those dishes, which become more popular when those labels are removed. A low-emission label added to a menu as a transparent nudge can also encourage diners to eat more sustainably. A letter and a leaflet can encourage the creation of pro-environmental habitual behaviour at home, leading to a reduction in household food waste. These results show how low-cost behavioural interventions can deliver an impact and help us transition towards more sustainable food consumption.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | How can we encourage more sustainable food consumption choices? |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2024. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Bartlett School Env, Energy and Resources |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10187461 |
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