Abstract
Food is one of the basic necessities that play a major role in human life. Over the past two decades, food consumption patterns in many countries have changed rapidly. The concern of food security has emerged as a global food crisis in recent decades. These global changes probably affect Sri Lankan food consumption habits. Sustainability is an essential component and a precondition for long-term food security. Hence, this study used an in-depth non-systematic literature review on a global scale emphasizing the Sri Lankan context, to better understand the situation of changes in food consumption patterns using comprehensive household survey data in Sri Lanka. The study found out that income growth, urbanization, structural changes in the population on demographics, and several other socio-economic changes significantly influenced transformations in global food consumption patterns. Other than these, many significant differences are evident in food consumption patterns especially geographically, in urban, rural, and estate sectors in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan diet shows a tendency to shift from traditional cereal consumption to meat, fish, dairy products, and fast foods and processed foods, posing a significant threat concerning the future food security and sustainability of Sri Lanka. Therefore, the study recommended a critical analysis of changes in food consumption patterns in Sri Lanka.
Highlights
Food is an essential element for humans to live and sustain life
Economic, technological, environmental, and demographic changes worldwide have a profound effect on food supply and food consumption patterns, especially with a tendency to increase food supplies around the world (Popkin et al, 1996, 1999, 2001; Tucker & Buranapin, 2001)
Traditional diets which mainly consist of grain consumption are declining rapidly and there is a tendency to move towards meat, fish, dairy products and prepared/instant and fast foods
Summary
Food is an essential element for humans to live and sustain life. Even though it seems as if there is adequate food available for people in the world, more than a billion people go to bed hungry every night due to problems in allocation and distribution. At the global level, food supply is not constant throughout a given year, and access to food is not equitable for all. In this backdrop, food sustainability is an increasingly growing concern
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