Factors Associated with Modern Urban Chinese Food Consumption Patterns

Abstract

One key element in the development of regional and global food production systems is the corresponding changes in food consumption patterns. The 'modernization' of food consumption is encouraged by businesses and policy makers alike. For example, in China, change and growth in food consumption behaviors are promoted as a means for improving nutritional well-being, promoting economic growth via expanding consumer demand, and appeasing citizens. The objective of this paper is to investigate the pattern of dissemination of modern food consumption in contemporary China. It utilizes Sklair's notion of the 'culture-ideology of consumption' to differentiate between Chinese consumers according to whether their food consumption patterns are more or less modern. As a proxy for time-series analysis, household food consumption patterns are analyzed by age, household income level, food shopping behaviors and attitudes, and interest in imports and branded products, in order to determine if more modern food consumption patterns are more likely to be evidenced by one group than another. The data used in the analysis were obtained in a food consumption survey in metropolitan Qingdao, People's Republic of China. Results indicate that a modern culture-ideology of food consumption is being built around high-income consumers who sometimes shop at supermarkets, rather than through advertising or generational differences in consumption.