Food Preferences in Finland: Sustainable Diets and their Differences between Groups

Elina Lehikoinen,Arto Salonen

doi:10.3390/su11051259

Elina Lehikoinen, Arto Salonen

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su11051259

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Abstract

The world is facing the great challenge of how to feed the increasing and wealthier population sustainably in the future, with already limited natural resources. The existing literature reveals the negative impacts of animal-based diets, and thus global diet changes are required to ensure future food availability. Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge that food consumption is more than caloric intake—it is based on personal preferences. We assessed how sustainable food choices vary among Finnish citizens. The respondents (n = 2052) answered nine statements about their consumption behavior. We applied quantitative and qualitative methods, and our results indicate that favoring plant-based diets was the highest among people under 30 and above 60 years old. Middle-aged men with high incomes was the most reluctant group to adopt sustainable diets. Health-related issues and origin of food were the most preferred reasons for food choices, while environmental awareness was ranked lower. The key to mainstream sustainable diets lies in the co-benefits —transition towards more sustainable diets among Finns could be possible, if people felt that they can combine the selfish, hedonistic factors (e.g., health, weight loss) and altruistic factors (e.g., ecological benefits) in their everyday diets.

Highlights

The world is facing a great challenge of how to feed the population sustainably in the future
The key to mainstream sustainable diets lies in the co-benefits —transition towards more sustainable diets among Finns could be possible, if people felt that they can combine the selfish, hedonistic factors and altruistic factors in their everyday diets
We found that choosing sustainable diets is a multiform phenomenon where health and environmental reasons were mentioned as a first priority, but other reasons such as taste, ethics or losing weight were emphasized as well

Summary

Introduction

The world is facing a great challenge of how to feed the population sustainably in the future. Natural resources for food production are already scarce in many parts of the world, and the population is expected to reach 9 or even 10 billion by 2050 [1,2], which exacerbates the pressure on an already worrying global situation. There are existing studies that present how to increase food production sustainably with the current resources. Food and eating combine the elements of nature and culture [5], but the way we are eating changes constantly [6]. Wahlqvist and Lee [7] explained that the sense of local and regional food culture have existed throughout human development. The food culture altered relatively slowly, but current global phenomena, such as rapid population changes, global trade, displacements and migrations, and variances in affordability, has accelerated these changes. It is important to understand that food consumption is about more than just nutrition—eating enjoyment is based on manifold personal preferences, and attitudes might greatly differ among the people living in regions where there are multiple meal options and financial means to choose the preferred diet [8]

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