Sustainable food consumption: when evidence-based policy making meets policy-minded research–Introduction to the special issue

Abstract

Unsustainability of Current Global Food Consumption Food is a major issue in the politics of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) because of its impact on the environment, the economy, social cohesion, and individual and public health.1 Some of the most serious environmental problems high on policy agendas worldwide are related to food production and consumption, including climate change, water pollution and scarcity, soil degradation, eutrophication of water bodies, and loss of habitats and biodiversity.2 Population growth and rising economic prosperity are expected to increase demand for energy, food, and water, whereas in many parts of the world they are already forced to compete for inadequate resources. Growing requirements around the so-called energy-food-water nexus might thus compromise the sustainable use of natural resources and could lead to social and geopolitical tensions.We are witnessing today the disturbing situation of about 800 million people worldwide suffering hunger and underconsumption of food and lacking access to clean drinking water. At the same time, more than a billion people are overweight and 300 to 500 million of them obese, with the trend increasing in most regions. Consequently, due primarily to shifts in diet toward more sugar, animal protein, and trans fats, diet- and lifestyle-related health problems, such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, are hitting young age groups and significantly increasing health costs. Given demographic changes and the growing global population, these problems will likely worsen in the near future.Sustainable Food Consumption as a Policy Area Policy action for sustainable food consumption is driven primarily by growing scientific understanding of the above-mentioned dilemmas. Over the last twenty years, an increasing number of policies, programs, and initiatives by international organizations and governments at all levels (including a number at the regional and local/community level) have been implemented. Yet it is somehow surprising that, while the sustainability impacts of the food sector are widely accepted, efforts to design and implement integrated sustainable food production and consumption policies have been largely absent. This lack of attention to more systemic issues may be one reason why food consumption patterns show barely any shift toward sustainability.Another reason for the reluctance of policy makers to take more decisive action to facilitate sustainable food consumption might be the fuzzy and ill-defined nature of the challenge. To start, there is no commonly agreed upon definition of sustainable food consumption. The UK Sustainable Development Commission (2009) has to date proposed the most encompassing formulation:[S]ustainable food and drink is safe, healthy, and nutritious for consumers in shops, restaurants, schools, hospitals, and so forth; can meet the needs of the less well off worldwide; provides a viable livelihood for farmers, processors, and retailers, whose employees enjoy a safe and hygienic working environment whether nationally or abroad; respects biophysical and environmental limits in its production and processing while reducing energy consumption and improving the wider environment; respects the highest standards of animal health and welfare compatible with the production of affordable food for all societal sectors; and supports rural economies and the diversity of rural culture, in particular by emphasizing local products that keep food miles to a minimum.This ambitious and cross-cutting framework requires intensive policy integration and cooperation. In a number of European Union (EU) member countries, this agenda has not yet become fully institutionalized and thus the initiatives carried out by governments tend to be ad hoc instead of systematic or structural, as well as fragmented across various ministries (primarily ministries of the environment, food and agriculture, land use, consumer protection and public health, and regional or social affairs) and tied to various other policy frames (such as health policy) rather than explicitly to an integrated sustainable food-consumption strategy. …