Food Welfare Research Articles

Advancing Food Well-Being in Poverty Through Intersectionality

This article explores the importance of employing intersectionality when investigating food well-being (FWB) in poverty framework. We argue that this approach provides a more nuanced and realistic lens for both marketers and policy makers when developing FWB strategies in the context of poverty. To this end, this article focuses on the intersection of ethnicity and gender to examine food consumption practices of two groups of women living in poverty in Bangladesh. Specifically, the research design uses semi-structured interviews with 16 Santal (ethnic minority) and 14 Muslim (ethnic majority) women to explore commonalities and differences in their consumption experiences. The findings provide new insights into how marketers and policy makers can engage with diverse ethnic communities to enhance their FWB. This article contributes to the FWB literature by introducing intersectionality as a mechanism to uncover differences in advantage and disadvantage based on overlapping categories of ethnicity, gender, and class. Implications for marketers and policy makers include (a) developing food policies that pay attention and respect to cultural norms and sociohistorical experiences, (b) creating and shaping social networks, (c) investing in infrastructure and utilities that prioritize ethnic minorities, and (d) seeking out jugaad (frugal) innovations.

Co-designing a community-wide approach to encouraging healthier food choices

This research offers a novel perspective on encouraging healthier food choices through a community-wide approach. Using five co-design workshops with consumers and supermarket staff, and the abductive synthesis of qualitative data, this study uncovered the role of community in encouraging greater food well-being and allied behaviours. The results reveal rather critical consumer views on past paternalistic health promotion campaigns and offer alternative strategies for designing more balanced and holistic programs. Such a holistic approach can ensure more sustained programs, as they aim to achieve broader social, mental and physical health, and economic benefits, not just nutrition outcomes. The research offers practical recommendations on modifying retail marketing space, and the broader community setting, to create an environment where consumers find it easier, convenient, more socially desirable and pleasurable to make healthier choices.

Towards co-created food well-being: culinary consumption, braggart word-of-mouth and the role of participative co-design, service provider support and C2C interactions

PurposeThis study aims to investigate whether the antecedents of co-creation influence braggart word-of-mouth (WoM) in a participative leisure context, theorising the concept of co-created food well-being and highlighting implications for interactive experience co-design.Design/methodology/approachA sequential mixed-method approach was used to test a theoretical model; 25 in-depth interviews with cooking class participants were conducted, followed by a post-experience survey (n = 575).FindingsQualitative results suggest braggart WoM is rooted in active consumer participation in co-designing leisure experiences. The structural model confirms that participation in value co-creating activities (i.e. co-design, customer-to-customer (C2C) interaction), alongside perceived support from service providers, increases consumer perceptions of co-creation and stimulates braggart WoM. Degree of co-creation and support from peers mediate some relationships.Research limitations/implicationsLimited by cross-sectional data from one experiential consumption format, the results nevertheless demonstrate the role of active participation in co-design and C2C interactions during value co-creation. This implies that co-created and co-designed leisure experiences can intensify post-consumption behaviours and potentially enhance food well-being.Practical implicationsThe results highlight that integrating customer participation into service design, while also developing opportunities for peer support on-site, can stimulate braggart WoM.Originality/valueExtends burgeoning literature on co-creation and co-design in leisure services. By encouraging active customer participation while providing support and facilitating C2C interactions, service providers can enhance value co-creation, influencing customer experiences and food well-being. Accordingly, the concept of co-created food well-being is introduced.

Encouraging healthier choices in supermarkets: a co-design approach

PurposeThis research describes and evaluates the co-creation of a programme called “A Healthy Choice”. Underpinned by design thinking (DT), this study aims to improve the healthfulness of food choices in supermarkets among consumers to promote their well-being.Design/methodology/approachThe research features two studies. Study 1 included five co-design workshops with consumers and staff (n = 32) to develop a consumer-centred programme. The findings supported the design and implementation of a programme evaluated in Study 2 (an ecological trial). The programme modified a supermarket environment to increase the prominence of healthier products (shelf-talkers and no discount), ran positive food experiences (cooking and label reading workshops) and was supported by a community-wide information campaign in social and local print media.FindingsA total of 15 new strategies were developed by consumers and staff to support health and well-being in supermarkets. Feasibility discussions and staff voting contributed to the development and storewide implementation of the programme. Evaluation showed that the programme was effective in increasing consumer knowledge of healthier food choices (measured via public survey). Sales analysis showed mixed results; sales increased for promoted products in some categories, but there was no effect in others.Research limitations/implicationsGiven the real-world setting in which this programme and its evaluation were conducted, there were several innate limitations. The co-design process generated many more ideas than could be implemented, thus creating a healthy “pipe line” for the next iterations of the programme.Practical implicationsThe key contribution of this work to supermarket intervention literature is the recommendation to change the paradigm of engagement between the key stakeholders who are typically involved in supermarket programs. Using the co-design and DT frameworks, the authors offer an example of stakeholders working together in close partnership to co-design and collaboratively implement a programme that promotes healthier choices.Originality/valueThis project contributes to the emerging body of empirical work using DT principles in the area of healthy food choices in supermarkets. A rigorously designed evaluation of a co-designed supermarket programme contributes to scholarly evidence on food well-being programs in supermarkets.

Main directions of greening of agro-industrial complex

Agriculture and the agro-industrial complex as a whole are the most important components of the world economy. The volume of production and consumption of products, their quality and availability characterize the standard of living of the population. Of course, these indicators are not the only ones, but they are the leading elements of the country’s food security, health and well-being of its population. It is only in recent years that food quality has become a priority in developed countries. Agricultural production technologies have changed signifi cantly since the mid-twentieth century. The same applies to Russia. Plowing of virgin and fallow lands in Siberia, the Southern Urals and the Far East reduced the area of haymaking and pasture lands, more than 25 million hectares of fallow land were plowed. On the other hand, the increase in livestock numbers increased the burden on pasture lands, which did not always cope with the restoration of land fertility. As a result, many valuable forage grasses have disappeared and less productive and poisonous plants have spread. The purpose of the work was to consider the main directions of greening the agro-industrial complex in the Chelyabinsk region. The causes, consequences and features of greening the agro-industrial complex have been analyzed in the article. It was found as a result of the conducted observations that the problem of greening the agroindustrial complex has become more acute in the last 50–60 years and is a consequence of not always justifi ed decisions of economic activity. This aff ected the greening of agriculture: soil, water sources and air pools. The deterioration of the environmental situation in the Chelyabinsk region as a whole and also in agriculture, almost all industries and vehicles participated. The issues of the ecology in agriculture and the agro-industrial complex are directly related to the quality of food, the state of health and working capacity of citizens.

Rethinking food well-being as reconciliation between pleasure and sustainability

Food well-being has been addressed in consumer research over the past decade as a means to provide a more holistic perspective on consumers’ relationship to food. However, the interest has mainly been directed at individual choice and experience, meaning that the ethical foundations of well-being have received less attention. This foundation is important in the context of food as it provides an opportunity for outlining a new agenda for food well-being. Using food design as an overall framework, this article introduces Epicurean ethics as an underlying conceptual design that positions pleasure at the core of food well-being. Not in the sense of trivial hedonism, but as judicious consideration of what is pleasurable when individual and collective interest is weighed and short- and long-term consequences taken into account.

On the Way to Food Well-Being. A Critical Analysis of the Food Well-Being Concept and the Possibilities of Its Empirical Verification

On the Way to Food Well-Being. A Critical Analysis of the Food Well-Being Concept and the Possibilities of Its Empirical Verification

Review of Florentine Frentz, The Pursuit of Food Well-Being: The Mechanism Behind Consumers’ Food Well-Being, and their Relevance for Food Retailing and Marketing, (Springer 2020), Pages 220, Cost 83,19 €

Review of Florentine Frentz, The Pursuit of Food Well-Being: The Mechanism Behind Consumers’ Food Well-Being, and their Relevance for Food Retailing and Marketing, (Springer 2020), Pages 220, Cost 83,19 €

Contribution of Agroforestry to Farmers Wellbeing in Forest Enclave, Edo State, Nigeria

Agroforestry has recently been experiencing a surge in interest as a cost-effective means to enhance food security and well-being. Thus there is a need to assess its contribution of to farmer’s wellbeing. Primary data needed for the study were collected through the administration of questionnaires to agroforestry farmers. Purposive random sampling technique was used to select three forest enclaves in Edo state. A simple random sampling technic was used in the selection of respondents and a total number of 120 copies of questionnaires were administered. Datawere analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency counts and percentages and inferential statistics such as Chi-square, Pearson Product Moment correlations (PPMC). The study revealed that the mean age of the farmers in the area was 45.6years. Majorities (85.8 %) were male and 78.3% were married. with 54.2% having household size of between 4 - 6 persons. Majority (84.2%) had formal education. Also, 65.8% engage in agroforestry farming as their primary occupation. The results showed that there was positive and significant relationship between farmers’involvement in agroforestry and their economic wellbeing (χ2 = 76.27, P ≤ 0.001), material wellbeing (χ2 = 93.77, P ≤ 0.001), social wellbeing (χ2 = 73.00, P ≤ 0.001) and psychological wellbeing (χ2 = 132.63, P ≤ 0.001), respectively. It is therefore recommended that farmers should be encouraged to increase their farm holding and also organized themselves into association for them to have access to mechanized equipment 
 Keyword: Contribution, Agroforestry, Wellbeing, Farmers

How Michelin-starred chefs are being transformed into social bricoleurs? An online qualitative study of luxury foodservice during the pandemic crisis

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to examine response strategies and the change in Michelin-starred chefs' practices to adapt to the global pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis that has strongly affected the foodservice sector.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted an exploratory qualitative research that used mixed-method, combining online interviews with 12 French Michelin-starred chefs and archival data. A manual thematic analysis method was used to analyze the data and identify relevant themes following an iterative coding process.FindingsThe findings show that Michelin-starred restaurants implement multilevel response strategies by developing dynamic capabilities while playing a social role through the development of new forms of business practices. The results show that Michelin-starred chefs adopt social bricolage entrepreneurial thinking to deal with the extreme situation and use diverse resources and response strategies to tackle social issues and improve the collective and individual well-being. The authors identified three major response strategies implemented by luxury restaurants: philanthropic activities targeting the well-being of the community, socially responsible business practices to support the foodservice actors and initiatives centered on consumer's food well-being.Research limitations/implicationsThe limits of this study are related to the small sample size and the elimination of psychographic criteria such as age and gender, which can extend our understanding of response strategies implemented by female and male owners or by age range during crises in the foodservice sector. Also, given that France is the country of Haute gastronomy, the conclusions of this study may not be generalizable to other countries where the gastronomic culture might be different.Practical implicationsRestaurants with high-end or luxury positioning must use multilevel – i.e. individual, sector and societal – response strategies to play a social role while sustaining their businesses during times of crisis. These insights seek to provide a roadmap which can be applied to other sectors to assess response strategies driven by various motives, resources and capabilities.Social implicationsThis research contributes to transformative service research literature by providing insights regarding how service providers can rethink their activities during the crises to play an active social role. Also, the findings point to several ways in which service actors can help customers and the community to improve their well-being.Originality/valueTo our knowledge, no prior research examined both the type of response strategies deployed by companies to survive and the importance of playing a social role and developing socially responsible business practices during times of crisis.

Food Well-Being in Older Adults: Effects of a Universal Non-contributory Pension in Mexico

One of the few universal programs in Latin America is the Food Pension for Adults Older than 68 (PAAM) of Mexico City, which aims to reduce food insecurity while generating food well-being among that age group. Previous evaluations and studies have concluded that the program has a low effect on food security because of a lack of targeting on the poorest and most-vulnerable people. For this reason, the goal of this study was to determine the effects of the program by homogenous groups, based on their socioeconomic and health characteristics, because it is possible that a program could affect subgroups of participants differently. We used data from the EVPAAM survey (2016), in three stages. In the first stage, we used clustering to identify homogenous subgroups; in the second stage, we used propensity scores matching; and in the third stage, we estimated the program’s impact in each cluster. Results show that the apparent low impact of the PAMM in the clusters cannot be attributed to the program’s universality but to the profound food insecurity and to problems with motor skills and comorbidities in this age group; therefore, the program could not improve food well-being in all subgroups.

The healthy and sustainable bugs appetite: factors affecting entomophagy acceptance and adoption in Western food cultures

PurposeThe purpose of this paper introduces entomophagy as an alternative food consumption (AFC) capable of contributing to food well-being (FWB) among Western consumers. Specifically, it provides a conceptual framework where key factors related to the acceptance and adoption of insects and insects based foods are identified. This paper takes a sociocultural, symbolic and contextual perspective to offer marketers and public policymakers a set of recommendations to promote entomophagy as a sustainable and healthy food practice to help consumers achieve their FWB.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, first, the authors review the literature on entomophagy from its rise to establishment in different food cultures by considering two main perspectives as follows: historical and sociocultural. Second, the authors review the salience of entomophagy as an important AFC capable of addressing sustainability and food health issues. Finally, the authors propose a framework in which the authors define key factors related to the acceptance and adoption of an insects-based diet in Western food cultures. The identification of these factors will help marketing and public policymakers to set up educational programs and strategies to promote entomophagy as a sustainable and healthy food practice within different Western food cultures, and thus, help consumers to achieve their FWB.FindingsTo identify the key factors influencing the acceptance of entomophagy as AFC, this paper provides a summary of the core motivators characterizing the acceptance and adoption of insects and insect-based foods in Western food cultures. Specifically, the authors identify the key factors influencing the acceptance of entomophagy as food consumption in Western food cultures and based on the extant literature by Batat et al. (2017) the authors provide an entomophagy framework that includes both idiocentric and allocentric factors considering the adoption of insects and insect-based foods in Western food cultures. Table I provides a summary.Social implicationsThe authors believe entomophagy has the potential to generate societal benefits, as its appeal at the social (hunger in the world), environmental (reducing meat consumption and its impact on ecology) and health (less calories and nutritive food) level.Originality/valueThe research contributes to creating new knowledge that simulates debate among public policy and marketing scholars about entomophagy as a novel food in Western food cultures. The focus on key factors related to its acceptance and adoption of Western food cultures calls for empirical evidence to be tested in the marketplace using possibly different insect categories and other novel foods. Further, the framework should stimulate thinking about ways the authors can change consumers’ negative perceptions of disgusting food. Marketers and policymakers can achieve it by making their practices more efficient in terms of promoting sustainable AFC, as well as with efficient policy initiatives focused on supporting AFC, including the regulation of insect introduction.

How Branded Marketing and Media Campaigns Can Support a Healthy Diet and Food Well-Being for Americans: Evidence for 13 Campaigns in the United States

This report summarizes the available evidence for strategies used in large-scale, branded marketing campaigns to promote healthy dietary behaviors to Americans between 1990 and 2016. An adapted health-branding framework guided the 3-step mixed-methods approach to identify evidence for campaigns using a scoping review, comprehensive literature review, and key-informant interviews (n = 11). Results show that industry, government, and nongovernmental organizations supported 13 campaigns that used various health-branding strategies. The authors suggest opportunities that may inform the design and evaluation of diet-related campaigns to improve understanding and application of health-branding strategies to promote a healthy diet and to advance consumer health and well-being.

Segmenting Adolescents Around Social Influences on Their Eating Behavior: Findings From Italy

Adolescence is a fundamental period in everyone’s life. Teenagers have for the first time the possibility to take on responsibility about their choices in many domains, building their own “lifestyle.” Among these domains, food is one of the most important considering the implications for their future health. Deep knowledge of teenagers’ behaviors and of factors affecting their choices can support tailored health policy and social marketing interventions for this population. The purpose of this article is to prospectively segment teenagers around food socialization factors as influencing factors of food preferences, attitudes, and behaviors of adolescents. A cluster analysis (CA) was performed on a sample of 4,749 respondents aged 15 and 18 years coming from Tuscany (Italy). Considering food well-being and consumer socialization frameworks, the CA used three food socialization variables related to influences and source of information/advices at intrapersonal, interpersonal, and broader societal levels. Five distinct groups were identified and described, showing deep differences in the adolescents’ food behaviors corresponding to different socialization patterns. Adolescents who reported broader food socialization at all investigated levels present better lifestyle habits. Social marketers, policy makers, and health professionals can work on specific influencing food socialization factors for tailoring marketing interventions and increasing their positive impact on adolescents’ food behaviors.

Restricted pleasure for healthy eating and food well-being

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship of dietary restriction and food well-being (FWB) in an under-researched population using a novel but growing approach to transition to healthier eating patterns.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses individual interviews of African-American participants in a food detoxification program, a specific form of food restriction used to transition to healthier eating.FindingsResults identify how food socialization and food literacy enable individuals to transform their relationship with food and enhance their FWB. Unlike prior research that focuses on food as the source of pleasure, this study finds that food is deployed as fuel, and this transition results in pleasure.Originality/valueThis research explains how a voluntary transition to healthier eating enables people to pursue FWB and extends the understanding of FWB (Block et al., 2011). In addition, this research contributes novel insights related to transformative consumer research efforts to motivate change. Findings have implications for marketing theory and practice, including the development of social marketing campaigns to support healthy eating patterns, especially for at-risk populations.

Consuming well-being and happiness through epicurean ingestion

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the idea of eating for pleasure and its effect on consumer well-being. It begins by introducing the concept of food well-being (FWB) under the transformative consumer research (TCR) agenda. Subsequently, it provides detailed discussions on the concept of pleasure, under which food practices involving epicurean pleasure and hedonic and eudaimonic consumption will be discussed.Design/methodology/approachThis paper takes a different approach to the usual qualitative methodologies by using the introspective analysis of the filmEat, Pray, Lovewhere the consumption of food for pleasure was heavily practiced.FindingsThis paper presents the introspective voice of the lead author’s food consumption. It reveals a food consumption practice which followed an initial loss of taste, to alternative food consumption (AFC) and finally slow food ingestion. The journey of her epicurean ingestion revealed pleasurable experiences that reflected a positive subjective well-being (SWB). This attitude of ingesting food and living for the moment propelled the idea that food well-being is more about consumer happiness.Originality/valueThis paper is novel in its approach to use film introspection to probe the concept of FWB within TCR. Additionally, it reveals the transitioning moment of AFC that leads to pleasurable experience. It also reveals that a personal investment in cooking for self restores taste and improves SWB. Overall, it showcases how the appreciation of the sensations of food from its taste, as it was ingested gradually, leads to the total experiential feeling embedded in food consumption.

Social food pleasure

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce and define social food pleasure as a new conceptual framework that can promote pleasurable and healthy food experiences.Design/methodology/approachBy reviewing the literature related to food well-being and pleasure primarily from marketing and management fields and by looking at current trends appealing to food consumers and food enjoyers, the authors propose a new conceptual framework of social food pleasure.FindingsThe authors conceptualize social food pleasure as “the enjoyment derived from the acts of sharing food experiences offline, online, and for society at large, that positively contributes to consumers’ overall pleasure and satisfaction with consumer’s food consumption”. Moreover, the authors identify three key contexts of applications of social food pleasure. Sharing offline relates to the social activities that can help achieve pleasure with food. Sharing online concerns new media tools which allow for the connection between consumers and food to enhance food pleasure. Sharing for society considers the current pleasure of consumers derived from having a positive social experience based on food consumption.Originality/valueBy defining social food pleasure and proposing a conceptual framework of the three contexts of application, the authors advance the understanding of what constitutes pleasurable food experiences, connecting it to healthy food choices and well-being.

Rebellious eating: older women misbehaving through indulgence

Purpose Food rituals are an ever present part of consumers’ lives that have practical implications for well-being. This paper aims to explore how food and its relationship to pleasure evolve, as women navigate social norms around gender and aging. Design/methodology/approach Ethnographic data were collected using in-depth interviews and participant observations of members of the Red Hat Society (RHS) across 27 months. This approach provided a more nuanced perspective on how food experiences shape consumption rituals and communal ties over time. Findings Older women in the RHS eat rebelliously when they break social norms of gender and aging by indulging together in food and drink. Their rituals of rebellious eating have implications on well-being, heightening their experiential pleasure of food and conviviality and forging social support and a sense of community. The dark side of personal indulgence is explored within a larger framework of food well-being. Originality/value This study shows how older women challenge social expectations around age and gender through food pleasure rituals. The concept of rebellious eating is introduced to conceptualize how these older women rethink aging and indulgence within a supportive community of consumption and integrate the concepts into their personal narratives.

Twitter y el bienestar alimentario: Análisis de mensajes #slowfood reflejando el bienestar alimentario de consumidores

This study examines how hashtag #SlowFood postings on social media site Twitter reflect the food well-being of consumers. 4102 tweets containing the hashtag #SlowFood were identified. Using interpretive content analysis, only 210 food-content messages in English language, from consumers were selected coded and interpreted. Displays of positive emotions and activities related with the slow food consumption on social media were found. By studying how consumers share their food well-being on social media, this research contributes to the understanding of food well-being and how it is practiced online.

Expanding the Lens of Food Well-Being: An Examination of Contemporary Marketing, Policy, and Practice with an Eye on the Future

Expanding the Lens of Food Well-Being: An Examination of Contemporary Marketing, Policy, and Practice with an Eye on the Future