Project: Implementing sustainable diets in Europe
There is a broad agreement on the need to identify and facilitate the adoption of more sustainable diets in Europe. However, controversy remains over the sustainability properties of alternatives diets and the effectiveness of policy efforts in affecting changes in food consumption. The proposal aims at overcoming some of these limitations by identifying clear dietary targets and the mix of policy instruments capable of ensuring their adoption by the EU population. The project will tackle three major issues. First, we will generate additional insights into the sustainability of current diets, and examine the impacts of alternative diets, considering health, environmental and cost dimensions simultaneously. The second issue will be to improve our understanding of consumers’ preferences for food and the trade-offs involved in food consumption decisions. The third issue will be the assessment of policy options for the promotion of sustainable food choices, considering instruments such as information campaigns and dietary recommendations, as well as new product characteristics, labelling and fiscal policies. Based on the analysis of a large range of consumption patterns in Europe and through the modelling of diets and health and environmental impacts, the project will define the dietary targets to be promoted for European consumers. Combining surveys, experiments and economic modelling, we will aim to identify the factors preventing consumers from making sustainable dietary choices, as well as factors influencing the acceptability and the willingness to pay (WTP) for more sustainable foods. Finally, the project will highlight the impacts of policy instruments, aimed at supporting informed consumer choices or changing the market environment, on the adoption of sustainable diets. The consortium is composed of 15 highly-experienced teams from 9 European countries. The approach will be multi-disciplinary, with experts in economics, nutrition, consumer research, public health and environmental science.
| Acronym | SUSDIET |
| Duration | 01/04/2014 - 31/03/2017 |
| Website | visit project website |
| Network | SUSFOOD |
| Call | 1st Joint Call for Proposals |