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Consumer Choice and Food Policy. a Literature Review

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Consumer Choice and Food Policy. a Literature Review See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270285136 Consumer Choice and Food Policy. A Literature Review Article in Journal of Environmental Protection and Ecology · January 2011 CITATIONS READS 18 5,472 4 authors: Alexandra Jurcoane Mihaela Draghici University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest 11 PUBLICATIONS 44 CITATIONS 46 PUBLICATIONS 86 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Mona Elena Popa Petru Niculiţă University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest 41 PUBLICATIONS 221 CITATIONS 250 PUBLICATIONS 893 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: IMPROVING FOOD SAFETY THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTIVE AND BIODEGRADABLE FOOD PACKAGING SYSTEMS (ACTIBIOSAFE) View project ActiBioSafe View project All content following this page was uploaded by Mona Elena Popa on 02 January 2015. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. Journal of Environmental Protection and Ecology 12, No 2, 708–717 (2011) Environmental management CONSUMER CHOICE AND FOOD POLICY. A LITERATURE REVIEW A. POpaa, M. DRAGHICIb, M. POpab*, P. Niculitab aNewcastle University, UK E-mail: [email protected] bFaculty of Biotechnology, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Bucharest, Romania E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. This paper is a product of a research national project that is examining the food consumer behaviour by analysing the drivers for organic food consumption in Romania in order to develop marketing strategies useful to key players in the organic food market. The analysis of the existing literature review in this paper reveals a changing food culture that reflects today lifestyles and the society interests on environment and health related issues in the world. Where, when and what people eat are changing, though currently good intentions are not always translated into action. Consum- ers increasingly want food to be healthier and more ethical, as well as to taste good. Nevertheless, the demand is not increasing at the same rate, because there is a gap between what people do and what they say. At the same time, it is being argued that buying ethical food (organic food, fair-trade products and locally grown products) may do more harm than good, in the long-run, in terms of environment-nutrition-health relationship. Keywords: ethical food, food policy, consumer choice, environment-nutrition-health relationship. AIMS AND BACKGROUND The food market in Romania is changing. Like in the rest of the world, the Roma- nian food consumer is becoming more health and environmental conscious than ever before. Nevertheless, the demand for healthy and environmental-friendly products is lower than European average. The present paper is focusing on consumer choice of ethical food, the demand for ethical food products, and the implications for food policy. By reviewing the available literature, we were able to identify possible approaches for the Romanian food policy and topics for which further research is needed. * For correspondence. 708 EXPERIMENTAL METHOD In order to identify the trends in demand for ethical foods and, also, the changing food culture both at international and national levels, a systematic literature review was undertaken. The literature search was largely conducted on English language articles, but also included articles in Romanian. From the literature review, complexity of ethical food definition, arguments for and against three groups of ethical foods (organics, fair-trade and locally produced), market trends and food policies on the subject were identified. Furthermore, both behavioural changes in the food consumer and the characteristics of an ethical consumer were identified. In the subsequent sections, we elucidate the relationships and trends shown by the ethical food sector, looking at ethical food from a consumer choice perspec- tive, and the changes of food consumer behaviour. Possible implications for food policy makers in Romania are also identified. ETHICAL FOODS Ethics is a science of moral acting, in a sense of good living, fair acting, and an aptitude to make reasonable decisions and judgement. The mission of ethical norms is to give orientation, without obliging, because it is the food chain stakeholders own initiative to act morally. Without this personal motivation and responsibility, standards and regulations guided by ethical dimensions would not be significant to society1. Organic, fair-trade and local foods are considered to be ethical foods because of their common values: better, healthier living, fair acting, and sustainability. The organic food and farming principles are based on the values of health, ecology, fairness and care2. The European Commission defines organic farming as ‘a system of production based either on no use, or very limited use, of artificial fertilisers, synthetic pesticides, growth regulators or hormones, and livestock feed additives. Instead, organic production methods utilise agronomic techniques founded on the rational use of natural resources, such as crop rotations and intercropping with nitrogen fixing legumes, animal manures, green composts, biological pest control, pest- and disease-resistant plant varieties and other techniques’3. The European Commission acknowledges the potential of organic food and farming and sees it as a priority by establishing an European Action Plan for Or- ganic Food and Farming. Several studies showed that organic agricultural meth- ods contribute in preserving food security and facing climate change, thanks to its reliance on fossil-fuel independent and locally-available production assets4–6. However, the implications of a reduced agricultural productivity for the socioeco- nomic system should be considered and suitable agricultural policies worked out7. 709 This could be solved by means of appropriate ‘eco-functional intensification’, i.e. more efficient use of natural resources, improved nutrient recycling techniques and agro-ecological methods for enhancing diversity and the health of soils, crops and livestock6. Hence the need to look at organic as systemic in terms of the whole food chain approach8. The organic lifestyle implies authentic food, better quality of life, improved health and immunity, promoting foods of vegetable origin6. There is an aversion of committed organic consumers to all aspects of genetic modification. Besides ethics, this particular issue has very far-reaching implications as to whether organic and GMO-using conventional systems can even coexist in the same area, due to the great distances that pollen can be dispersed by wind and bees8. Consequently, organic agriculture has regulations to ban the use of GMO (Ref. 9). Nanotechnology is currently unregulated, and nano-products are not required to be labelled. There is an opportunity for the organic community to take the initiative to develop standards to exclude engineered nano-particles from organic products. Such a step will service both the organic community and the otherwise nano-averse consumers. An exclusion of nanotechnology from the organic food chain keeps faith with the philosophy and principles of organics, serves as a precautionary act to protect organic consumers, processors and farmers, and there is the opportunity to attract a new cohort of consumers to organics – the nano-averse10. The core challenge to the pioneer organic farmer and consumer groups, which remains to this day, is that it was, and still is, not possible to test a product organic integrity by measurement or analysis8. Therefore, organic foods have a strong credence element and they rely on certification and labelling schemes11. As the organic industry continues to grow in volume and profile, so too does the resistance to the industry by vested interests, aided by the sensationalist media. Information and misinformation concerning the quality and safety of organic foods is being conveyed to consumers via the mass media and the Internet. Reducing opportunities for critics can be accomplished through rigorous organic product quality control and ensuring that the advertised product benefits match the actual product attributes12. ‘Going local’ is a movement that promotes local development sustained by local consumers. There is a growing interest in sourcing local food products. Com- munity Supported Agriculture (CSA), a good practice example of USA marketing strategy where consumers buy ‘shares’ in the farm before planting begins and receive a portion of whatever is available each week of the growing season. Along with weekly deliveries of fresh produce, group involvement has led to social and nutritional benefits for CSA customers13. In this growing trend towards empower- ing local economies, organic agriculture will play an important role. It is low-risk and high-value agriculture with an excellent tracking and tracing system, and its 710 principles and added value are easy to communicate to other actors and partners in rural areas. Organic farmers are especially good at using direct sales channels such as local farmers markets, farm shops, house delivery and Internet marketing. Organic food culture has the potential to be the driving force behind a sus- tainable, natural and healthy lifestyle6. Another important aspect of an increased demand for locally grown products is related to decreasing food miles, thus helping to lower the environmental impact
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