This document discusses food policies for healthier diets and whether policies should focus on adjusting the food environment or changing consumer behavior. It notes that food markets are dominated by supply-side agents and consumer choices marginally influence policies. It also discusses using various policy tools like regulations, incentives, and labeling to influence diets by either pushing changes on the supply side or pulling changes by nudging consumer demand and behavior. The document advocates that policies are needed to shape a favorable food environment and that social norms can also support improved consumer choices.

1. Food policies for healthier diets:
Adjusting food environment or changing consumers behaviour?
Ruerd Ruben

2.  Healthier diets ask for food systems
transformation
 Food markets are dominated by
supply-side agents (push)
 Consumers’ choices marginally
influence food policies
 Collective action & social norms
shape the food environment
Key messages
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Food
Environment
Food
Policies
Food
markets
Diet
choices

3. Influencing diet choice
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4.  Laws & regulations
 Food Standards
 Price incentives
Push – Pull Framework
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 Consumer information
 Labelling & certification
 Social Norms
Public &
Business
Private &
Civic

5. Experimental approach for understanding pathways out of poverty
Motivation: what can behaviour change do ?
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6. Sense of urgency: growing malnutrition
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Reduction of poverty
does NOT lead to less
hunger
Intensification of food
production does NOT
lead do better nutrition

7. Changes in diets, shopping & eating practices
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CHANGE IN DIETS
Gradually reduced share
of staples
Strong increase intake of
(ultra)processed food
Moderate increase in fruit
& vegetables
Strong increase in animal-
based food
SHOPPING-EATING PATTERNS
DRIVERS
Budget & Time
constraints
Prices &
Convenience
Habits & Norms

8.  Affordability: healthy food is very expensive
 Efficiency: high food loss & waste
 Safety: high risk & low resilience
 Reliability: limited trust & market information
 Inclusiveness: involving smallholders?
Food system failures
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9. Complexity: multiple drivers & multiple outcomes
MULTIPLE
OUTCOMES
MULTIPLE DRIVERS
INTERLINKED FOOD
SYSTEM COMPONENTS

10. Drivers of food system change
Food supply systems
Agricultural
production
Food
storage,
transport
and trade
Food
transformation
Food retail &
provisioning
Food environment
Consumer
Diet
quality
Multiple Agents
Government
Producers
Traders
Retailers
Households
Persons
Multiple Levels
Country
Region
Village
Neighbourhood
Family
Intra-household

11. Stylized food market
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 Supply and demand of
homogeneous products
 Elastic adjustment to market
conditions
 Lay of Say: supply creates its
own demand (no overproduction
or unemployment)
Standard framework
Supply = Demand

12. Real food markets
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 Arena of multiple agents
 Bargaining on prices, volume
and quality
 High Risk and Low Trust
(Transaction Costs for
reducing uncertainties)

13. Food policies (design)
1. Understand the drivers of system
performance (causality)
2. Identify solutions in another area
than where the problem occurs
3. Linking technical and behavioural
change
4. Interaction between public, private &
civic agents
5. Considering global outcomes of local
interventions
Key challenge: Not ‘fixing’ the
problem but changing the
system performance
Food
Policy
Prices &
subsidies
Rules &
Laws
Grades &
Standards
Market
competeti
veness

14. Food Policy (implementation) : Push & Pull
 Market transparency (supply)
Data leads to change behaviour
(concious / self interest)
 Nudging consumers (demand)
Information leads to change behaviour
(unconcious / social norms)

15. Food choices
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Eating Motivations
• Liking
• Habits
• Needs
• Physical well-being
• Convenience
• Pleasure
• Tradition
• Nature concerns
• Sociability
• Price
• Physical appeal
• Weight control
• Affect regulation
• External demands
• Social image

16. Labelling
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From Complex to Simple labels
Positive vs. Negative incentives
Influencing choices
Changing preferences

17. Towards food system transformation
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 Public policies are critical to shape a favourable food environment
(accessibility; affordability) – we cannot leave this to the market
 Social norms can support improved choice behaviour
 Negative labelling (obesity) and legal claims (environment) may
lead to rapid responses from food industry
 Transition pathways of food systems need support from broad
coalitions

18. Outlook: An agenda for future research
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 Can social safety nets (cash transfers) support healthier diets?
 Effects of true pricing & negative labelling on food choice?
 Spillovers of school/hospital feeding to homestead behaviour?
 How to use ICT for creating social norms on consumer choice?

19. Thanks for your attention
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