Sustainable nutrition, environment, and agriculture, without consumer knowledge (SNEAK)

在英国，家庭外消费的食物占饮食对健康和环境影响的很大一部分。例如，42%的工人在食堂吃饭，每天提供700万份学校午餐。作为回应，我们将提供一个简单的工具，a）产生15-30%的碳足迹的膳食及其糖，脂肪和盐的含量减少，B）可以在不影响食品可接受性的情况下实施，甚至没有消费者意识到已经做出了改变，c）将准备立即应用于全市范围内和更远的地方。我们认识到这些主张的大胆性质。然而，它们是基于我们在现实世界中对食物选择的建模-一所大学的宿舍。我们的方法利用了一个简单但以前被忽视的原则。在菜单选项定期轮换的任何食堂环境中（例如，菜单选项A、B和C在星期一可用，选项D、E和F在星期二可用，以此类推），消费者每天只吃一餐。因此，机构的长期（每周/每年）营养和环境绩效将取决于碰巧在同一天提供的选项组合。我们的研究结果证实，饮食的显着改善（盐，糖和脂肪分别减少21%，28%和27%）可以仅仅通过重新组织菜单选项来实现，以增加一天内不受欢迎的膳食之间的竞争。实际上，这是一个多维问题（盐、糖、脂肪和碳足迹必须共同最小化），可以使用计算数学中成熟的技术来解决。为了实现这些雄心勃勃的目标，该项目汇集了行为心理学、农业/环境建模（融合社会科学和自然科学）和商业餐饮等专业知识的独特组合。通过这项“注重行动的研究”，我们将在大学宿舍中展示直接应用（将测量对饮食和碳足迹的实际影响）。在此基础上，我们将为非专家提供一个共同设计的在线平台，以改造其他餐饮服务。为了实现这一影响，我们将通过收集布里斯托各地学校的食堂食谱数据，展示我们方法的现实效益。然后，我们将与一个特殊的咨询团队（布里斯托市理事会和布里斯托食品网络）合作，制定一个战略，在全市范围内推出的学校。重要的是，我们还将咨询来自布拉德福德出生研究的合作伙伴，他们在多民族和社会贫困地区的儿童饮食干预方面具有专业知识。我们还将把我们的方法扩大到商业食品店。认识到这一想法的潜力，布里斯托大学已同意通过开发英国第一个“消费者实验室”来支持该项目--这是一个面向公众的设施，可以对午餐食品进行实验性操作。这是独一无二的，因为它结合了生态有效性（实际购买）与在任何一天操纵菜单产品的机会。在这里，我们将监测饮食质量和购买的碳足迹，然后展示如何改善两者。同样，为了制定实用的下一步应用，我们共同设计了一个详细的计划，与当地食品店进行咨询（例如，最后，除了考虑降低风险的方法外，我们还有内在的机会来利用“高风险（高收益）”的努力。“具体来说，因为经济奖励是一个强大的动力，而且需要快速和广泛的影响，我们计划展示我们的计算方法如何能够带来显着的健康和环境效益，同时降低学校和养老院等的食品成本，甚至增加咖啡馆和外卖等商店的利润。

In the UK, food consumed out of the home accounts for a significant proportion of the impact of diet on health and the environment. For example, 42% of workers eat at a canteen and 7 million school lunches are served daily. In response, we will deliver a simple tool that; a) generates a 15-30% reduction in both the carbon footprint of meals and their sugar, fat, and salt content, b) can be implemented without compromising food acceptability and without consumers even being aware that changes have been made, and c) will be ready for immediate application at a city-wide level and beyond.We recognise the bold nature of these claims. However, they are grounded on our modelling of food choices in a real-world context - a university catered hall of residence. Our approach exploits a simple, yet previously overlooked, principle. In any canteen setting where menu options rotate on a fixed-term basis (e.g., menu options A, B, and C are available on Monday, options D, E, and F on Tuesday, and so on), consumers eat only one meal per day. As such, the longer-term (weekly/yearly) nutritional and environmental performance of an establishment will depend on the combination of options that happen to be served on the same day. Our findings confirm that marked improvements in diet (respectively, 21%, 28%, and 27% reductions in salt, sugar, and fat) can be achieved merely by reorganising menu options in a way that increases within-day competition between undesirable meals. In practical terms this is a multidimensional problem (salt, sugar, fat, and carbon footprint must be jointly minimised) that is possible to address using well-established techniques in computational mathematics. To achieve these ambitious targets, this project brings together a unique combination of expertise in behavioural psychology, agricultural/environmental modelling (integrating social and natural sciences), and commercial catering.With this 'action-focused research,' we will demonstrate direct application in a university hall of residence (actual effects on diet and carbon footprint will be measured). Building on this, we will produce a co-designed online platform for non-experts to transform other catering services. To deliver this impact, we will demonstrate the real-world benefits of our approach by collecting canteen recipe data from schools across Bristol. We will then partner with an exceptional advisory team (Bristol City Council and Bristol Food Network) to develop a strategy for city-wide rollout in schools. Importantly, we will also consult with partners from the Born in Bradford Study, who have expertise in dietary interventions for children in multi-ethnic and socially deprived areas. We will also broaden the application of our methods to a commercial food outlet. Recognising the potential of this idea, the University of Bristol has agreed to support the project by developing the UK's first 'Consumer Lab' - a public-facing facility in which lunchtime food offerings can be experimentally manipulated. This is unique, because it combines ecological validity (actual purchases are made) with the opportunity to manipulate menu offerings on any given day. Here, we will monitor the diet quality and carbon footprint of purchases, and then show how both can be improved. Again, to develop practical next steps for application, we have co-designed a detailed plan for consulting with local food outlets (e.g., cafés and takeaways).Finally, in addition to factoring in ways to mitigate risk, we have built-in opportunities to capitalise on 'high risk (high gain) endeavours.' Specifically, because financial reward is a strong motivator, and because rapid and wide-reaching impact is needed, we plan to show how our computational approach can return significant health and environmental benefits, alongside a reduction in food costs in schools and care homes, etc, and even an increase in profit in outlets such as cafés and takeaways.