Connecting producers and consumers to enable more sustainable consumption: communicating the environmental impact of food through packaging

连接生产者和消费者以实现更可持续的消费：通过包装传达食品对环境的影响

• 批准号: 2603207
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Nottingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2603207
• 关键词: Connecting; producers; consumers; enable; more

Environmental sustainability is an increasingly important factor for both producers and consumers within food systems; this is evidenced within changes to manufacturing processes, marketing campaigns, legislation and consumer buying trends, as well as being voiced by both industry and consumers within research, conferences and government policy such as the National Food Strategy for England. It is however, a term that due to increased use, arguably causing it to become a buzzword that contributes to greenwashing, has become both unclear and disputed in its definition within different contexts.Within food systems, it is often difficult to decipher how sustainable a product is due to lacking, inconsistent or conflicting information. It is therefore challenging to understand what constitutes sustainable consumption. One way of communicating information surrounding the environmental impact of food products is via packaging, which already offers a considerable amount of nutritional, allergic and contact information in the UK. Whilst an array of so called 'eco labels' exist, highlighting specific environmental factors such as those relating to recycling, Fairtrade and organic products, the origin of produce and the standards by which a company has abided when capturing or harvesting it, the diversity of these labels makes it difficult to reach a conclusion as to the overall environmental impact of one product compared to another. Research is currently being undertaken to create a single 'score' that encompasses an array of different environmental factors that reduces this challenge, e.g., using life cycle assessment and the European Commission's Environmental Footprint calculation model, however the extent to which consumer perceptions has been considered within the creation of these scores is not currently clear. Given that the role of this information is to inform the consumer, it can be argued that such perceptions (e.g., which environmental factors consumers feel influence their buying decisions) are vitally important to include in the creation of environmental impact information on packaging. This consumer-specific input would help create an informed, targeted, comprehensible and accessible way of communicating through packaging, which would benefit consumers but also producers by gaining a clear understanding of where best to focus their attention regarding the sustainability of their products.Furthermore, this research aims to understand how packaging can be best used as a communication tool for the environmental impact of food products within the UK. By consulting consumers and understanding which factors to prioritise in packaging information, it aims to connect producers and consumers through information sharing that leads to increased trust between both parties, more accessible environmental information and therefore increased awareness surrounding the sustainability of different food products. This will provide both producers and consumers with the necessary information to work towards more sustainable consumption within their own context (where possible, considering external limitations and barriers) due to clear, transparent and consistent access to sustainability measures of food products.

环境可持续性对粮食系统内的生产者和消费者来说都是一个日益重要的因素；这在生产过程、营销活动、立法和消费者购买趋势的变化中得到了证明，也在研究、会议和政府政策（如英国国家食品战略）中得到了行业和消费者的表达。然而，这个术语由于使用的增加，可以说是导致它成为一个有助于绿色清洗的流行语，在不同的背景下，它的定义变得既不明确又有争议。在粮食系统中，由于缺乏、不一致或相互冲突的信息，往往难以解读产品的可持续性。因此，理解什么是可持续消费是具有挑战性的。传达食品对环境影响信息的一种方式是通过包装，在英国，包装已经提供了相当多的营养、过敏和联系信息。虽然存在一系列所谓的“生态标签”，突出了具体的环境因素，如与回收，公平贸易和有机产品有关的因素，产品的来源以及公司在捕获或收获时遵守的标准，但这些标签的多样性使得很难得出关于一种产品与另一种产品相比对整体环境影响的结论。目前正在进行研究，以创建一个包含一系列不同环境因素的单一“分数”，以减少这一挑战，例如，使用生命周期评估和欧盟委员会的环境足迹计算模型，然而，在这些分数的创建过程中，消费者的看法在多大程度上被考虑到，目前尚不清楚。鉴于这些信息的作用是向消费者提供信息，因此可以认为，这种看法（例如，消费者认为哪些环境因素会影响其购买决定）在制定包装环境影响信息时至关重要。这种针对消费者的投入将有助于通过包装创造一种知情的、有针对性的、可理解的和可访问的沟通方式，这将有利于消费者，也有利于生产者，因为他们清楚地认识到，在产品的可持续性方面，最好把注意力集中在哪里。此外，本研究旨在了解包装如何最好地用作英国食品对环境影响的沟通工具。通过咨询消费者并了解包装信息中优先考虑哪些因素，它旨在通过信息共享连接生产者和消费者，从而增加双方之间的信任，更容易获得环境信息，从而提高对不同食品可持续性的认识。这将为生产者和消费者提供必要的信息，以便在自己的情况下（在可能的情况下，考虑到外部限制和障碍）努力实现更可持续的消费，因为可以明确、透明和一致地获得食品的可持续性措施。