Sarah James | The Australian National University (original) (raw)

Papers by Sarah James

Sustainability Science, 2017

Appetite, Jan 26, 2016

Internationally, there is increasing recognition of the importance of multilevel policies and act... more Internationally, there is increasing recognition of the importance of multilevel policies and actions that address healthy and environmentally friendly food behaviours. However it is not yet clear which actions are most suitable to support consumers to adopt both behaviours concurrently. To this end, we undertook a qualitative study to assess consumer perceptions, experiences and attitudes towards healthy and environmentally friendly foods and four target behaviours: reducing overconsumption of food beyond energy needs, reducing consumption of low-nutrient energy dense foods, eating less animal- and more plant-derived foods, and reducing food waste. Online in-depth interviews were held with 29 Australian food shoppers representing different levels of involvement with health and environment in daily food choices. The results indicate that compared to health, the relationship between food and the environment is rarely considered by consumers. The four target food behaviours were prima...

Space and Culture, 2013

Western cities are becoming increasingly culturally diverse through the intersection of processes... more Western cities are becoming increasingly culturally diverse through the intersection of processes such as international migration and the political resurgence of Indigenous peoples. The challenge remains, however, to shift from physical copresence to equal rights to the city. This article explores this challenge in an empirical case study of Aboriginal participation in plans for urban development on the fringe of Sydney, Australia’s largest city. The findings from this research highlight the limits of official attempts at recognition that focus on a narrow definition of culture to the detriment of economic and political equity. It provides empirical support for a reconceptualization of recognition to incorporate redistribution in order to redress historical marginalization and dispossession that currently limit participation in the urban polity for diverse groups.

Food Quality and Preference, 2017

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2014

Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 2014

ABSTRACT

Geographical Research, 2013

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2017

Public health nutrition, Jan 18, 2015

To develop a policy formulation tool for strategically informing food and nutrition policy activi... more To develop a policy formulation tool for strategically informing food and nutrition policy activities to promote healthy and sustainable diets (HSD). A policy formulation tool consisting of two complementary components was developed. First, a conceptual framework of the environment-public health nutrition relationship was constructed to characterise and conceptualise the food system problem. Second, an 'Orders of Food Systems Change' schema drawing on systems dynamics thinking was developed to identify, assess and propose policy options to redesign food systems. Food and nutrition policy activities to promote HSD have been politicised, fragmented and lacking a coherent conceptual and strategic focus to tackle complex food system challenges. The tool's conceptual framework component comprises three integrated dimensions: (i) a structure built around the environment and public health nutrition relationship that is mediated via the food system; (ii) internal mechanisms that...

There are numerous government and industry actions that could advance consumer choices for health... more There are numerous government and industry actions that could advance consumer choices for healthier and environmentally sustainable food products. This study investigates the effect of point-of-purchase actions; price changes, health and/or environment logos, health and/or environment product information labels. Three hypothetical choice experiments investigated choices between specific products and their healthy and sustainable alternatives: rice (white versus brown rice, n = 280), meat (beef versus kangaroo steak, n = 344) and tomatoes (tinned versus fresh tomatoes for a tomato sauce, n = 320). Data was collected via an online survey from a representative nationwide sample of Australian household grocery buyers (N = 944).

Results show that the effects of the investigated actions are very product and consumer segment dependent. In general, price changes, particularly a decreased price (subsidy) for the healthy and sustainable alternatives, had a bigger effect on shifting choices than did a logo and/or label. Product similarity seems to play an important role as we observed the greatest shift in choices in the rice experiment with more respondents opting for brown rice instead of white rice. The responsiveness of consumers to the investigated measures was largely influenced by whether they were familiar with, and liked, the healthy and sustainable product alternative.

In conclusion this study indicates that point-of-purchase actions may partially contribute to advance uptake of healthy and sustainable food alternatives. The effects of such measures are expected to be greater when these alternatives are more similar to the standard products for their sensory properties, convenience, product liking and familiarity.

Internationally, there is increasing recognition of the importance of multilevel policies and act... more Internationally, there is increasing recognition of the importance of multilevel policies and actions that address healthy and environmentally friendly food behaviours. However it is not yet clear which actions are most suitable to support consumers to adopt both behaviours concurrently. To this end, we undertook a qualitative study to assess consumer perceptions, experiences and attitudes towards healthy and environmentally friendly foods and four target behaviours: reducing overconsumption of food beyond energy needs, reducing consumption of low-nutrient energy dense foods, eating less animal- and more plant-derived foods, and reducing food waste.

Online in-depth interviews were held with 29 Australian food shoppers representing different levels of involvement with health and environment in daily food choices. The results indicate that compared to health, the relationship between food and the environment is rarely considered by consumers. The four target food behaviours were primarily associated and motivated by an impact on health, except for not wasting foods. Participants had the most positive attitude and highest motivation for eating less processed and packaged foods, mostly to avoid excessive packaging and ‘chemicals’ in foods. This was followed by the behaviours reducing food waste and overconsumption. Conversely, there was a predominantly negative attitude towards, and low motivation for, eating less animal-derived products and more plant based foods.

Overall, consumers found a joined concept of healthy and environmentally friendly foods an acceptable idea. We recommend that health should remain the overarching principle for policies and actions concerned with shifting consumer behaviours, as this personal benefit appears to have a greater potential to support behaviour change. Future consumer focused work could pay attention to framing behavioural messages, providing intermediate behavioural goals, and a multiple target approach to change habitual behaviours.

Agriculture on the fringes of cities across the Global North is increasingly perceived as making ... more Agriculture on the fringes of cities across the Global North is increasingly perceived as making an important contribution to urban sustainability. As Australian cities continue to expand and encroach on their peri-urban peripheries, there is rising concern about loss of farmland to housing. Such concerns are especially urgent in the Sydney Basin, due to population growth, and topographical and land-use constraints. Accounting for the Basin's farmlands, however, remains opaque, not unrelated to difficulties in acquiring reliable data on the area and value of Sydney's agricultural industries. The problem is not simply that there are no data available but rather that the nature of existing data is (often hotly) contested. Critical questions for urban planners therefore remain unanswered, including: is peri-urban agriculture as important as advocates suggest? Are metropolitan food supplies under threat? If peri-urban farmland is important, what should be done to preserve it? In collating and analysing existing Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and non-ABS data on Sydney agriculture between 1992 and 2011, we outline the need for more reliable and consistent longitudinal data to enable better planning for Sydney's farmland into the future. Notwithstanding limitations of available data sources, our findings reveal trends in Sydney Basin agriculture that invite debate on many assumptions about the nature of peri-urban agriculture. These findings emphasise the importance of geographically specific, evidence-based analysis as a basis for planning for peri-urban agriculture.

The localisation of food production, particularly in the form of urban/peri-urban agriculture, is... more The localisation of food production, particularly in the form of urban/peri-urban agriculture, is only gaining increasing public and political attention in industrialised nations such as Australia amid growing concerns about urban sustainability. Small-scale family farmers on the peri-urban fringe of cities such as Sydney, Australia's largest city, are considered key actors in the creation of a more sustainable and just urban food system by those advocating for food system change. The assumed alterity of such small-scale farmers from the so-called ‘mainstream’ food system, however, has led to a focus on localised threats such as urban development and solutions such as alternative food networks. This localised focus risks neglecting the way in which small-scale family farmers, such as those on Sydney's urban fringe, are directly connected to and reliant on the mainstream for their economic viability. Emphasising the importance of issues such as supermarket power and consumer choice, this paper illustrates that it is necessary to examine the continuing connection between the mainstream system and ‘local’, small-scale producers to achieve food system change.

To say something is complex can often be conclusive. It can mean that an issue or an idea is too ... more To say something is complex can often be conclusive. It can mean that an issue or an idea is too difficult to explain or understand, or has too many aspects to examine clearly. In many ways the designation “complex” can be an abdication, an end to an argument or discussion. An epochal change in thinking about complexity dates from post structuralist challenges to the idea that the world was known by arguing that everything was indeed much more complex than master narratives would suggest. In the last decade a social scientific engagement with complexity theory has meant that social and cultural meanings of “complex” and “complexity” are being explored.

Objective: To develop a policy formulation tool for strategically informing food and nutrition po... more Objective: To develop a policy formulation tool for strategically informing food
and nutrition policy activities to promote healthy and sustainable diets (HSD).
Design: A policy formulation tool consisting of two complementary components
was developed. First, a conceptual framework of the environment–public health
nutrition relationship was constructed to characterise and conceptualise the food
system problem. Second, an ‘Orders of Food Systems Change’ schema drawing on
systems dynamics thinking was developed to identify, assess and propose policy
options to redesign food systems.
Setting: Food and nutrition policy activities to promote HSD have been politicised,
fragmented and lacking a coherent conceptual and strategic focus to tackle
complex food system challenges.
Results: The tool’s conceptual framework component comprises three integrated
dimensions: (i) a structure built around the environment and public health
nutrition relationship that is mediated via the food system; (ii) internal mechanisms
that operate through system dynamics; and (iii) external interactions that frame its
nature and a scope within ecological parameters. The accompanying schema is
structured around three orders of change distinguished by contrasting ideological
perspectives on the type and extent of change needed to ‘solve’ the HSD problem.
Conclusions: The conceptual framework’s systems analysis of the environment–
public health nutrition relationship sets out the food system challenges for HSD.
The schema helps account for political realities in policy making and is a key link
to operationalise the framework’s concepts to actions aimed at redesigning food
systems. In combination they provide a policy formulation tool to strategically
inform policy activities to redesign food systems and promote HSD.

By the end of the century, global temperatures are likely to have risen by at least 2°C compared ... more By the end of the century, global temperatures are
likely to have risen by at least 2°C compared with
pre-industrial times. No nation will be immune to the
resulting changes in the world’s weather patterns and
as international negotiations aimed at reducing future
carbon emissions continue to have limited success, it
would be rash for any country to fail to plan to meet
the consequent challenges to their infrastructure and
citizens. For Australia, one of the most important
concerns is the health of its people.
This report summarises the discussions and
recommendations of a group of early- and
mid-career researchers from a broad range of
relevant disciplines who came together in July 2014
to consider climate challenges in relation to health
in Australia.

Objective: To determine key points of intervention in urban food systems to improve the climate r... more Objective: To determine key points of intervention in urban food systems to
improve the climate resilience, equity and healthfulness of the whole system.
Design: The paper brings together evidence from a 3-year, Australia-based mixedmethods
research project focused on climate change adaptation, cities, food
systems and health. In an integrated analysis of the three research domains –
encompassing the production, distribution and consumption sectors of the food
chain – the paper examines the efficacy of various food subsystems (industrial,
alternative commercial and civic) in achieving climate resilience and good
nutrition.
Setting: Greater Western Sydney, Australia.
Subjects: Primary producers, retailers and consumers in Western Sydney.
Results: This overarching analysis of the tripartite study found that: (i) industrial
food production systems can be more environmentally sustainable than alternative
systems, indicating the importance of multiple food subsystems for food security;
(ii) a variety of food distributors stocking healthy and sustainable items is required
to ensure that these items are accessible, affordable and available to all; and (iii) it
is not enough that healthy and sustainable foods are produced or sold, consumers
must also want to consume them. In summary, a resilient urban food system
requires that healthy and sustainable food items are produced, that consumers can
attain them and that they actually wish to purchase them.
Conclusions: This capstone paper found that the interconnected nature of the
different sectors in the food system means that to improve environmental
sustainability, equity and population health outcomes, action should focus on the
system as a whole and not just on any one sector.

Sustainability Science, 2017

Appetite, Jan 26, 2016

Internationally, there is increasing recognition of the importance of multilevel policies and act... more Internationally, there is increasing recognition of the importance of multilevel policies and actions that address healthy and environmentally friendly food behaviours. However it is not yet clear which actions are most suitable to support consumers to adopt both behaviours concurrently. To this end, we undertook a qualitative study to assess consumer perceptions, experiences and attitudes towards healthy and environmentally friendly foods and four target behaviours: reducing overconsumption of food beyond energy needs, reducing consumption of low-nutrient energy dense foods, eating less animal- and more plant-derived foods, and reducing food waste. Online in-depth interviews were held with 29 Australian food shoppers representing different levels of involvement with health and environment in daily food choices. The results indicate that compared to health, the relationship between food and the environment is rarely considered by consumers. The four target food behaviours were prima...

Space and Culture, 2013

Western cities are becoming increasingly culturally diverse through the intersection of processes... more Western cities are becoming increasingly culturally diverse through the intersection of processes such as international migration and the political resurgence of Indigenous peoples. The challenge remains, however, to shift from physical copresence to equal rights to the city. This article explores this challenge in an empirical case study of Aboriginal participation in plans for urban development on the fringe of Sydney, Australia’s largest city. The findings from this research highlight the limits of official attempts at recognition that focus on a narrow definition of culture to the detriment of economic and political equity. It provides empirical support for a reconceptualization of recognition to incorporate redistribution in order to redress historical marginalization and dispossession that currently limit participation in the urban polity for diverse groups.

Food Quality and Preference, 2017

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2014

Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 2014

ABSTRACT

Geographical Research, 2013

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2017

Public health nutrition, Jan 18, 2015

To develop a policy formulation tool for strategically informing food and nutrition policy activi... more To develop a policy formulation tool for strategically informing food and nutrition policy activities to promote healthy and sustainable diets (HSD). A policy formulation tool consisting of two complementary components was developed. First, a conceptual framework of the environment-public health nutrition relationship was constructed to characterise and conceptualise the food system problem. Second, an 'Orders of Food Systems Change' schema drawing on systems dynamics thinking was developed to identify, assess and propose policy options to redesign food systems. Food and nutrition policy activities to promote HSD have been politicised, fragmented and lacking a coherent conceptual and strategic focus to tackle complex food system challenges. The tool's conceptual framework component comprises three integrated dimensions: (i) a structure built around the environment and public health nutrition relationship that is mediated via the food system; (ii) internal mechanisms that...

There are numerous government and industry actions that could advance consumer choices for health... more There are numerous government and industry actions that could advance consumer choices for healthier and environmentally sustainable food products. This study investigates the effect of point-of-purchase actions; price changes, health and/or environment logos, health and/or environment product information labels. Three hypothetical choice experiments investigated choices between specific products and their healthy and sustainable alternatives: rice (white versus brown rice, n = 280), meat (beef versus kangaroo steak, n = 344) and tomatoes (tinned versus fresh tomatoes for a tomato sauce, n = 320). Data was collected via an online survey from a representative nationwide sample of Australian household grocery buyers (N = 944).

Results show that the effects of the investigated actions are very product and consumer segment dependent. In general, price changes, particularly a decreased price (subsidy) for the healthy and sustainable alternatives, had a bigger effect on shifting choices than did a logo and/or label. Product similarity seems to play an important role as we observed the greatest shift in choices in the rice experiment with more respondents opting for brown rice instead of white rice. The responsiveness of consumers to the investigated measures was largely influenced by whether they were familiar with, and liked, the healthy and sustainable product alternative.

In conclusion this study indicates that point-of-purchase actions may partially contribute to advance uptake of healthy and sustainable food alternatives. The effects of such measures are expected to be greater when these alternatives are more similar to the standard products for their sensory properties, convenience, product liking and familiarity.

Internationally, there is increasing recognition of the importance of multilevel policies and act... more Internationally, there is increasing recognition of the importance of multilevel policies and actions that address healthy and environmentally friendly food behaviours. However it is not yet clear which actions are most suitable to support consumers to adopt both behaviours concurrently. To this end, we undertook a qualitative study to assess consumer perceptions, experiences and attitudes towards healthy and environmentally friendly foods and four target behaviours: reducing overconsumption of food beyond energy needs, reducing consumption of low-nutrient energy dense foods, eating less animal- and more plant-derived foods, and reducing food waste.

Online in-depth interviews were held with 29 Australian food shoppers representing different levels of involvement with health and environment in daily food choices. The results indicate that compared to health, the relationship between food and the environment is rarely considered by consumers. The four target food behaviours were primarily associated and motivated by an impact on health, except for not wasting foods. Participants had the most positive attitude and highest motivation for eating less processed and packaged foods, mostly to avoid excessive packaging and ‘chemicals’ in foods. This was followed by the behaviours reducing food waste and overconsumption. Conversely, there was a predominantly negative attitude towards, and low motivation for, eating less animal-derived products and more plant based foods.

Overall, consumers found a joined concept of healthy and environmentally friendly foods an acceptable idea. We recommend that health should remain the overarching principle for policies and actions concerned with shifting consumer behaviours, as this personal benefit appears to have a greater potential to support behaviour change. Future consumer focused work could pay attention to framing behavioural messages, providing intermediate behavioural goals, and a multiple target approach to change habitual behaviours.

Agriculture on the fringes of cities across the Global North is increasingly perceived as making ... more Agriculture on the fringes of cities across the Global North is increasingly perceived as making an important contribution to urban sustainability. As Australian cities continue to expand and encroach on their peri-urban peripheries, there is rising concern about loss of farmland to housing. Such concerns are especially urgent in the Sydney Basin, due to population growth, and topographical and land-use constraints. Accounting for the Basin's farmlands, however, remains opaque, not unrelated to difficulties in acquiring reliable data on the area and value of Sydney's agricultural industries. The problem is not simply that there are no data available but rather that the nature of existing data is (often hotly) contested. Critical questions for urban planners therefore remain unanswered, including: is peri-urban agriculture as important as advocates suggest? Are metropolitan food supplies under threat? If peri-urban farmland is important, what should be done to preserve it? In collating and analysing existing Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and non-ABS data on Sydney agriculture between 1992 and 2011, we outline the need for more reliable and consistent longitudinal data to enable better planning for Sydney's farmland into the future. Notwithstanding limitations of available data sources, our findings reveal trends in Sydney Basin agriculture that invite debate on many assumptions about the nature of peri-urban agriculture. These findings emphasise the importance of geographically specific, evidence-based analysis as a basis for planning for peri-urban agriculture.

The localisation of food production, particularly in the form of urban/peri-urban agriculture, is... more The localisation of food production, particularly in the form of urban/peri-urban agriculture, is only gaining increasing public and political attention in industrialised nations such as Australia amid growing concerns about urban sustainability. Small-scale family farmers on the peri-urban fringe of cities such as Sydney, Australia's largest city, are considered key actors in the creation of a more sustainable and just urban food system by those advocating for food system change. The assumed alterity of such small-scale farmers from the so-called ‘mainstream’ food system, however, has led to a focus on localised threats such as urban development and solutions such as alternative food networks. This localised focus risks neglecting the way in which small-scale family farmers, such as those on Sydney's urban fringe, are directly connected to and reliant on the mainstream for their economic viability. Emphasising the importance of issues such as supermarket power and consumer choice, this paper illustrates that it is necessary to examine the continuing connection between the mainstream system and ‘local’, small-scale producers to achieve food system change.

To say something is complex can often be conclusive. It can mean that an issue or an idea is too ... more To say something is complex can often be conclusive. It can mean that an issue or an idea is too difficult to explain or understand, or has too many aspects to examine clearly. In many ways the designation “complex” can be an abdication, an end to an argument or discussion. An epochal change in thinking about complexity dates from post structuralist challenges to the idea that the world was known by arguing that everything was indeed much more complex than master narratives would suggest. In the last decade a social scientific engagement with complexity theory has meant that social and cultural meanings of “complex” and “complexity” are being explored.

Objective: To develop a policy formulation tool for strategically informing food and nutrition po... more Objective: To develop a policy formulation tool for strategically informing food
and nutrition policy activities to promote healthy and sustainable diets (HSD).
Design: A policy formulation tool consisting of two complementary components
was developed. First, a conceptual framework of the environment–public health
nutrition relationship was constructed to characterise and conceptualise the food
system problem. Second, an ‘Orders of Food Systems Change’ schema drawing on
systems dynamics thinking was developed to identify, assess and propose policy
options to redesign food systems.
Setting: Food and nutrition policy activities to promote HSD have been politicised,
fragmented and lacking a coherent conceptual and strategic focus to tackle
complex food system challenges.
Results: The tool’s conceptual framework component comprises three integrated
dimensions: (i) a structure built around the environment and public health
nutrition relationship that is mediated via the food system; (ii) internal mechanisms
that operate through system dynamics; and (iii) external interactions that frame its
nature and a scope within ecological parameters. The accompanying schema is
structured around three orders of change distinguished by contrasting ideological
perspectives on the type and extent of change needed to ‘solve’ the HSD problem.
Conclusions: The conceptual framework’s systems analysis of the environment–
public health nutrition relationship sets out the food system challenges for HSD.
The schema helps account for political realities in policy making and is a key link
to operationalise the framework’s concepts to actions aimed at redesigning food
systems. In combination they provide a policy formulation tool to strategically
inform policy activities to redesign food systems and promote HSD.

By the end of the century, global temperatures are likely to have risen by at least 2°C compared ... more By the end of the century, global temperatures are
likely to have risen by at least 2°C compared with
pre-industrial times. No nation will be immune to the
resulting changes in the world’s weather patterns and
as international negotiations aimed at reducing future
carbon emissions continue to have limited success, it
would be rash for any country to fail to plan to meet
the consequent challenges to their infrastructure and
citizens. For Australia, one of the most important
concerns is the health of its people.
This report summarises the discussions and
recommendations of a group of early- and
mid-career researchers from a broad range of
relevant disciplines who came together in July 2014
to consider climate challenges in relation to health
in Australia.

Objective: To determine key points of intervention in urban food systems to improve the climate r... more Objective: To determine key points of intervention in urban food systems to
improve the climate resilience, equity and healthfulness of the whole system.
Design: The paper brings together evidence from a 3-year, Australia-based mixedmethods
research project focused on climate change adaptation, cities, food
systems and health. In an integrated analysis of the three research domains –
encompassing the production, distribution and consumption sectors of the food
chain – the paper examines the efficacy of various food subsystems (industrial,
alternative commercial and civic) in achieving climate resilience and good
nutrition.
Setting: Greater Western Sydney, Australia.
Subjects: Primary producers, retailers and consumers in Western Sydney.
Results: This overarching analysis of the tripartite study found that: (i) industrial
food production systems can be more environmentally sustainable than alternative
systems, indicating the importance of multiple food subsystems for food security;
(ii) a variety of food distributors stocking healthy and sustainable items is required
to ensure that these items are accessible, affordable and available to all; and (iii) it
is not enough that healthy and sustainable foods are produced or sold, consumers
must also want to consume them. In summary, a resilient urban food system
requires that healthy and sustainable food items are produced, that consumers can
attain them and that they actually wish to purchase them.
Conclusions: This capstone paper found that the interconnected nature of the
different sectors in the food system means that to improve environmental
sustainability, equity and population health outcomes, action should focus on the
system as a whole and not just on any one sector.

This volume offers a new perspective to debates on local food and urban sustainability presenting... more This volume offers a new perspective to debates on local food and urban sustainability presenting the long silenced voices of the small-scale farmers from the productive green fringe of Sydney’s sprawling urban jungle. Providing fresh food for the city and local employment, these culturally and linguistically diverse farmers contribute not only to Sydney’s globalizing demographic and cultural fabric, but also play a critical role in the city’s environmental sustainability. In the battle for urban space housing development threatens to turn these farmlands into sprawling suburbia. In thinking from and with the urban ‘fringe’, this book moves beyond the housing versus farming debate to present a vision for urban growth that is dynamic and alive to the needs of the 21st century city. In a unique bringing together of the twin forces shaping contemporary urbanism - environmental change and global population flows - the voices from the fringe demand to be heard in the debate on future urban food sustainability.