Moving Towards Sustainable Food Consumption : Identifying Barriers to Sustainable Student Diets (original) (raw)

What Influences the Sustainable Food Consumption Behaviours of University Students? A Systematic Review

International Journal of Public Health, 2021

Objectives: Global environmental challenges demand sustainable behaviours and policies to protect human and planetary health. We aimed to summarize the evidence about the factors related to Sustainable Food Consumption (SFC) behaviours of university students, and to propose an operational categorization of SFC behaviours.Methods: Seven databases were searched for observational studies evaluating Sustainable Food Consumption (SFC) among university students and that reported at least one behavioural outcome measure. Qualitative synthesis was conducted, and PRISMA guidelines for reporting were followed.Results: Out of 4,479 unique references identified, 40 studies were selected. All studies examined personal factors, while 11 out of 40 also measured social or situational factors. Except for food waste, females had higher levels of SFC behaviours, but situational factors moderated this association. Knowledge and attitudes showed mixed results. Overall, sustainable food consumers reporte...

Perceptions and determinants of adopting sustainable eating behaviours among university students in Canada: a qualitative study using focus group discussions

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education

Purpose University students are a unique population with great potential to adopt eating habits that promote positive human and planetary health outcomes. The purpose of this study is to illustrate the current perceptions of sustainable eating behaviours among the students and to examine the determinants of sustainable eating behaviours. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from December 2020 to May 2021 through focus group discussions among university students in Ontario, facilitated through synchronous online sessions. There were 21 student participants during the course of five focus group sessions (4–5 participants per session) from various departments within the university. The discussions were transcribed and analyzed for main themes and concepts using open coding; deductive coding based on the framework by Deliens et al. as well as the literature; and inductive coding for emerging themes. Findings The students had different perceptions about what constituted sustai...

The Perceived Importance and Intended Purchasing Patterns of Sustainable Foods in Australian University Students

Sustainability

Although there has been considerable research on consumers’ opinions about sustainable foods and purchasing behaviors, the experience of university students remains unclear. This study aims to characterize university students’ perceptions of the importance of sustainable foods and determine the relationship between perceptions and the frequency of purchasing sustainable foods. In a non-random sample of university students, a cross-sectional, online survey determined students’ perceptions of the importance of locally grown food and sustainable foods, and the self-reported frequency of purchasing sustainable foods. Multivariate binary logistic regression was conducted. Survey respondents (n = 1858; 71% female; 80% domestic enrolled; 43% aged 18–24 years; 38% food insecure) perceived locally grown food (77%) and sustainable food (84%) as important, and 68% reported buying sustainable foods frequently. Students who purchased sustainable foods frequently were more likely to be female, ol...

Food Sustainability Knowledge, Attitudes, and Dietary Habits among Students and Professionals of the Health Sciences

Nutrients

The importance of a sustainable diet is an emerging concept within sustainable food systems. Food systems emit 30% of greenhouse gases, which needs to change. A cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and habits of students and professionals in the health sciences regarding a sustainable diet, comparing these to the Spanish population. We further aimed to analyse the consistency between the knowledge and attitudes of these individuals and their dietary habits and analyse the consumption of different food groups that are typical of a sustainable diet. A survey was completed by a total of 415 participants, both university students in the health sciences and health professionals. These two groups were more knowledgeable of sustainable diets than the general population, although certain concepts are unfamiliar to both populations. A positive attitude towards sustainable food habits was also observed among the population studied. The health sector rep...

Evaluation of University Students’ Knowledge of and Practices for Sustainable Nutrition

2021

The world is faced with many significant environmental challenges, such as climate change, on a global scale. Sustainable nutrition has an important role in solving these problems. In this study, we aimed to determine the sustainable nutrition knowledge and attitudes of university students. The study was completed with 889 students. It was found that 71.2% of male students think that foods have no effect on the environment. All students had a mean sustainable nutrition knowledge score of 16.0 ± 5.3. As income increased, sustainable nutrition practices scores decreased (p<0.05). Sustainable nutrition knowledge scores of overweight and obese individuals were found to be lower than those of participants with normal BMIs (p<0.05). Red meat is eaten 1-2 days a week by 73.7% of the students. Also, 85.7% of students do not separate their wastes. This study is the first to provide data on the knowledge and attitudes of Turkish university students on food sustainability from a national...

Perceptions of Food among College Students in the Field of Food Science: A Food Sustainability Approach

Foods

The complex concept of food sustainability has become crucial in all spheres of life. Dietitians, food scientists, and technologists are in a unique position to promote sustainability in food systems. However, the perceptions of food sustainability among food science professionals and college students are under-researched, particularly in Spain. The aim of this study was therefore to analyze perceptions related to food and to food sustainability in a sample of Human Nutrition and Dietetics (HND) and Food Science and Technology (FST) students in Barcelona (Spain). An exploratory and descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out using qualitative and quantitative methodology and convenience sampling. Two focus groups and an online questionnaire were conducted (300 participants completed the survey, 151 from HND and 149 from FST). Although the students expressed concern about food sustainability, their dietary choices were primarily associated with or influenced by taste/pleasure a...

Sustainability: Nutrition and Dietetic Students’ Perceptions

Sustainability

Opportunities exist for nutrition and dietetic (N&D) professionals to contribute to sustainable development and support actions towards the attainment of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SGD’s). Students undertaking higher education are well-placed to develop skills and capabilities in creative and critical problem solving for sustainability. However, there is limited literature exploring nutrition and dietetic students’ perceptions of sustainability that would help to inform an effective and constructively aligned embedding of sustainability content and active learning opportunities into curriculum. This descriptive cohort study design utilised a 17-question online survey to explore 95 Australian N&D undergraduate students’ self-reported familiarity with and perceived importance of sustainability and related concepts, and view of sustainability for future practice. Participants reported being more familiar with the term environmental sustainability and related concepts than ...

Sustainable food choices? A study of students’ actions in a home and consumer studies classroom

Environmental Education Research

Home and Consumer Studies (HCS) is a subject in the Swedish compulsory school that has sustainability issues clearly enrolled in its syllabus. Among other things, students should learn to make sustainable food choices, i.e.they should understand the consequences concerning health, finance and environment of what food they choose to consume. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the discussion about education for sustainable development (ESD) by investigating how students act in different decision-making processes during foodwork in HCS. Subsequently challenges when teaching sustainable food consumption are highlighted. The empirical material consists of video-recorded students (year 9) foodworking in an HCS classroom. Based on John Dewe ys philosophy, Practical Epistemological Analysis (PEA) is used to analyse how the students make choices and proceed in their work. The taste of food is decisive for how the students move on in their foodwork. Sustainability aspects are raised to some extent but do not have the same significance. It is concluded that it is complex to teach sustainable food consumption and possibilities to modify the teaching so that taste become part of the content when teaching sustainable food consumption is discussed.

Sustainable vs. Unsustainable Food Consumption Behaviour: A Study among Students from Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova

Sustainability

The importance of studying the aspects related to the sustainable food consumption behaviour of students lies in the fact that, at this age, they begin to develop certain consumption patterns that will have long-term effects. The study aimed to identify the type of eating behaviour—sustainable vs. unsustainable—and the socio-demographic factors that influence it, among students in Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova. The research method was a survey based on a questionnaire administered to a sample of 2378 subjects in the 2017–2018 period. The ANOVA test and simple linear regression were used to identify the correlation between the various variables analysed. The results indicate both positive aspects, which characterise a sustainable diet—high consumption of fruits and vegetables, and negative—the adoption of a mixed diet, which will have a long-term impact on the environment. Age is a good predictor of unhealthy eating habits among students, as this behaviour leads to weight gain. Gend...

Reaction to a low-carbon footprint food logo and other sustainable diet promotions in a UK University’s Student Union ‘Living Lab’

Future of Food: Journal on Food, Agriculture and Society, 2021

Purpose: Public sector catering outlets have been proposed as ideal places to try new sustainable food choice interventions. We report on promotions conducted as part of a “Living Lab” at the University of Sheffield Students Union during 2019. Methodology: Activities include 1) a survey of dietary habits, attitudes and knowledge of staff and students (n=643). 2) A low environmental impact indicator logo was created and implemented in different ways across four food outlets in the Students Union (some outlets also provided information in dining areas). 3) Sales data (intervention period and the same period in the previous year) were analysed. 4) On the day of the global Climate Strikes (20th September 2019), a food outlet introduced additional one-day-only promotions on low impact menu options; sales impact was assessed. Findings: An average of 39.4% of respondents recalled the low environmental impact indicator logo. There was a significant increase in use of oat milk compared to 20...