Can nudging improve the environmental impact of food supply chain? A systematic review

Publication date: Available online 9 July 2019Source: Trends in Food Science & TechnologyAuthor(s): Linda Ferrari, Alessia Cavaliere, Elisa De Marchi, Alessandro BanterleAbstractBackgroundAccording to the Food and Agriculture Organization predictions, food supply must increase by almost 70 percent by 2050, with tremendous consequences in terms of land depletion, natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions. The current agri-food system is incapable to cope with this raising demand meanwhile preserving the environment. There is urgent need to reorient the food system onto a more sustainable trajectory; producers should pursue more conscious and environmentally friendly practices and consumers should account for sustainability issues while making their daily food consumption decisions.Scope and approachThe goal of this systematic review is to gather existing evidence on green nudging interventions geared at leveraging more environmentally sustainable behaviours among the agents of the food chain, from producers to the final consumers. An extensive literature search was conducted on Web of Science, Scopus, EconLit and CAB Abstracts, restricting the selection to the last ten years and using “nudg*” or “choice architecture” as primary research strings. Finally, 25 studies were included in the review.Key finding and conclusionsAlmost all studies on farmers as well as on consumers included in this review provide evidence that green nudging can be effective in leveraging...
Source: Trends in Food Science and Technology - Category: Food Science Source Type: research