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Brochure, flyer, fact-sheetConsumers and Mediterranean diet: towards food systems transformation
Webinar outcomes, 26 January 2023
2023Also available in:
During this webinar, organized by the SFS-MED Platform and held on 26 January 2023, stakeholders from across the Mediterranean shared experiences and successful cases from the consumer perspective, including on transparent information and consumer education and innovative pathways for sustainable public procurement. Panelists and speakers highlighted how consumers should be at the center of all elements of the food system, from food research to food production and procurement, as well as food industry, environments and marketing. The discussion was instrumental in demonstrating that empowering consumers to make informed food choices is key to enabling the transformation of Mediterranean food systems. In this context, the Mediterranean diet can be a strategic resource for driving transformative change, with its environmental, social, cultural, health and economic benefits. Education for sustainable consumption enables individuals and social groups to become actors of change by providing knowledge, values and skills to make environmentally friendly, ethically sound, and responsible decisions as consumers. Moreover, involving consumers in research and innovation processes (consumer-driven data) is needed to better understand their needs and preferences. Finally, targeted policy frameworks and multi-stakeholder partnerships can leverage public food procurement schemes to promote the Mediterranean diet, while supporting local economies and environmental sustainability. -
Book (stand-alone)The convergence of food diets: Characterizing consumption patterns, food diversity, and the relationship to trade
Background paper for The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO) 2020
2020Also available in:
No results found.Since the 1990s, technological advancements, growing incomes, increased trade, and urbanization have significantly impacted consumption patterns. Worldwide, there is growing evidence of some convergence of diets being facilitated by rapid changes in global food systems including the increasing market share held by supermarkets at all income levels. The formation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the emergence and rapid spread of the Internet have also played important roles in facilitating trade and increasing the variety of food available to consumers. Empirical evidence to examine these impacts has mostly been gathered at the household level and, at the global level, the focus has been on the effect of globalization on obesity and health. Using data from the periods 1994–1996 (WTO formation and emergence of the Internet) and 2015–2017 (rapid spread of the Internet), this paper analyses whether global diets are, in fact, converging. In the comparison of these two periods, the author finds that, as trade intensity increases for cereals, sugars, vegetable oils, and meat – which account for more than two-thirds of calories consumed – so does diversity of products consumed from within each group. The relationship between greater trade intensity and caloric consumption diversity is strongest for cereals, meat, and sugars. The author suggests that further research should undertake a disaggregated trade analysis in order to understand whether the increased food diversity is coming from imports of more diverse foods or other factors. -
Book (stand-alone)Beyond timber: social, economic and cultural dimensions of non-wood forest products in Asia and the Pacific 1995
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