Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
Highlights
Spoke 01
Work Package 1.3, focused on promoting sustainable food habits, will have a user-centred approach: researchers will adopt direct stakeholder engagement methodologies, such as citizen juries and hybrid forums, to fuel discussion and design solutions in a participatory way. These approaches can provide a guiding methodology for multi-actor research fieldwork to collect data and a dynamic mechanism for better communication.
One of the themes that the work package on food habits will emphasise is economic support for food consumption. Healthy food consumption can be incentivised through economic policies that support citizens, especially the poorest ones, who adopt healthy and sustainable food models. As many studies show, taxes and subsidies on foods and nutrients have the potential to promote healthier diets and reduce mortality.
Food, as we know, is also a social matter that embraces cultural and symbolic dimensions. Food represents a component of people's identity, and therefore, individuals often need to be more willing to introduce scientifically and technologically designed foods into their diets.
Nevertheless, it is challenging to imagine achieving progress towards a more sustainable, secure, and safe food chain without embracing new food technologies. That is why the research groups focus on understanding consumer perceptions of novel food technologies such as genetic technology (GT), nanotechnology, cultured meat, and food irradiation related to food production, preparation, and storage.
Applying stakeholder engagement methods (e.g., citizen juries, hybrid forums) to explore new models for improving consumer rights, gender equality and young people employment in food businesses.
Subsidising quality food consumption (e.g., geographical indication, organic): analysis of alternative forms of public intervention to support consumers’ healthy and sustainable choices, with specific focus on fragile population groups (e.g., elderly, low income).
Consumers perception on food innovation: analysis of consumers social and cultural acceptance of new foods (including novel food and reformulated foods), new technologies, combined with innovative distribution channels, new packaging for multiple sustainable objectives, and efficient communication systems (in connection with Spoke 4).
Sustainable decision-making definition of a Decision Support System by means of multi-criteria toolset to design fair governance decisions.
List of determinants influencing consumers' choices when buying, preparing, and consuming food within their food environment (M24)
List of determinants influencing the purchasing power of consumers and the ability of public authorities to support the consumption of quality food and healthy dietary models through incentive mechanisms (M24)
List of innovations (process, product, technological and communication) related to sustainable foods that impact on consumer choices and list of the legislative interventions involved in their management and regulation (M24)
List of determinants and methodologies that enter the decision-making process and are used in SSD systems to support public and private stakeholder decisions (M24).
