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Sus-Health. Sustainable and Healthy diets for all.

Lead Research Organisation: Newcastle University
Department Name: Sch of Natural & Environmental Sciences

Abstract

major transformation of the food system is required, which is focused on the production and consumption of healthy and sustainable food. Change will need to be facilitated through a number of means, both direct and indirect. The Sus-Health project will establish and demonstrate a blueprint of a system that incentivises both directly and indirectly the consumption of sustainable and healthy food. The project will demonstrate to stakeholders how the use of a codesigned, combined measure of environmental impact and nutritive value (the Sus-Health Index) of foods, meals and ingredients can be used to influence the future direction of our food system and the stakeholders within it. Sus-Health will co-create a systemic strategy and innovative solution for influencing food choices and consumption, so that they better align with planetary boundaries and nutritional guidelines. The resulting consumer preferences (obtained through living lab experiments and through simulation) will feed back down the entire food chain driving the processes and raw materials used, towards more sustainable and health-inducing foods and diets. Comprising two academic partners and a range of stakeholder involvement Sus-Health will demonstrate a range of stakeholder focused communication vehicles, in a range of interventions in Northern Ireland followed by upscaling activities in the rest of the UK. The consortium comprises a mix of academic, and food industry partners with expertise in consumer behaviour, sustainability, nutrition, agri-economics, software design, agriculture, food service, and food systems. Key outputs of the project will be:

- The develpment, validation and demonstration of the use and applicability of a combined measure for assessing sustainability and nutritive value in real settings (restaurants, fast food outlets, canteens and related supply chains)

- A range of communication tools and approaches aimed at influencing change in consumer food choices

- Interventions focused on food affordability including economic assessments of direct policy interventions that would make healthy sustainable food more affordable.

- Stakeholder guidelines for using the Sus-Health index and related communication tools together with extensive stakeholder focused communication and dissemination activities
 
Description There is a need to develop a commonly agreed approach that describes a food's the nutritive value and environmental impact that can be used to inform consumer choices. A new single index, the "Sus-Health Index", is presented. The index was co-created by a range of stakeholders drawn from policy, industry, and consumer representation groups. The index is a product of existing nutrition and environmental indices, using a composite indicator methodology, and can be presented quantitatively as a numeric value or qualitatively on a categorised, colour coded, scale "A(best)-E (worst)".
The index has been applied to a data set comprising food products and meals to assess its sensitivity and applicability using a Monte Carlo simulation. The results indicate that the Sus-Health scale represents a pragmatic indicator of a food or meal's combined nutritional and environmental value and could be used to help inform consumers food choices. Five focus groups were conducted with 43 consumer participants, which was used to inform the design of interview protocols with 20 consumers participants regarding label design. Participants were selected to represent a mix of gender, age and socio-economic status within UK samples. Thematic analysis of the results suggested that, although participants broadly supported improved nutrition and sustainability of their food choices, nutrition was prioritised over sustainability (potentially reflecting perceptions of personal and immediate impacts on consumer health but indirect, systemic, and more remote impacts on the environment associated with food choices). Animal welfare was considered a sustainability issue associated with production. For some less affluent consumers, cost represented a more important determinant of food choices. The use of the combined index was appreciated by participants, additional information about how the nutrition and environmental impact scores contributing to the combined score and transparency regarding these calculations would be needed if the label is to be trusted and understood. It was concluded that consumers value the ability to assess nutrition and the environmental impact of foods and meals using the labels provided, as long as the contributory components of the combined index are made available within the public domain to ensure transparency regarding how these were calculated. However, the impact of the index on actual food choices (e.g. when combined with policy measures such as taxation and subsidy policy levers) requires further analysis.
Exploitation Route Adoption by industry (e.g. retailers) being discussed by project partners
Sectors Agriculture

Food and Drink

 
Description Tracking vanishing foods: a comparative study of the strategy and dynamics of a 'Chinese' diasporic identity in the UK
Amount
Funding ID 2863618 
Organisation Economic and Social Research Council 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2023 
End 03/2027
 
Description CEFAS annual meeting London 14th Febriary 2025 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Presnetaion to CEFAS (DEFRA and grant awardees)
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2025
 
Description Collaborative workshop with an increasing range of stakeholders 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Codesign of food system with stakeholders: Food and Drink Federation; Spoon Guru; Derry City & Strabane (District Council); Ards and North Down (Borough Council); Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs; Department of Health; Food NI; Food Standards Agency; Seafish; Apex Community Supermarket; McDonald's; Devenish; Moy park; Fish City; Eurofir - QUADRAM; QUADRAM; Omniaction; Restore nutrition
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022