Abstract
There is increasing attention to the importance of healthy and environmentally sustainable food supply and demand but little empirical research exists on how this might be achieved. This study examines the potential for inter-sectoral policy and action to support consumer adoption of healthy and sustainable food behaviours, focusing on three key themes: (1) sectoral understandings of healthy and sustainable food behaviours; (2) modes of governance for inter-sectoral action on healthy and sustainable behaviours; and (3) barriers and enablers to inter-sectoral action. We undertook 29 semi-structured interviews with representatives of key government, food industry and non-government organisations in food-related health and environment sectors in Australia. We found that while definitions of health and sustainability are still diverse and often siloed, the rationale of a combined concept was generally acknowledged. There was also consensus on the need for any action to be inter-sectoral, but diverse views on what such action should entail. The main barriers to inter-sectoral action identified included relationships between food system actors and a lack of organisational attention to the issue. Enablers included political and institutional leadership to drive action as well as sector-specific enablers such as market incentives. Overall a range of governance modes were identified that would potentially create a suite of actions across sectors, as well as opportunities to facilitate their implementation. Drawn together our findings outline a framework for action to move beyond the prevailing focus on individual-level change and develop inter-sectoral action and collaboration to support adoption of healthy and sustainable food behaviours.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
As certain identified actions did not fit strictly into the concept of ‘diet’, we have chosen to utilise the broader term ‘food behaviours’ in our research.
References
Armstrong D, Gosling A, Weinman J, Marteau T (1997) The place of inter-rater reliability in qualitative research: an empirical study. Sociology 31:597–606
Auestad N, Fulgoni VL (2015) What current literature tells us about sustainable diets: emerging research linking dietary patterns, environmental sustainability, and economics. Adv Nutr 6:19–36
Ayres I, Braithwaite J (1992) Responsive regulation: transcending the deregulation debate. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Bailey R, Harper DR (2015) Reviewing interventions for healthy and sustainable diets. University of Oxford, Oxford: Chatham House: The Royal Institute of International Affairs
Barosh L, Friel S, Engelhardt K, Chan L (2014) The cost of a healthy and sustainable diet—who can afford it? Aust N Z J Public Health 38:7–12
Basit TN (2003) Manual or electronic? The role of coding in qualitative data analysis. Edu Res 45:143–154
Braithwaite V, Murphy K, Reinhart M (2007) Taxation threat, motivational postures, and responsive regulation. Law Policy 29:137–158
Brownell KD, Warner KE (2009) The perils of ignoring history: big tobacco played dirty and millions died. How similar is big food? Milbank Q 87:259–294
Burlingame B, Dernini S (2011) Sustainable diets: the Mediterranean diet as an example. Public Health Nutr 14:2285–2287
Buttriss JL (2011) Feeding the planet: an unprecedented confluence of pressures anticipated. Nutr Bull 36:235–241
Buttriss J, Riley H (2013) Sustainable diets: harnessing the nutrition agenda. Food Chem 140:402–407
Carter OB, Mills BW, Lloyd E, Phan T (2013) An independent audit of the Australian food industry’s voluntary front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme for energy-dense nutrition-poor foods. Euro J Clin Nutr 67:31–35
Crammond B, Van C, Allender S, Peeters A, Lawrence M, Sacks G, Mavoa H, Swinburn BA, Loff B (2013) The possibility of regulating for obesity prevention—understanding regulation in the Commonwealth Government. Obes Rev 14:213–221
DEFRA (2013) Sustainable consumption report. Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, London
Department of Health and Aging (2015) Front-of-pack labelling updates. http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/foodsecretariat-front-of-pack-labelling-1-tor. Accessed 13 Jan 2016
Drahos P, Shearing CD, Burris S (2005) Nodal governance as an approach to regulation. Aust J Legal Philos 30:30–58
Elkington J (1994) Towards the sustainable corporation: win-win-win strategies for sustainable development. Calif Manag Rev 36:90–100
Friel S, Dangour AD, Garnett T, Lock K, Chalabi Z, Roberts I, Butler A, Butler CD, Waage J, McMichael AJ, Haines A (2009) Public health benefits of strategies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions: food and agriculture. Lancet 374:2016–2025
Friel S, Barosh LJ, Lawrence M (2014) Towards healthy and sustainable food consumption: an Australian case study. Public Health Nutr 17(5):1156–1166
Galbraith-Emami S, Lobstein T (2013) The impact of initiatives to limit the advertising of food and beverage products to children: a systematic review. Obes Rev 14:960–974
Garcia Martinez M, Fearne A, Caswell JA, Henson S (2007) Co-regulation as a possible model for food safety governance: opportunities for public–private partnerships. Food Policy 32:299–314
Garnett T, Mathewson S, Angelides P, Borthwick F (2015) Policies and actions to shift eating patterns: what works? University of Oxford: Food Climate Research Network, Chatham House: The Royal Institute of International Affairs, 77
Gile KJ, Handcock MS (2010) Respondent-driven sampling: an assessment of current methodology. Sociol Methodol 40:285–327
Gunningham N, Sinclair D (1998) Designing smart regulation. In: Gunningham N, Grabowsky P (eds) Smart regulation: designing environmental policy. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Hawkes C (2009) Identifying innovative interventions to promote healthy eating using consumption-oriented food supply chain analysis. J Hunger Environ Nutri 4:336–356
Hawkes C, Jewell J, Allen K (2013) A food policy package for healthy diets and the prevention of obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases: the NOURISHING framework. Obes Rev 14:159–168
Hawkins I, Sabaté J (2013) Defining “sustainable” and “healthy” diets in an era of great environmental concern and increased prevalence of chronic diseases. Am J Clin Nutr 97:1151–1152
He FJ, Brinsden HC, Macgregor GA (2014) Salt reduction in the United Kingdom: a successful experiment in public health. J Hum Hypertens 28:345–352
Hoek AC, Pearson D, James SW, Lawrence MA, Friel S (2017a) Healthy and environmentally sustainable food choices: consumer responses to point-of-purchase actions. Food Qual Pref 58:94–106
Hoek AC, Pearson D, James SW, Lawrence MA, Friel S (2017b) Shrinking the food-print: a qualitative study into consumer perceptions, experiences and attitudes towards healthy and environmentally friendly food behaviours. Appetite 108:117–131
James S, Friel S (2015) An integrated approach to identifying and characterising resilient urban food systems to promote population health in a changing climate. Public Health Nutr 18:2498–2508
Jenkin G, Signal L, Thomson G (2012) Nutrition policy in whose interests? A New Zealand case study. Public Health Nutr 15:1483–1488
Jones A, Magnusson R, Swinburn B, Webster J, Wood A, Sacks G, Neal B (2016a) Designing a healthy food partnership: lessons from the Australian Food and Health Dialogue. BMC Public Health 16:651
Jones AD, Hoey L, Blesh J, Miller L, Green A, Shapiro LF (2016b) A systematic review of the measurement of sustainable diets. Adv Nutr 7:641–664
Lang T (2016) Sustainable Dietary Guidelines: a test case for ecological public health Pamela Mason. Euro J Pub Health 26:ckw173.025
Lawrence MA, Friel S, Wingrove K, James SW, Candy S (2015) Formulating policy activities to promote healthy and sustainable diets. Public Health Nutr 18:2333–2340
MacRae R (2011) A joined-up food policy for Canada. J Hunger Environ Nutr 6:424–457
McMichael A, Powles J, Butler C, Uauy R (2007) Food, livestock production, energy, climate change and health. Lancet 370:55–65
Mebratu D (1998) Sustainability and sustainable development: historical and conceptual review. EIA Rev 18:498–520
Mertens E, van’t Veer P, Hiddink GJ, Steijns JMJM, Kuijsten A (2016) Operationalising the health aspects of sustainable diets: a review. Public Health Nutr 20:739–757
Meybeck A, Gitz V (2017) Sustainable diets within sustainable food systems. Proc Nutr Soc 76:1–11
Millen BE, Abrams S, Adams-Campbell L, Anderson CAM, Brenna JT, Campbell WW, Clinton S, Hu F, Nelson M, Neuhouser ML, Perez-Escamilla R, Siega-Riz AM, Story M, Lichtenstein AH (2016) The 2015 dietary guidelines advisory committee scientific report: development and major conclusions. Adv Nutr 7:438–444
Mithril C, Dragsted LO, Meyer C, Blauert E, Holt MK, Astrup A (2012) Guidelines for the new nordic diet. Public Health Nutr 15:1941–1947
Nylen NG (2013) Why federal dietary guidelines should acknowledge the food-choice/environment nexus: examining the recommendation to eat more seafood. Ecology Law Quart 40:759–794
Reisch L, Eberle U, Lorek S (2013) Sustainable food consumption: an overview of contemporary issues and policies. Sustain Sci Pract Policy 9:7–25
Richards C, Lawrence G, Loong M, Burch D (2012) A toothless chihuahua? The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, neoliberalism and supermarket power in Australia. Rural Soc 21:250–263
Seed B (2014) Sustainability in the Qatar national dietary guidelines, among the first to incorporate sustainability principles. Public Health Nutr 18:2303–2310
Seed B, Lang T, Caraher M, Ostry A (2013) Integrating food security into public health and provincial government departments in British Columbia, Canada. Agric Human Values 30:457–470
Sharma LL, Teret SP, Brownell KD (2010) The food industry and self-regulation: standards to promote success and to avoid public health failures. Am J Public Health 100:240–246
Shill J, Mavoa H, Allender S, Lawrence M, Sacks G, Peeters A, Crammond B, Swinburn B (2012) Government regulation to promote healthy food environments—a view from inside state governments. Obes Rev 13:162–173
Trevena H, Kaldor JC, Downs SM (2014) ‘Sustainability does not quite get the attention it deserves’: synergies and tensions in the sustainability frames of Australian food policy actors. Public Health Nutr 18:2323–2332
Van Dooren C, Marinussen M, Blonk H, Aiking H, Vellinga P (2014) Exploring dietary guidelines based on ecological and nutritional values: a comparison of six dietary patterns. Food Policy 44:36–46
Wegener J, Raine KD, Hanning RM (2012) Insights into the government’s role in food system policy making: improving access to healthy, local food alongside other priorities. Int J Environ Res Public Health 9:4103–4121
Weible CM, Sabatier PA, McQueen K (2009) Themes and variations: taking stock of the advocacy coalition framework. Policy Stud J 37:121–140
Wellesley L, Happer C, Froggatt A (2015) Changing climate, changing diets: Pathways to lower meat consumption. Chatham House, London
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Handled by Ro Hill, Land and Water Flagship, CSIRO, Australia.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
James, S.W., Friel, S., Lawrence, M.A. et al. Inter-sectoral action to support healthy and environmentally sustainable food behaviours: a study of sectoral knowledge, governance and implementation opportunities. Sustain Sci 13, 465–477 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-017-0459-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-017-0459-8