Lynn J. Frewer’s research while affiliated with Newcastle University and other places

Purpose Unhealthy diets are associated with an increased risk of non-communicable diseases and present a significant public health challenge. When developing effective interventions and policies, consideration must be given to the unique social culture in which food choice is embedded. Health vulnerabilities to poor nutrition exist throughout life but may be influenced by socio-cultural factors such as age. This study aimed to assess the attitudes of older or younger Chinese consumers towards healthy eating and explore the factors influencing their food choices. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted in Wuhan, China, with 20 consumers aged 18–25 (Group A) and 20 consumers aged 65 and over (Group B). Findings Thematic analysis revealed that the two groups had positive attitudes towards healthy eating, although Group A participants were more knowledgeable. Time pressure, food prices and social networks differentially influence healthy eating practices across age groups. Originality/value Given China’s economic and cultural context, healthy eating interventions should consider the individual characteristics and food preferences of the different age groups. This approach can optimize targeted healthy eating interventions, and media communications related to healthy eating.

The current food chain both contributes to, and is affected by, climate change. While GHG emissions and emissions to water and soil are a problem for the whole food chain, the majority of such emissions and the major solutions to them can be found in the farming and land use sector. The farming system needs to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions and adapt its supply chain to cope with climate change. A broad variety of payment tools have been proposed to motivate farmers and landowners to take certain actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and encourage the protection or restoration of natural resources. The protocol described here (OSF preregistration https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/STGQ6) outlines the methodology for a systematic review to explore how financial mechanisms such as green bonds can provide incentives to agri-food sector to support environmental sustainability and ecosystem service delivery through land-use change. Our primary research question is: how do financial mechanisms incentivize land restoration? Studies will be categorized according to the types of financial mechanisms, their characteristics, methods of land restoration and their impact on mitigating agri-food footprint. The results are expected to increase our understanding about the design of financing tools currently used to accelerate nature restoration. Moreover, they will inform us about the effectiveness of deploying such tools on rural communities, food companies and landowners.

Despite increased research and policy focus on the adoption and impact of climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAPs) on small household farmers’ welfare, synergies between adaptive and mitigatory CSAPs are not well understood. This study responds to this knowledge gap by examines the determinants of adoption of adaptive and mitigatory CSAPs in isolation and when combined, and their impacts on rice yield and rice net income in central China. Using three-year household-level pooled cross-sectional data and addressing selection biases from both observable and unobservable heterogeneity were managed by applying a multinomial endogenous switching regression framework. Our findings indicate that adopting both adaptive and mitigatory CSAPs increases rice yield and rice net income by 15.879% and 19.288%, respectively. Besides, the strong complementarities exist between adaptive and mitigatory CSAPs to address climate change in improving productivity and income when experiencing extreme weather events (e.g., EI Niño event). These findings highlight the positive role of integrating adaptive and mitigatory CSAPs in coping with climate change challenges, and increasing household farmers’ economic welfare in China, and potentially elsewhere.

Identification of emerging risks in the food chain is essential if EFSA is to anticipate future needs in risk assessment, in relation to both data and methodology. The objectives and research proposed in the DEMETER project were specifically designed to support current (and future) EFSA procedures for emerging issue and risks identification by providing community resourcesto allow EFSA and EU Member State authorities to share data, knowledge and methods on emerging risks identification in a rapid and effective manner through a digital platform. To this end, an “Emerging Risk Knowledge Exchange Platform (ERKEP)” was developed as a prototype technical solution. Its design is based on a consultation on end‐users needs and the analysis of existing knowledge sharing solutions. ERKEP consists of three main components: 1) A content management system (CMS) providing the end‐user's “entry point” and Graphical User Interface (GUI) to ERKEP; 2) A web‐based data analytics platform (DAP) for sharing and executing data analytics workflows (DAWs), based on the KNIME Server infrastructure; 3) External web‐based services hosted by 3rd party service providers. Different DAWs were developed and added to the platform, these are: 1) Emerging risk identification system for the milk supply chain based on automated data retrieval; 2) NewsRadar; 3)Trending topics in news based on text mining and network analysis, and;4) Patent network analysis. Methodologies were identified to integrate social science information and data, into the emerging risk identification framework. Systematic reviews of the literature wereconducted in the areas of expert elicitation, citizen science, and behavioural science and a framework to incorporate data from Citizen Science into the EKREP platform was proposed. Finally, sustainability and maintenance of the project's outputs were conceptualized to enable use thereof beyond project DEMETER.<br/

Sago and the Indigenous Peoples of Papua, Indonesia

Value chain analysis (VCA) calculated the financial effects on food chain actors of interventions to improve animal health and welfare in the intensive pig sector. Two interventions to reduce production diseases were studied. A generic chain diagram of linkages between stakeholders and value-added dimensions was designed. Data on structure and financial performance were collected for the sector. The production parameters and financial effects of the interventions were then described to illustrate impact on the supply chain. The effects of the interventions were also assessed at market level using economic welfare analysis. The sectors in Finland and the UK are small in farm numbers and few companies produced much of the output in a largely vertically-integrated structure. The most beneficial intervention in financial terms to farmers was improved hygiene in pig fattening (around +50% in gross margin). It was calculated to reduce the consumer price for pig meat by up to 5% when applied at large, whereas for improved management measures, it would reduce consumer price by less than 0.5%. However, the latter added value also through food quality attributes. We show that good hygiene and animal care can add value. However, evaluation of the financial and social viability of the interventions is needed to decide what interventions are adopted. The structure of supply chains influences which policy measures could be applied. Of the two interventions, improved pig hygiene had the largest potential to improve efficiency and reduce costs. The studied interventions can also provide new business opportunities to farms, slaughterhouses and food sector companies. More evidence is needed to support public policies and business decision-making in the sector. For this, evidence on consumer attitudes to production diseases is needed. Nevertheless, the study makes an important contribution by showing how improvements in health and welfare benefit the whole chain.

Background Food fraud results from deliberate criminal intent to adulterate or misrepresent food, food ingredients or packaging, and is motivated by economic gain. Its occurrence has been identified across various supply chains within local, regional and global food systems, including within Europe. Incidents of food fraud may negatively impact on consumer confidence of the food industry and in regulatory mechanisms designed to prevent or mitigate food fraud. A systematic analysis of the impacts of European food fraud incidents on European consumer perceptions and attitudes is presented. Scope and approach Three databases were searched, yielding 15 studies. Thematic analysis of the results yielded six themes “drivers of fraud”, “consumer fraud concerns”, “consumer perceptions and attitudes following a food fraud incident”, “responsibility, accountability and blame” and “consumer behavioural response”, and “supply chain responses”, but not increased food risk perceptions. This may be an artefact of the search language (English) used, the time period of the search (20 years from 1998) and because academic interest in food fraud as a distinct topic of study has been relatively recent, in particular from a risk perception perspective. Key findings and conclusions Understanding consumer perceptions and attitudes towards food fraud, authenticity, and trust will facilitate industry and governmental priorities about food fraud prevention strategies, mitigatory actions and communication about these with the public. However, research is needed which links the perceptions and attitudes of consumers in countries to specific incidents, and to assess the impacts of preventative and mitigatory actions in relation to consumer confidence in affected food supply chains and food supply system more generally.