Sinead N. McCarthy

Purpose: Consumers are more conscious of how their food is produced and are concerned about farm animal welfare. This study explores the importance pig meat consumers placed on assurance labels, price and product type. Design/methodology/approach: An orthogonal array of nine conceptual products were included in an online survey. Irish (n = 387) and UK (n = 379) consumers rated how likely they would be to purchase each product. Conjoint analysis was performed to estimate the utility and importance of the attributes. Consumer clusters were generated using combined utility estimates for the UK and Ireland. Findings: Three consumer clusters were identified; “indifferent” (68%), “like labels” (23%) and “pro pig welfare” (9%) consumers. The clusters were further characterised using other constructs from the survey. “Like labels” and “pro pig welfare” clusters considered welfare to be more of a priority, had a higher “behavioural intention” to purchase higher welfare pig meat products, and had more “knowledge” of pig production. Moreover, consumers in the “like labels” cluster were less likely to perceive any budgetary constraints for purchasing higher welfare products and “pro pig welfare” consumers had a small positive utility for the price attribute. Originality/value: These findings indicate a market for higher welfare and potentially other production-related labels on pig meat products in Ireland, where no such scheme currently exists.

Human and planetary health goals have coalesced within consumer food choices. Food‐based dietary guidelines provide expert recommendations on what to eat, however, adherence is low and few include sustainability recommendations. This systematic review sought to extract consumer behavioural findings specifically related to ‘healthy sustainable diets’ to gain insights into the levers of food‐related behavioural change. Data analysed from 57 studies reveal that while 27 discrete behavioural theories underpinned conceptualisation of research, just three dominate this literature: Theory of Planned Behaviour, Transtheoretical Model and Social Practice Theory. Correspondingly, studies were mainly concerned with motivation, attitudes, intentions and practices. Promising research directions are emerging from investigations into the roles of emotions, meat attachment and types of knowledge. Those sustainable healthy food behaviours (SuHeFB) most investigated were meat consumption reduction, plant‐based food consumption, and alternative‐to‐animal protein food product acceptance. In addressing the perplexity surrounding consumer inertia in altering dietary habits, this review provides a comprehensive SuHeFB construct typology and a justification for directing research attention towards the phenomenon of amotivation. In addition, 31 future research questions are posited under six related SuHeFB themes.

The challenge of meeting nutritional requirements for vitamin D due to the low supply in the food system means that substantial proportions of th | POSTER

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of behavioural determinants, such as consumer attitude, subjective norm, behavioural control and sustainable buying behaviour, on organic food purchase behaviour in different EU countries.Design/methodology/approach: A structured survey of more than 5000 individuals from Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Czech Republic was conducted to elicit consumer responses regarding behavioural determinants of organic food selection. Both a structural equation modelling approach and a multinomial logit model were employed to analyse the data.Findings: Consumer attitudes, subjective norms and behavioural control were shown to significantly influence the frequency of organic food purchasing behaviour for the whole sample and to varying degrees across each of the countries. The effect of a sustainable buying behaviour was found to be more pronounced for Germany, Netherlands and Italy than for Czech Republic and Spain.Research limitations/implications: Analysis is based on self-reported data on frequency of organic food purchases, which might be subject to recall bias. Overestimation may arise as consumers tend to report increased purchasing due to the “desirable” qualities of organic food. We tried to ensure that the translations bore similar meanings cross country although some miscomprehension by survey respondents was a possibility.Practical implications: To stimulate consumer demand for organic products, it is important to design policies and interventions that take into account the impact of both behavioural factors and demographic attributes on consumer decision-making across various locations. For example, market analysts and policymakers may find it useful to exploit the impact of consumer attitude towards the qualities of organics to induce sales of such food in their locations.Originality/value: This paper combines unique survey data from five EU countries using a common model to explore and compare consumer behavioural preferences for multiple organic food products. In addition to a classic triad of behavioural factors believed to influence organic food purchases, sustainable buying behaviour as a determinant of organic purchasing behaviour was included in the analysis.

Background Data on the prevalence of sarcopenia among older adults in Ireland are lacking. Aims To assess the prevalence and determinants of sarcopenia among community-dwelling older adults in Ireland. Methods This cross-sectional analysis involved n = 308 community-dwelling adults aged ≥ 65 y living in Ireland. Participants were recruited via recreational clubs and primary healthcare services. Sarcopenia was defined according to the 2019 European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2) criteria. Skeletal muscle mass was estimated using bioelectrical impedance analysis, strength was measured via handgrip dynamometry, and physical performance was assessed using the Short Physical Performance Battery. Detailed information was collected on demographics, health, and lifestyle. Dietary macronutrient intake was measured via a single 24 h recall. Binary logistic regression was used to examine potential demographic, health, lifestyle, and dietary determinants of sarcopenia (where both probable and confirmed sarcopenia were combined). Results The prevalence of EWGSOP2-defined probable sarcopenia was 20.8% and confirmed sarcopenia was 8.1% (5.8% had severe sarcopenia). Polypharmacy (OR 2.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3, 5.23), height (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.91, 0.98), and Instrumental Activities Of Daily Living (IADL) score (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.59, 0.86) were independently associated with sarcopenia (probable and confirmed combined). There were no independent associations between energy-adjusted macronutrient intakes, as determined by 24 h recall, and sarcopenia. Conclusion Sarcopenia prevalence within this sample of community-dwelling older adults in Ireland is broadly similar to other European cohorts. Polypharmacy, lower height, and lower IADL score were independently associated with EWGSOP2-defined sarcopenia.

Background Future priorities of public health must consider how the global food system is inextricably linked with diets and nutrition, and subsequently faces numerous challenges in meeting different individual, societal, and global health objectives. The current model leads to unhealthy dietary patterns, exceeds planetary boundaries, and is vulnerable to food insecurity. Food production releases more than 25% of all Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGE), depletes natural resources, and pollutes waters with agrochemicals. Synergies must be built between diets and health, environmental sustainability, and food system resilience. Although much of the focus is on animal-sourced foods, particularly red meat, it is important that a reductionist approach does not override the complexity of shifting to sustainable dietary patterns by overtly focusing on a single food group and neglecting the quality of the diet in its totality. Methods A priori assessed dietary patterns were used to construct diet quality indices that quantify the healthiness of dietary patterns based on scientific consensus. Consumption data was obtained from the Mitchelstown Cohort Study conducted between 2010–11 among Irish adults (n= 1,862) aged 46–73 years (mean= 59 years). A Food Frequency Questionnaire assessed dietary intake of participants. The DASH and Mediterranean diet scores were calculated for each participant to determine if higher adherence was associated with lower environmental impact. Environmental impact was assessed by linking food items to GHGE (kg of CO2 equivalents (kgC02eq)) and water use (L) impact factors. Results There was medium adherence to both dietary patterns among the population, DASH (male 24.9 ± 5.0; female 28.5 ± 5.1), MED (male 4.4 ± 1.9; female 4.1 ± 1.6). A minimal difference was observed in GHGE between the MED diet adherence levels (T1 6.1 vs T3 6.3 kgCO2eq (CO2eq) per person per day). Higher DASH diet quality scores resulted in the lowest GHGE among the population when compared to low adherence (Q5 5.3 vs Q1 6.9 kgCO2eq per person/day). A weak negative correlation was observed between DASH diet adherence and dietary GHGE (r = -0.19, p < 0.001). No correlation was observed for the MED diet. Results differed for water use and diet quality scores. Conclusion Balancing the requirements of diets and food supply is of great planetary and public health importance. Debate on how food systems should be positioned to ensure resilience while safeguarding planetary boundaries continues, but nutrition and long-term health outcomes must remain at the foundation of any proposed dietary change, specifically for older adults.

Modern practices of industrial farming, such as mineral fertilization, caused a widespread degradation of agricultural land and water bodies in Europe. Different farm management strategies exist to reduce the impact of mineral fertilization while preserving soil productivity. The aim of this paper is to provide a thorough systemic review of contemporary literature exploring factors and conditions affecting EU farmers’ adoption of sustainable farming practices. The specific focus is on widely adopted and empirically explored measures, such as organic farming, manure treatment technologies and manure fertilization, as well as soil and water conservation methods. In total, 23 peer-reviewed studies were extracted by means of Google Scholar covering the time period between 2003 and 2019. The main findings show that farmers’ environmental and economic attitudes in addition to their sources of information have a strong effect on the adoption of organic farming, although there is a lack of evidence of their impact on adopting manure treatment and conservation measures. Similarly, farmers’ age and education are found to systemically influence organic farming adoption, but not adoption of other reviewed technologies. While other factors, such as farm physical characteristics or technological attributes, may be important determinants of adoption, it is hard to recognize definite patterns of their impact across technologies given a shortage of empirical evidence. More research utilizing standardized surveys and methods of analysis is needed to formulate qualified guidelines and recommendations for policymakers.