How much attention do you pay to the impact of your food choices on the environment? Are you willing to cut down on red meat? Is the government doing enough to promote sustainable food?
Those are some of the questions several national consumer groups asked to Europeans in a survey spanning 11 countries, coordinated by BEUC. (1) Today, BEUC unveils the results in a new report, just two weeks after the European Commission presented its blueprint for sustainable food and farming.
The main outcome is that most consumers across Europe are willing to change their eating habits. However, to get there they need the sustainable food choice to become easier (including the right price signals, improved information, and more sustainable options). As the COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly transforming how we relate to food (2) our survey – run a couple of months before the outbreak – shows consumers were already leaning towards opting for more sustainable choices.
Download the full report, the summary and recommendations and the infographics here.
1 Austria (Arbeiterkammer), Belgium (Test Achats/Test Aankoop), Germany (vzbv), Greece (Ekpizo, KEPKA), Italy (Altroconsumo), Lithuania (Lietuvos vartotojų organizacijų aljansas), Netherlands (Consumentenbond), Portugal (DECO), Slovakia (Spoločnosti ochrany spotrebiteľov), Slovenia (Zveza Potrošnikov Slovenije), Spain (OCU). Field work took place in October-November 2019, involving a representative sample of over 11,000 consumers.
2 Results of a survey conducted in 11 countries across the globe including Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Ireland, and the Netherlands found that consumers bought more fruit and vegetables and turned to healthier eating during coronavirus lockdowns.
Survey: European consumers and sustainable food
Infographics
Download pdf
Download
Survey: European consumers and sustainable food
Summary & recommendations
Download pdf
Download
Survey: European consumers and sustainable food
Full report
Download pdf
Download
