The impacts of dietary change in Finland: food system approach

Authors

• Ellen Huan-Niemi Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)
• Minna Kaljonen Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)
• Marja Knuuttila Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)
• Jyrki Niemi Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)
• Merja Saarinen Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23986/afsci.95282

Keywords:

alternative diets, climate impact, economic impact, policy dialogue, dietary model, input-output analysis

Abstract

This study examined what kind of policy instruments and actions are needed for sustainable dietary change and how a large-scale dietary change would impact the climate, thus analysing the economic impacts of transitioning from animal-based diets to alternative plant-based diets. The transition would require the support of horizontal measures that can be implemented throughout the food system. Shifting the emphasis toward the drivers of food demand and consumption will increase the role of new policy instruments and the actors involved in the food system. Collaborative research between environmental and nutritional sciences with economics and policy analysis is necessary to link nutritional health and environmental objectives with economic and social impacts. Less resource-demanding diets would reduce the impact from the food system and lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Drastic changes in diets and food consumption in Finland would have an impact on primary agricultural production, but the output from the food processing industry would only be slightly affected. However, a successful transition would involve considerable investments in the agricultural and food industry.

References

Aleksandrowicz, L., Green, R., Joy, E.J.M., Smith, P. & Haines, A. 2016. The impacts of dietary change on greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use, and health: A systematic review. PLoS ONE, Public Library of Science 11(11), e0165797.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165797

Behavioural Insights Team 2020. A Menu for Change: Using behavioural science to promote sustainable diets around the world. https://www.bi.team/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/BIT_Report_A-Menu-for-Change_Webversion_2020.pdf.pdf.

Bemelmans-Videc, M.-L., Rist, R. & Vedung, E. 1998. Carrots, Sticks and Sermons. Policy Instruments and their evaluation. New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA: Transaction Publishers.

Creutzig, F., Roy, J., Lamb, W. F., Azevedo, I. M. L., de Bruin, W. B., Dalkmann, H., Edelenbosch, O. Y., Geels, F. W., Grubler, A., Hepburn, C., Hertwich, E. G., Khosla, R., Mattauch, L., Minx, J. C., Ramakrishnan, A., Rao, N. D., Steinberger, J. K., Tavoni, M., Ürge-Vorsatz, D. &. Weber, E. U. 2018. Towards demand-side solutions for mitigating climate change. Nature Climate Change 8: 260–263. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0121-1De Schutter, O., Jacobs, N. & Clément, C. 2020. A ‘Common Food Policy’ for Europe: How governance reforms can spark a shift to healthy diets and sustainable food systems. Food Policy.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101849

Danish Food Cluster 2019. Food Innovation Talk on plant-based foods with AAK streamed live on May 15, 2019.

https://danishfoodcluster.dk/foodinnovationtalk.

Dessart, F.J., Barreiro-Hurlé, J. & van Bavel, R. 2019. Behavioural factors affecting the adoption of sustainable farming practices: a policy-oriented review. European Review of Agricultural Economics 46: 417–471. https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbz019

Edjabou, L.D. & Smed, S. 2013. The effect of using consumption taxes on foods to promote climate friendly diets-The case of Denmark. Food Policy 39: 84–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2012.12.004

Godfray, H.C.J., Aveyard, P., Garnett, T., Hall, J.W., Key, T.J., Lorimer, J., Pierrehumbert, R.T., Scarborough, P., Springmann, M. & Jebb, S.A. 2018. Meat consumption, health and the environment. Science 361: eaam5324.

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aam5324

Godfray, H. C. J., Beddington, J. R., Crute, I. R., Haddad, L., Lawrence, D., Muir, J.F., Pretty, J., Robinson, S., Thomas, S. M. & Toulmin, C. 2010. Food Security: The Challenge of Feeding 9 Billion People. Science 327: 812–818. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1185383

Garnett, T., Mathewson, S., Angelides, P. & Borthwick, F. 2015. Policies and actions to shift eating patterns: What works? Food Climate Research Network, London. https://www.fcrn.org.uk/sites/default/files/fcrn_chatham_house_0.pdf.

IPCC 2019. Chapter 5: Food Security, Executive Summary. Climate Change and Land. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/srccl.

Kaljonen, M., Salo, M., Lyytimäki, J. & Furman, E. 2020. From isolated labels and nudges to sustained tinkering: assessing long-term changes in sustainable eating at a lunch restaurant. British Food Journal. https://doi.org/ 10.1108/BFJ-10-2019-0816.

Kaljonen, M., Peltola, T., Salo, M. & Furman, E. 2019. Attentive, speculative experimental research for sustainability transitions: an exploration in sustainable eating. Journal of Cleaner Production 206: 365–373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.09.206

Knuuttila, M. & Vatanen, E. 2017. The importance of the food chain to the national economy and regions in Finland. Helsinki, Finland: Natural Resources Institute. (in Finnish). http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe201705296939

Latvala, T. & Mikkola, E. 2020. Food consumption and consumer prices. In: Latvala, T., Väre, M. & Niemi, J. (eds.). Finnish agri-food sector outlook 2020. Natural resources and bioeconomy studies 33/2020: 9–14. (in Finnish). https://jukuri.luke.fi/handle/10024/545930.

Luke 2020. Economydoctor, total calculation of agriculture. Luke profitability bookkeeping results. April 27, 2020. www.luke.fi/economydoctor

Lawrence, M. & Friel, S. 2019. Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351189033

Lehtonen, H. & Irz, X. 2013. Impacts of reducing red meat consumption on agricultural production in Finland. Agricultural and Food Science 22: 356–370. https://doi.org/10.23986/afsci.8007

Mason, P. & Lang, T. 2017. Sustainable Diets: How Ecological Nutrition Can Transform Consumption and the Food System. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315802930

Miller, R. & Blair, P. 2009. Input-Output Analysis: Foundations and Extensions. New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.

https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511626982

Niles, M. T., Ahuja, R., Barker, T., Esquivel, J., Gutterman, S., Heller, M. C., Mango, N., Portner, D., Raimond, R., Tirado, C. & Vermeulen, S. 2018. Climate change mitigation beyond agriculture: a review of food system opportunities and implications. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 33: 297–308. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170518000029

National Nutrition Council 2014. Nutrition and food recommendations 2014. The National Nutrition Council of Finland, Finnish Food Authority, Helsinki. (in Finnish).

Nordic Council of Ministers 2012. Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2012. Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen.

OECD 2020. Carbon leakage and agriculture: A literature review on emissions mitigation policies, COM/TAD/ENV/JWPTE(2020)5. Joint Working Party on Trade and Environment, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris.

Parsons, K., Hawkes, C. & Wells, R. 2019. What is the food system? A Food policy perspective. In: Rethinking Food Policy: A Fresh Approach to Policy and Practice. London: Centre for Food Policy. https://www.city.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/471599/7643_Brief-2_What-is-the-food-system-A-food-policy-perspective_WEB_SP.pdf.

Röös, E., Carlsson, G., Ferawati, F., Hefni, M., Stephan, A., Tidåker, P. & Witthöft C. 2018. Less meat, more legumes: prospects and challenges in the transition toward sustainable diets in Sweden. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems: 1–14.

https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170518000443

Reisch, L., Sunstein, C. & Gwozdz, W. 2017. Viewpoint: Beyond carrots and sticks: Europeans support health nudges. Food Policy 69: 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2017.01.007

Reisch, L., Eberle, U. & Lorek, S. 2013. Sustainable food consumption: an overview of contemporary issues and policies. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy 9: 7–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2013.11908111

Ripple, W.J., Smith, P., Haberl, H., Montzka, S.A., McAlpine, C. & Boucher, D.H. 2014. Ruminants, climate change and climate policy. Nature Climate Change 4: 2–5. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2081

Saarinen, M., Kaljonen, M., Niemi, J., Antikainen, R., Hakala, K., Hartikainen, H., Heikkinen, J., Joensuu, K., Lehtonen, H., Mattila, T., Nisonen, S., Ketoja, E., Knuuttila, M., Regina, K., Rikkonen, P., Seppälä, J. & Varho, V. 2019. Effects of dietary change and policy mix supporting the change: End report of the FoodMin project. Publication of the Finnish Government’s assessment and research activities. (in Finnish).

Swinburn, B.A., Kraak, V.I., Allender, S., Atkins, V. J., Baker P. I., Bogard, J. R., Brinsden, H., Calvillo, A., De Schutter, O., Devarajan, R., Ezzati, M. Friel, S., Goenka, S., Hammond, R.A., Hastings, G., Hawkes, C., Herrero, M., Hovmand, P.S., Howden, M., Jaacks, L.M., Kapetanaki, A.B., Kasman, M., Kuhnlein, H.V., Kumanyika, S.K., Larijani, B., Lobstein, T., Long, M.W., Matsudo, V.K.R., Mills, S.D.H., Morgan, G., Morshed, A., Nece, P.M., Pan, A., Patterson, D.W., Sacks, G., Shekar, M., Simmons, G.L, Smit, W., Tootee, A., Vandevijvere, S., Waterlander, W.E., Wolfenden, L. & Dietz, W.H. 2019. The global syndemic of obesity, undernutrition, and climate change: The Lancet Commission report. The Lancet 393:791–846. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32822-8

Springmann, M., Clark, M., Mason-D’Croz, D., Wiebe, K., Bodirsky, B.L., Lassaletta, L., de Vries, W., Vermeulen, S.J., Herrero, M., Carlson, K.M., Jonell, M., Troell, M., DeClerck, F., Gordon, L.J., Zurayk, R., Scarborough, P., Rayner, M., Loken, B., Fanzo, J., Godfray, H.C.J., Tilman, D., Rockström, J. & Willett, W. 2018. Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits. Nature 562: 519–525. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0594-0

Thaler, R.H. & Sunstein, C.R. 2008. Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness. New Haven, USA: Yale University Press. 293 p.

Valsta, L., Kaartinen, N., Tapanainen, H., Männistö, S. & Sääksjärvi, K. 2018. Nutrition in Finland - The National FinDiet 2017 Survey. THL Report 12/2018, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). (in Finnish).

Vainio, A., Niva, M., Jallinoja, P. & Latvala, T. 2016. From Beef to Beans: Eating Motives and the Replacement of Animal Proteins with Plant Proteins among Finnish Consumers. Appetite 106: 92–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2016.03.002

Willett, W., Rockström, J., Loken, B., Springmann, M., Lang, T., Vermeulen, S., Garnett, T., Tilman, D., DeClerck, F., Wood, A., Jonell, M., Clark, M., Gordon, L.J., Fanzo, J., Hawkes, C., Zurayk, R., Rivera, J.A., De Vries, W., Sibanda, L.M., Afshin, A., Chaudhary, A., Herrero, M., Agustina, R., Branca, F., Lartey, A., Fan, S., Crona, B., Fox, E., Bignet, V., Troell, M., Lindahl, T., Singh, S., Cornell, S.E., Reddy, K.S., Narain, S., Nishtar, S. & Murray, C.J.L. 2019. Food in the Anthropocene: The EAT–Lancet Commission on Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems. The Lancet 393: 447–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31788-4

Wirsenius, S., Hedenus, F. & Mohlin, K. 2011. Greenhouse gas taxes on animal food products: rationale, tax scheme and climate mitigation effects. Climatic Change 108: 159–184. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-010-9971-x