Communicating about healthy & sustainable eating to socioeconomically disadvantaged consumers (EUFIC-Caritas project) (2023)

There is an urgent need to shift towards dietary patterns that are healthy and sustainable. However, this shift is more difficult for some consumers such as those who have low socioeconomic status (SES).

In this collaborative project with Caritas Trieste, we used a mixed-methods approach (focus groups and online survey) to understand what are the main barriers that consumers with low SES encounter when it comes to healthy and sustainable eating and what information we can provide to address their main food-related priorities.

In line with existing literature, it was found that the reduced affordability and availability of healthy and sustainable food are important barriers to healthy and sustainable eating in consumers with low SES. Limited trust to information and sources of information is another important barrier observed in the low socioeconomic strata. Our survey showed that infographics that deliver information about healthy and sustainable eating are promising in increasing consumer motivation, skills, and opportunities to eat healthily and sustainably and are moderately likely to change what consumers choose to eat or buy. Certain types of messages are more effective in native consumers, while migrants showed more indifferent responses to the various types of information.

Watch our webinar, where we present the full results of this project.

Based on the project results, we developed a toolkit of evidence-based recommendations for communication about healthy and sustainable eating to consumers with low SES.

Publication: Palascha, A., & Chang, B. (2024). Which messages about healthy and sustainable eating resonate best with consumers with low socio-economic status?. Appetite, 198, 107350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2024.107350

Oral presentation: Palascha, K., Chang, B., & McGrath, N. (2024, June 12-15). Communicating to consumers with low socioeconomic status about healthy & sustainable eating: challenges and opportunities. EuroScience Open Forum, Katowice, Poland.

Poster presentation: Palascha, A., Chang, B., & McGrath, N. (2023, November 14-17). Which Messages about Healthy and Sustainable Eating Resonate Best with Consumers of Low Socio-Economic Status? 14th European Nutrition Conference FENS 2023, Belgrade, Serbia. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091260

Want to learn more? Contact katerina.palascha@eufic.org

Co-funded by the European Union’s EU4Health programme under grant agreement No 101124527