2009-10-13
Better health, better environment and money left to spare.
Summary of a publication in Swedish.
This report shows that everyone could eat for a better environment and overall health, and at the same time save money. A common misperception is that it is more expensive for the consumer to choose sustainable eating habits, i.e. food good for the environment and health. One way of making your eating habits more sustainable is to choose organic food stuffs, but there are also other ways.
In 1999, the Public Health Department of Stockholm County Council made foodbased advice of sustainable eating habits, called First step food (FSF), published in the report “Ett första steg mot hållbara matvanor” (“A first step towards sustainable eating habits”). In brief, this means increasing the consumption of fruits, vegetables, grains and potatoes; reducing consumption of meat and meat products, as wells as a halving of energy-dense and micronutrient-poor foods; and an unchanged consumption of fish, eggs and dairy products.
This report calculates how the consumers’ food costs change when the average consumer eats in line with FSF, i.e. for better health and environment. It also calculates how the food costs change for various typical consumers with different eating habits when they consume in a more sustainable way. A comparison is also made of how the food costs have changed since the previous report “Vad kostar hållbara matvanor?”(“What do sustainable eating habits cost?”), published in 2005 by the Swedish National Institute of Public Health.
The estimated food costs are calculated by comparing three different sets of data for 2006 for today’s consumption: Direct consumption data; Food Sales; and Household Expenditure. All of them are compiled by Statistics Sweden. None of the data sets are comparable with FSF in an optimal way, and consequently the calculations should be seen as rough estimates.
The results indicate a cost reduction of SEK 2,000–5,600 per person and year, approximately 10–22 per cent, for the average consumer depending on what data set is used. The main savings can be made by reducing the amount of energy-dense and micronutrient-poor food; 35–40 per cent of the average consumers’ food costs are spent on this kind of food. Moreover, by reducing the consumption of this kind of food, the consumer also gains healthier and more well-balanced eating habits. Reducing meat consumption also provides a reduction in food costs. The various typical consumers can save between SEK 1,500–9,000 if they adjust their eating habits according to FSF. The money saved on adjusting regular eating habits to more sustainable foods gives the consumer an opportunity to spend it on organic food stuffs.
The results from this report strengthen the results from previous reports; it is better for one’s health, the environment and one’s wallet to eat sustainable foods. Today, the reduction in food costs is even larger. Above all, this benefits less privileged socioeconomic groups, which have a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity, as well as smaller intake of fruits and vegetables compared with the broader population, and at the same time more limited financial possibilities.
updated Friday, November 13, 2009
