Consumer income and its relation to sustainable food consumption – obstacle or opportunity?

Abstract

The consumption of food is associated with significant environmental impacts, and the disposable incomes of individuals and households play an important role in what food is consumed. It may be assumed that the higher the income, the more food consumed. However, it may also be supposed that people with higher incomes are more likely to lead healthier lifestyles and therefore consume more moderately.

This analysis is based on food consumption data from the Household budget and living conditions survey of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, combined with the latest database from the Global Footprint Network. Results show that a higher level of consumption is able to offset a healthier consumption structure. For the upper three income deciles ecological footprints for food consumption are not notably higher, as the individuals in these groups use their higher incomes to purchase and consume more fruit and vegetables. A scenario analysis is carried out along the income deciles to illustrate the changes needed to move towards a healthier food consumption structure. Results highlight that the ecological footprint of food consumption is not equally distributed among the income groups, and that middle–upper level income groups have a greater responsibility to decrease their food consumption. The footprints of this group would be decreased to a greater extent by consuming healthier diets than they would with lower income deciles.

Policy measures that are employed to reduce the ecological footprint should take into account the responsibility of the different socio-economic levels. Correspondingly, identifying and targeting social groups by income level may be a suitable approach for better communicating about sustainable consumption.

Keywords:

• food consumption
• ecological footprint
• dietary changes
• income deciles
• sustainable food
• healthy nutrition
• consumer income

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the ‘Sustainable happiness through happy sustainability’ (OTKA 105228) project.

Notes

1. The recommended food consumption basket corresponds to the needs of an average consumer who has an active lifestyle and undertakes an average amount of physical activity. It was supposed that there would be no significant differences between the levels of activity of the income groups. However, this may not reflect reality as the proportion of physical workers tends to increase in lower income deciles, and their physical activity level and energy needs may be higher. However, as overconsumption of the above-mentioned food products appears exclusively with higher income deciles, and food consumption increases by income level (Figure 2), it seems appropriate to modify the level of food consumption assuming equal levels of activity.