Diets & Behaviour Change

How do people eat today?Sue Dibb

sue@eating-better.org Twitter: @Eating_Better

Data sources & comparisons• Food supply data (eg FAO stats).• Household purchase figures (eg Defra Family Food Survey)• Food eaten outside home? Historically not included (reliably

post 2001-02)• Consumption data (eg National Diet & Nutrition Survey).

Under-reporting? Raw weight/cooked weight/disaggregation. Waste. How up-to-date/responsive

• Consumer research eg Kantar Worldpanel: Responsive/accurate/not public data

• Qualitative data – what people think they consume (Ipsos Mori, YouGov)

• Market data (value/volume?)

Definitions

• Red meat = beef, veal, lamb, mutton, pork, goat (some attempts to redefine pork as white meat)

• White meat = poultry• Processed meat includes ham, bacon, pastrami,

salami, sausages, luncheon meats etc• Ruminants (cattle & sheep) monogastrics (pigs &

chickens)• Carcase meat (raw) distinct from processed meat

products

What type of meat are we eating

• 40% poultry (mainly chicken)• 31% pig meat• 23% beef and veal• 6% lamb and mutton(Eblex 2011)

UK not self sufficient in meat - Import 42% of domestic demand (58% pig meat)

In what form?

Dairy consumption

Liquid milk 80%Yog/fromage frais 10%Cheese 6%Butter 2%Dairy Deserts (not frozen) 2%Cream 1%• Defra: Family Food 2012

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Meat consumption around the world

Africa China India UK USA Western Europe World

Global meat consumption has almost doubled in the last 50 years from 63g (person/day) in 1961 to 115g (person/day) in 2009 (FAOSTAT 2013).

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Protein supply in the UK

Meat

Offals

Milk - Excluding Butter

Fish, Seafood

Eggs

Vegetal Products

Gender differences

• Men 226g/day Women 163g/day (meat & meat products)

(NDNS, DH, 2011)

• 6 out of 10 men and 4 out of 10 women exceed Gov advice to consume no more than 70g red & processed meat/day

(Westland & Crawley, Healthy & Sustainable Diets in the Early Years 2012)

Trends• Meat: Family Food Survey: Overall consumption reportedly fairly constant

(dating back to 1974). ?Food eaten outside home• 4 fold increase in take away consumption since mid-70s

• Significant changes in types of meat– Significant increase in poultry 5 fold increase from 1961– Long term trend: less beef (+BSE) & lamb– Reduction in carcase meat purchased, offal, corned beef– More processed meat products (sausage rolls, pasties, burgers, bacon,

ham)– More ready meals/convenience foods.

• Dairy consumption– long term downward trend in purchases of whole milk (– 29% 2009 – 12)– Increase in skimmed milk (+4.6%) Semi-skimmed/skimmed milk sales

stable last ten years (overtook whole milk in 1990s)– Cream (+8.3%)

Impacts of recession• Effect of recession different: not just less money to spend but

also increases in food prices. (IFS)

• Retail price of meat increased 35% 2007 – 2013 (ONS)

• People spending less and trading down (cheaper calories) (Kantar World Panel)

• On average, UK households purchased 4.7 per cent less food in 2012 than in 2007 while spending 17 per cent more. Saved 5.6% by trading down to cheaper products (Defra, Family Food 2012)

• Lowest income group spent 22% more on food, purchased 5.7% less but only saved 1% by trading down.

• In 2010 poorest 10% of consumers brought 26% less fresh meat than in 2007 (Defra) and more frozen and processed foods (also fewer fruit and vegetables)

Impact of Horsemeat Scandal 2013?

• You Gov survey for Eating Better (Sept 13) 25% said they were eating less meat than a year ago with ready meals & processed meats most likely off the menu.

• Grocer survey (Dec 13) 69% said didn’t have an impact on food purchasing

• Betrayal of trust (53%) Food system not robust (48%)• Frozen burgers/ready meals were rightly identified

as affected• Local butchers did well out of it

Cutting back & trading down 2013

• 1/3rd less likely to buy organic, or buy meat in premium supermarkets

• 25% more likely to buy British meat

• Economic climate + horsemeat = confusing picture

• Trading down + trend to less processed meat + avoiding cheaper meat ranges

Attitudes: increase in sales of ethical produce

Ethical Consumer Markets Report (ECR), 2012, The Co-operative Group

Attitudes to meat• Defra (2011) majority of people say open to changing their diet

to help the environment. 63% willing to cut down on red meat; 45% dairy; 76% confectionery.

• Eating Better (2013) third willing to consider eating less meat, around 50% willing to pay more for ‘better’ meat (eg taste, healthier, higher animal welfare, better returns for farmers) – not just higher social grade groups

• Young people more likely to say don’t eat any meat (1 in 6)• FSA (2012) safety of meat from outside UK of most concern• WRAP: 13% of meat is wasted (household)• We like it (50% said it was favourite part of their meal)• Cultural significance (meat & 2 veg)

What don’t we know

• Detailed, timely & comparable consumption figures• Consumption data doesn’t distinguish how meat is

produced• What dishes people eat? How cooked/served?• No quantitative dietary model that describes how to

achieve a diet that is both healthy & sustainable (how much meat/of what type/for different consumers)

• Relevant to individual behaviour – how much do I eat?

• Future trends?