Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 108066 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Ecological economics |
| Volume | 217 |
| Early online date | 7 Dec 2023 |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 2024 |
Abstract
This study assesses how information about the provision of ecosystem services can contribute to an integrative food labelling framework within the European Unions' Farm to Fork Strategy. By applying Q-methodology with 43 food industry experts from four European member states – Germany, Poland, Spain, and Sweden –, we identify common viewpoints among food processors, retailers and labelling organisations. We find a consensus in support of introducing new food labels that would encourage farmers to deliver more ecosystem services, such as increased farm biodiversity. Applying factor analysis and using the qualitative information from the interviews, we derive three distinct prototypes of a future European food label: 1) a producer-driven ecosystem services label, 2) a consumer-oriented information label, and 3) a new EU sustainable food label. These label prototypes are partly country-specific and invoked by multiple stakeholder groups. We conclude that a future European Union food labelling framework must account for all three label prototypes. Policymakers are advised to embrace the diversity of viewpoints of food system actors, as they are the main drivers of the success and failure of labels.
Keywords
- Ecosystem services, Farm to fork strategy, Food labels, Food system common agricultural policy, Q methodology, Value chain
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Science(all)
- Economics, Econometrics and Finance(all)
- Economics and Econometrics
Cite this
- Standard
- Harvard
- Apa
- Vancouver
- BibTeX
- RIS
In: Ecological economics, Vol. 217, 108066, 03.2024.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Between farms and forks
T2 - Food industry perspectives on the future of EU food labelling
AU - Schulze, Christoph
AU - Matzdorf, Bettina
AU - Rommel, Jens
AU - Czajkowski, Mikołaj
AU - García-Llorente, Marina
AU - Gutiérrez-Briceño, Inés
AU - Larsson, Lina
AU - Zagórska, Katarzyna
AU - Zawadzki, Wojciech
N1 - Funding Information: We acknowledge funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant agreement n° 818190 ). We thank two anonymous referees for their valuable feedback and Andrej Hagenmüller for his support of the project. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not represent an official view of their organizations.
PY - 2024/3
Y1 - 2024/3
N2 - This study assesses how information about the provision of ecosystem services can contribute to an integrative food labelling framework within the European Unions' Farm to Fork Strategy. By applying Q-methodology with 43 food industry experts from four European member states – Germany, Poland, Spain, and Sweden –, we identify common viewpoints among food processors, retailers and labelling organisations. We find a consensus in support of introducing new food labels that would encourage farmers to deliver more ecosystem services, such as increased farm biodiversity. Applying factor analysis and using the qualitative information from the interviews, we derive three distinct prototypes of a future European food label: 1) a producer-driven ecosystem services label, 2) a consumer-oriented information label, and 3) a new EU sustainable food label. These label prototypes are partly country-specific and invoked by multiple stakeholder groups. We conclude that a future European Union food labelling framework must account for all three label prototypes. Policymakers are advised to embrace the diversity of viewpoints of food system actors, as they are the main drivers of the success and failure of labels.
AB - This study assesses how information about the provision of ecosystem services can contribute to an integrative food labelling framework within the European Unions' Farm to Fork Strategy. By applying Q-methodology with 43 food industry experts from four European member states – Germany, Poland, Spain, and Sweden –, we identify common viewpoints among food processors, retailers and labelling organisations. We find a consensus in support of introducing new food labels that would encourage farmers to deliver more ecosystem services, such as increased farm biodiversity. Applying factor analysis and using the qualitative information from the interviews, we derive three distinct prototypes of a future European food label: 1) a producer-driven ecosystem services label, 2) a consumer-oriented information label, and 3) a new EU sustainable food label. These label prototypes are partly country-specific and invoked by multiple stakeholder groups. We conclude that a future European Union food labelling framework must account for all three label prototypes. Policymakers are advised to embrace the diversity of viewpoints of food system actors, as they are the main drivers of the success and failure of labels.
KW - Ecosystem services
KW - Farm to fork strategy
KW - Food labels
KW - Food system common agricultural policy
KW - Q methodology
KW - Value chain
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85179442479&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.108066
DO - 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.108066
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85179442479
VL - 217
JO - Ecological economics
JF - Ecological economics
SN - 0921-8009
M1 - 108066
ER -