Conscious Consumers

Young people are not necessarily more aware of their options around sustainable food choices than other generations, but they are keen to know more about those options and how their choices make a difference.

They mostly rely on price to make purchasing decisions, and they believe that sustainable food choices are simply about sustainable packaging. However, they are interested in learning more about how they can take steps to become conscious consumers. They have trust in big brands and supermarkets to make the right decisions to put sustainable food choices on the shelves and on menus. But they expect more transparency from big brands and supermarkets about the environmental impact of their food and think that environmentally friendly products should not carry a premium price. Interestingly, they see food produced in Britain as solely local rather than being produced to higher standards.

Next Steps:

Encourage big brands and supermarkets to talk directly with young people about sustainable food options and to clarify the decisions they are making to ensure positive action is being taken before giving consumers a choice.

Offer experiential learning opportunities to help young people understand the entire food supply chain from farm to fork. Retailers and brands need to find imaginative ways such as through environmental labelling, in order to drive more climate positive consumer decisions.

Ensure clarity around what constitutes sustainable food and make clear the commitments made by big brands and supermarkets in that area.

Conduct an extended research project (5 year +) to track the longterm changes that young people make after receiving the appropriate information about consumer choices and environmental awareness.

Hold discussions with young people as future consumers to work on environmental labelling and involve them in the process to identify their preferences.

Run a consumer-focused campaign that sustainable food is affordable and does not need to ‘cost the earth’.